You can read every book written about starting a business and still have no idea what it feels like to pitch an investor, build a prototype or sit across from an owner whose life savings are on the line. Entrepreneurship is something you learn by doing. That idea drives everything at the Max Fuller Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) at the Gary W. Rollins College of Business at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, where students don’t just study how businesses get built. They help build them.
From a virtual idea to a campus hub
The Max Fuller Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship started in 2018 as a virtual center with one goal: give entrepreneurship majors and minors a place to put their coursework into practice, while also serving the rest of the UTC campus. In 2020, it got a home of its own — about 5,000 square feet on the second floor of the James R. Mapp Building.
The Fuller CIE exists to fill a gap. In the corporate world, new hires get orientation and on-the-job training. Entrepreneurship offers none of that. There’s no handbook for launching a startup and no manager showing you the ropes. The Fuller CIE became the place where students can try things, make mistakes and learn before the stakes get real. Through paid internships with startups and support organizations, paid student consultancies, pitch competitions and regular contact with working entrepreneurs, students get to practice the job before they have it.
The Hatch It Lab: Where ideas take shape
Faculty and staff make the CIE run, but its most valuable physical asset might be the Hatch It Lab makerspace. This is where ideas become tangible. Students build replicas and prototypes to show investors, partners and customers exactly what they have in mind. The lab is run by students, for students, and it’s open to anyone on campus — students, faculty and staff alike. Entrepreneurship classes use it regularly, but so do courses from colleges all over the university. Students in the program’s general education course, ETR 1010, get their first look at what the lab can do as early as freshman year.
A $5 million gift and what it really bought
The headline number is easy to point to: a $5,000,000 naming gift from Max Fuller in 2025. Combined with support from the Frost Family Foundation and others, it was a clear signal that UTC is serious about entrepreneurship education. But the money matters most for what it pays for — 102 internship positions filled by 83 students from across campus. Recent graduates say those experiences gave them a real edge when they started their careers.
The largest program within the MFCIE is the Urban Vision Initiative (UVI), which puts an average of 14 interns to work each semester. These student consultants help very early-stage business owners who are at the riskiest moment of their journey. UVI interns get a front-row seat to the hope, grit and courage it takes to make it. For a lot of them, it changes how they see the world.
Pitch competitions that build real confidence
The MFCIE also runs a series of pitch competitions that get tougher as students move through them. The Changemaker Challenge is an idea competition open to everyone on campus, focused on making people’s lives better — no business model required. The Fly Pitch Competition asks students to build an actual business model and pitch it for prize money. The top three Fly teams can then apply for the global Hult Prize Competition, where the winner takes home $1 million. Over the past two years, UTC has sent three teams to the U.S. regional competition, and the university’s first team reached the national finals — placing in the top eight against schools from across the country.
A student who shows what’s possible
Students like Graham Davis capture what the Fuller CIE is all about. Graham competed in the Fly Pitch Competition and spent six semesters contributing to UVI. He now works at a marketing firm that focuses on startups.
“UVI gave me the opportunity to work with small business owners to understand their goals and most difficult challenges,” said Graham. “I learned a lot from the coaches and mentors as well. I was able to build my skills and understand how I could provide value for business owners.”
He says seeing the importance of numbers and financial literacy in business was extremely impactful. “I got meaningful experience working with the businesses and learned lessons that will be invaluable for my career.”
What’s next
The MFCIE keeps growing with new programs to provide even more learning experiences for students.
Mocs Innovate pairs student marketing analysts with UTC researchers to help move inventions from the lab to the market. The CIE co-produces Quantum Hackathons with the UTC Quantum Center and community partners, and it’s leaning into AI-focused events as the technology reshapes how businesses get built. Its RISE tool measures 30 research-backed entrepreneurial skills and pairs students with a coach to turn the results into a real plan. In 2028, the Max Fuller CIE will be part of the expanded Fletcher Hall, where a glass-walled makerspace above the atrium will let the whole campus watch the work happen.
Practice is the point
The entrepreneurship program at UTC has a straightforward mission: help students build real entrepreneurial skills. The classroom delivers the knowledge. The Max Fuller Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship delivers the practice, plus the honest feedback that helps students step back, adjust and keep improving.
To learn more about working with or supporting the Max Fuller Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, reach out to Director Mike Bradshaw ([email protected]) or Executive Director Dr. Thomas Lyons ([email protected]).
Let’s see where your ideas will take you.
The best entrepreneurs learn by doing — building, pitching, failing and trying again until it works. At UTC’s Gary W. Rollins College of Business, students turn ideas into ventures through the Max Fuller Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, where paid internships, real prototypes in the Hatch It Lab and mentorship from working entrepreneurs give you the practice to launch with confidence. Learn how you can earn your bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship.
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