Memorial University is feeling the entrepreneurial spirit from the family of a man who breathed it.
A $500,000 gift was announced Friday, compliments of the Woodward family, owners of the Woodward Group of Companies in Labrador. And it builds on the initial inception and success of the Mel Woodward Cup, named for company founder and family patriarch Mel Woodward Sr., who died in 2015.
The Cup is a startup pitch competition among MUN business students, supported by local businesses and run through MUN’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and Faculty of Business Administration.
Woodward’s son Peter, now president, CEO and owner of the company, said in the beginning The Cup seemed like a great legacy item for their father.
But he said he never dreamed that 10 years later, it would be such a success.
“So I wanted to thank Memorial so much for creating this legacy,” he said. “It perpetuates the image that my dad had of, ‘why would you want to work for somebody else, when you can work for yourself and do so much better?’ And this whole thing perpetuates that.”
High-profile, local success stories such as CoLab Software, BreatheSuite and PragmaClin began as student ideas grown within MUN’s Centre for Entrepreneurship and business school.
“This gift reinforces that Memorial is a place where students don’t just learn about the world as it is, they actively shape what comes next,” said MUN President Janet Morrison.
“The Woodward family’s continued generosity demonstrates confidence in our students and in Memorial’s ability to foster innovation that benefits Newfoundland and Labrador and beyond.”
