In their influential book The Rainforest, Victor W. Hwang and Greg Horowitt contrast a “planted field” — and its predictable, monocultural outcomes — with a “rainforest,” an environment where diverse elements interact and produce unexpected, breakthrough innovations. As Victor Hwang continues to advance this “rainforest” approach through the national nonprofit Right to Start — and as Right to Start’s New York Starters Coalition, led by Western New York’s Bobbie Armstrong, carries the idea forward — the civic case for nurturing entrepreneurship becomes clearer.

Rochester Business Journal

Six teams will vie for more than $75,000 in startup funding and in-kind services in the final round of the 26th annual Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (Panasci TEC) at the University at Buffalo’s Center for the Arts on April 16. Grounded in the spirit of “America the Entrepreneurial,” Panasci 2026 will partner with Right to Start (a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that seeks to expand entrepreneurial opportunity for all) to celebrate the values that make innovation possible: access, support, creativity and the freedom to build.

University of Buffalo

“Today is a giant leap forward for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurship in West Virginia,” said WV Secretary of State Kris Warner after Governor Morrisey signed Senate Bill 878 into law creating the WV Office of Entrepreneurship. Proposed to the Legislature by WV Secretary of State Kris Warner, the initiative has been discussed in recent years between the WV Secretary of State’s Office and leaders with the WV Entrepreneurship Ecosystem including the Benedum Foundation, the WV Small Business Development Center, WVU, Marshall, the University of Charleston, and the national Right to Start organization.

The Inter-Mountain

Officials with the City of Pea Ridge announced on March 11, 2026, that it has joined "America the Entrepreneurial," the national campaign to renew America's entrepreneurial promise in the 250th anniversary year of the United States, the world's greatest startup.

Pea Ridge Times

As Shippensburg University continues its participation in the America the Entrepreneurial campaign to honor alumni who have built exceptional careers as entrepreneurs, alongside its celebration of Women’s History Month,  the university proudly recognizes Julie Cropp Gareleck, a serial entrepreneur, bestselling author and AI innovator whose work is shaping the future of people-first leadership in the workplace.

Shippensburg University

Alumna Sherri Blum, featured this Women’s History Month in Shippensburg’s “America the Entrepreneurial” campaign, pursued a diverse career path, starting as a high school social studies teacher in Baltimore County, to becoming a celebrity interior designer and then founding the lifestyle Brand, Bourbon Cowgirl. Blum represents that the route to entrepreneurship can take on many different paths.

Shippensburg University

The University at Buffalo has identified 13 teams as semifinalists in the 26th annual Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (Panasci TEC), taking them one step closer to the first-place prize of $65,000 in startup funding and business services that will go to the group that presents the best plan for a viable new business in Western New York.

University of Buffalo