University President John Garvey; William Bowman , dean, business; Robert Keith , entrepreneur-in-residence; and Andreas Widmer , director of entrepreneurship; were quoted in a Catholic Standard story on the kick off of the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City. See below.

Keith was also quoted in an El Pregonero story.

From: Catholic Standard  Date: March 1, 2017Author: Kelly Seegers

Students and faculty at The Catholic University of America are following Pope Francis' call to go out into the community and "smell like the sheep" through the school's new four-year partnership with the Initiative for a Competitive Inner City (ICIC), said William Bowman, dean of CUA's Busch School of Business and Economics.The partnership is bringing ICIC's Inner City Capital Connections program (ICCC) to Washington, which aims to empower small businesses in distressed areas to grow through training, coaching, and networking. As the businesses grow, they will create new jobs in the inner city and promote economic stability for the city's residents.

In other cities across the country where the ICCC program runs, banks, corporations or foundations generally partner with them to make the program happen. The Busch School is the first university ever to partner with ICIC, and the program is free-of-charge to participants thanks to the funding that Catholic University is providing.

More than 200 CEOs, government officials, social service providers, and faculty gathered at The Busch School on Feb. 28 for the kickoff event for the new initiative, which Hyacinth Vassell, the director of the Inner City Capital Connections Program, said is double the crowd of the largest kickoff event they had previously had.

John Garvey, the president of Catholic University, began the kickoff event by reminding the crowd of the founding principle of the business school, which is now in its fourth year of operation. Garvey said the school was founded on the idea that "the human person, made in the image and likeness of God, must be at the heart of business."

Cardinal Donald Wuerl, who serves as the chancellor of the university, also spoke to the crowd, expressing his excitement and gratitude for the initiative. One of the reasons why the initiative is so significant, he said, is that "it takes the very best of Catholic social teaching and the very best of good business practice, and puts them together." ...

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