Partnership Opportunities

The internship program is a mutually beneficial partnership for Smeal business students and industry participants: students gain real world experience, and businesses gain from their new ideas and cutting-edge, academic knowledge. It also provides an opportunity to “try out” a candidate for a potential long-term position or provides an affordable option to cover your company’s workload while in transition.

Penn State’s Smeal College of Business, and the Farrell Center, have a proven track record for producing high caliber graduates who are innovators able to leverage business skills and experiences to become solution providers. Our graduates support many industry sectors as they step out to begin their careers in such areas as product management, brand management, customer service, business analysis, project management, sales, customer research, and others.

The Farrell Center offers faculty-led student consulting teams to companies, especially startups, who need assistance identifying business problems and developing solutions, conducting market research, or simply interacting with students in a real-world context. This program provides an excellent opportunity for startup companies to obtain valuable free services, and students to gain real-world, client-focused work experience, and team-building skills. Past projects have included a diverse mix of business challenges and technologies, and the duration has ranged from fifteen weeks to a year. The program also offers faculty consulting on a limited basis for early-stage businesses.

Industry partners are invited to participate in, or sponsor, various special events involving the Farrell Center, providing valuable knowledge and first-hand exposure to real-world issues and challenges while simultaneously building visibility and brand recognition at Penn State.

Throughout the year, the Farrell Center offers, or is involved with, multiple event-related opportunities for corporations and others to engage and interact with students, members of the faculty, and other industry leaders. Events such as the Supply Chain Pitch Competition and the Garber Venture Investment Competition feature student startups and connect with industry participants. Special conferences, expos, and forums draw attention to key issues related to innovation and entrepreneurship.

The Farrell Center offers a variety of education and training programs targeting a broad range of topics and issues related to innovation and entrepreneurship by identifying major issues and developing in-depth seminars and certificate programs to address them. Some of these programs include: entrepreneurial business planning, business modeling, business case development, negotiation, strategic development, risk management, and managing and protecting intellectual property.

The Farrell Center is proud of the strength and diversity of its research program. The center can work with your organization to conduct relevant research. The research of our faculty focuses on activities with industrial and commercial relevance, where partnerships lead to benefits for the institution, business and industry, and students. Through this center, businesses and industry can access extensive research and development resources that are supported by expertise in a broad range of research focus areas. Our clients include companies, organizations, and individuals that span many industries.

Industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators are invited to join us in the classroom to present on topics of interest, share real-world knowledge and experiences, facilitate discussions, and support the solutions-based learning approach of the Farrell Center and the Smeal College of Business. Our students are eager to learn from those who have relevant business experience.

The Nexus Innovation Network provides access to successful innovators, entrepreneurs, and business leaders to provide advisory services to startups, new ventures, alumni, and industry partners. Farrell Center faculty members are dedicated to helping connect engaged partners to our network of experts who can address issues related to innovation, new venture creation, finance, accounting, human resources, marketing, supply chain, project management, information technology, customer relationship management, venture capital, etc. The Nexus program may be used to solicit advice and/or develop business partnerships. Farrell Center partners are invited to join our growing list of experts and advisors, or take advantage of the social network by soliciting advice from another member.

The Farrell Center, in partnership with the Penn State’s Garber Venture Capital Fund, is dedicated to helping companies obtain funding needed to start and grow their new ventures. The center is also committed to introducing innovators and entrepreneurs to future business partners, collaborators, customers, and venture capitalists. For more information, please contact the Garber Venture Capital Fund administrator.

The Farrell Mentoring Program is designed to connect individuals in industry with graduate and undergraduate students seeking a unique mentoring experience. The program would involve a commitment of one hour a month of time from the mentor during the semester and could significantly impact the life and career of individual students.