Timothy Michaelis, assistant professor of entrepreneurship in NIU’s College of Business.
Tim Michaelis, assistant professor of entrepreneurship in NIU’s College of Business, founded and recently co-hosted the new Health in Entrepreneurship Conference in Chicago.
Aimed at accelerating research into issues surrounding health and entrepreneurship, the event was held over Oct 7-8 at MATTER Chicago, an incubator for health-care startups, and at DePaul University. NIU, DePaul and NC State University co-hosted the event, which drew 45 participants representing 25 universities.
Research suggests that while people who start their own businesses are physically healthier than those working traditional full-time jobs, the self-employed often experience more mental health issues. By bringing together fresh ideas and diverse perspectives on health and new venture creation, the conference creators hope to ramp up research efforts in the field.
“The event was academic- and research-focused but included panels of entrepreneurs, investors and support organizations for entrepreneurship in Chicago,” Michaelis said.
Entrepreneurs shared their mental and physical health journeys, while investors and support organizations like the Women’s Business Development Center, Sunshine Enterprises Chicago and Future Founders discussed their experiences with well-being in relation to funding, personnel, growth and other strategies. Multiple keynote presentations shared health tips for starting new ventures. Breakout groups also explored research methods and resources for developing more rigorous research into the area of health in entrepreneurship.
“I was impressed with the quality of the event, especially considering this was a new area of research emphasis in entrepreneurship,” said Professor Jon Briscoe, chair of NIU’s Department of Management.
“I was able to interact with many great academics, members of the business community and students from area universities, including several Huskies.”
Michaelis noted the event would not have been possible without support from Mike and Kristina McGrath for entrepreneurship education and research at NIU and from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which sponsored the event. The foundation, which is one of the largest philanthropic organization dedicated to entrepreneurship, has already provided a new grant of nearly $20,000 to hold the conference again in 2023.
