Ratcliffe Foundation Celebrates SU Shore Hatchery Entrepreneurs

SALISBURY, MD---Winners from the first year of the Shore Hatchery initiative of Salisbury University’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business recently attended a picnic with other recipients of Philip E. and Carole R. Ratcliffe Foundation funding. The gathering was hosted by Carole Ratcliffe in Talbot County.

“Mrs. Ratcliffe wanted to meet the scholars and entrepreneurs who have benefitted from the Foundation’s programs and give them an opportunity to network with each other,” said William Burke, director of entrepreneurship programs at SU.

The SU contingent included alumni and other entrepreneurs from Maryland and Delaware who are associated with the five start-up companies that earned $200,000 in funding from Shore Hatchery during its first year.

Perdue School Dean Christy Weer and Dr. Steve Adams of the Management and Marketing Department also attended, along with groups from University of Baltimore’s Merrick School of Business, Anne Arundel Community College the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology and the Eastern Shore Entrepreneurship Center.

Pictured (top) are all recipients of Ratcliffe Foundation funding who attended the picnic, as well as the representatives of SU's Shore Hatchery (bottom).

The Ratcliffe Foundation announced the $1 million Shore Hatchery gift to the Perdue School in 2013, with the goal of creating new jobs. The third round of competition in the five-year program is Friday, October 24, at SU. Entrepreneurs will vie for a portion of $200,000 in business funding.

Business case presentations are 1:30-4:30 p.m. in Perdue Hall’s Bennett Family Auditorium. Admission is free and the public is invited. For more information call 410-543-6316 or visit the Perdue School website at www.salisbury.edu/perdue.