• ABOUT ELSEWORKS

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    About Us

     

    Our Mission: Through student led collaboration with resilient communities, ELSEWORKS promotes economic impact and cultivates the entrepreneurial spirit in underserved neighborhoods

     

     

    ELSEWORKS, the entrepreneurship program at Millsaps College, a small liberal arts institution in Jackson, Mississippi, has been working for over a decade to help revitalize the Midtown neighborhood, which is adjacent to its campus. The entrepreneurship program functions like a business consultancy firm and is led by faculty members, staff, and alumni in guiding student business analysts employing a deeply place-based model.

     

    Working closely in partnership with Midtown Partners, the Business Association of Midtown, the Midtown Neighborhood Association, and others, ELSEWORKS provides a wide range of business assistance services, from business consulting and strategy, business planning, financial proformas and accounting, market research and reporting, marketing and operations, and community planning and events. In partnership with residents, community stakeholders, business leaders, and industry experts, the ELSEWORKS team has provided an increasingly deep level of support to an increasingly wide number of projects - including the recruitment and cultivation of new businesses - all while fostering Millsaps students as they acquire real world business experience and learn how to impact their surrounding communities.

     

    Grounded by patient investment and student engagement, ELSEWORKS has gone beyond the typical anchor institution model of using their procurement to help spur economic growth in challenged communities to fostering creative entrepreneurship and urban growth in the Midtown neighborhood of Jackson, Mississippi.

     

    Our Impact

    Since 2011, selected activities for our students include providing on-going consulting services to two incubators in Midtown, development of two community gathering spaces (a coffee shop and a beer garden), securing start up funds for three Midtown businesses, organizing a quarterly event for business owners (called Beer and Business), and on-going support for the website and bi-annual events for the Business Association of Midtown. Since inception, 160 Millsaps students have served as ELSEWORKS business analysts, and roughly 400 Millsaps students have provided solutions to Midtown businesses through experiential classroom projects. This fall, ELSEWORKS is providing consulting services to 10 businesses, and 3 Else School of Management classes are conducting semester-long projects to benefit Midtown businesses. Through these experiences, ELSEWORKS students have been impacted by learning leadership, collaboration, and reasoning skills, as well as entrepreneurial expertise including the linkage between economic development and community engagement at a grassroots level.

     

    An extensive socioeconomic impact study, conducted by ELSEWORKS students in 2022, documented positive, striking changes to the Midtown community including its physical attributes, business sentiment, and resident sentiment over the past decade. For example, the number of assets in the neighborhood, consisting of houses, businesses, and properties in suitable living conditions, increased by 74% over a ten-year time frame. Midtown is now experiencing increased home ownership, business creation, and improvement in the community's housing stock to the point conventional investment is beginning to resurface.
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    "We believe in placing our students in a position to have meaningful input into high-level decisions that have very real and potentially success-altering consequences. They learn to embrace diversity, risk, and important challenges-thus, how to be a leader. Meanwhile, the revitalization of the Midtown area improves the quality of life for those in Midtown and for our students."

     

    Dr. David Culpepper | ELSEWORKS Chair, Prof. of Accounting & Entrepreneurship

  • What We Do

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    Student Impact

    ELSEWORKS student business analysts create meaningful change by supporting local businesses with financial planning, marketing, operations, and strategy. Their hands-on work drives business growth while fostering stronger connections between companies and the community. This real-world experience equips students with practical skills, entrepreneurial insight, and the ability to make a lasting impact, both locally and beyond. supporting local businesses with financial planning, marketing, operations, and strategy. Their hands-on work drives business growth while fostering stronger connections between companies and the community. This real-world experience equips students with practical skills, entrepreneurial insight, and the ability to make a lasting impact, both locally and beyond.

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    Entrepreneurial Impact

    In 2010, Midtown’s master planning process identified business growth and entrepreneurship support as critical needs for revitalizing the neighborhood. Residents and businesses emphasized the importance of strategic planning and resources to foster economic development.

     

    ELSEWORKS has been instrumental in addressing these priorities by offering business planning, entrepreneurship assistance, and hands-on support to local businesses. These efforts have helped drive sustainable growth, strengthen the local economy, and empower entrepreneurs to contribute to Midtown’s revitalization.

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    Community Impact

    ELSEWORKS is dedicated to fostering growth and connectivity in Midtown Jackson. Partnering with organizations like BAM, the Midtown Neighborhood Association, and Midtown Partners, ELSEWORKS supports initiatives that unite businesses, residents, and artists to create a vibrant, sustainable community.

     

    Projects like Coffee Prose, a coffee shop and bookstore (2018), and Midtown Depot, an art park and beer garden (2021), have strengthened Midtown’s cultural infrastructure, fostering collaboration and a sense of community. As a neighbor to Midtown, ELSEWORKS leverages its resources to drive entrepreneurship and help create a thriving environment for residents and businesses alike.

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