Julienne Shields of Millikin University, Jim Hart of SMU and Tony Mendes, 2014 President of USASBE. Not pictured: Megan Carpenter of Texas A&M.

SMU’s Director of Arts Entrepreneurship, Jim Hart, won USASBE Spark!, a contest for impactful entrepreneurial exercises. Hart received first place out of approximately fifty entries and received a cash prize of $750.

At the same conference, Hart, in collaboration with Julienne Shields of Millikin University and Megan Carpenter of Texas A&M, the special interest groups of Arts Entrepreneurship, Law and Public Policy, won the award for Best Workshop at the conference (Legal Issues for Arts Entrepreneurs).

USASBE stands for United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship and is the largest private conference of its type in the world.

Hart, serves as a co-chair of the Arts Entrepreneurship Special Interest Group (SIG).