About the program

Mission: Grow Indiana's economy by growing Indiana's small businesses.

Enterprise Corps emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic when unforeseen challenges threatened the business community. Participants benefit from executive education courses, one-on-one coaching and consulting from MBA student teams at little or no cost to them. These resources help business owners secure funding, overcome obstacles and build sustainable growth strategies.

Courses

Entrepreneurs are encouraged to register for four classes taught by distinguished Kelley professors between September and June. Each course consists of two online evening sessions and two in-person classroom days, culminating in a certificate or digital badge.

Business Strategy

Setting a competitive direction and planning for expansion

Professor Greg Fisher
Professor Greg Fisher

Named one of the “40 Most Outstanding Business School Professors under 40 in the World” by Poets and Quants, co-author of Strategy in 3D and founder and former CEO of LearningLab.

Financial Management

Raising capital and managing cash flow

Professor Barb Cutillo
Professor Barb Cutillo

Co-founder of Stonegate Mortgage in 2005, raised over $250 million in capital on Wall Street and grew the company to 1,300+ employees and $186 million in annual revenue.

Marketing & Sales

Defining the market and connecting with customers

Professor Joshua Gildea
Professor Joshua Gildea

Former Senior Manager of International Market Strategy at Vitamix and Global Marketing Director at Carlisle Brake and Friction.

Organizational Management

Managing talent and operating efficiently

Professor Charlotte Westerhaus-Renfrow
Professor Charlotte Westerhaus-Renfrow

Indiana University Bicentennial Professor, Scholar-in-Residence at the Tobias Leadership Center and founder & CEO of ChangePro.

Participating businesses (as of July 2025)

Average Revenue

$2,416,001

Avg. Full-time Employees

10.64

Avg. Years in Operation

10.8

Participating industries (as of July 2025)

Construction & contracting 14%
Business support services 12%
Consulting 8%
Computers & technology 8%
Restaurant / catering / food production 7%
Marketing / media 6%
Health care & social assistance 5%
Retail 5%
Manufacturing 5%

Coaching

Founders and managers work one-on-one with faculty members and other Kelley School associates who are certified BOS-UP business coaches. Individual problems are solved in a customized way. Artificial intelligence is leveraged to build and strengthen business operating systems.

Consulting

Businesses become clients of faculty-supervised student consulting teams. Teams apply the McKinsey problem-solving process to help businesses remove barriers to growth or engage in new opportunities for expansion. Founders and managers benefit from thorough research, creative observations and new ideas about their enterprises.

“Strategy can make or break you. Enterprise Corps provided me with fundamental knowledge that, as a self-made business owner, I was lacking. It also reinforced key concepts I had learned through experience, but within a more structured, academic setting.”

Marcos Cesar Perera Blasco, Founder of Che Chori restaurant

“The classes and the coaching helped open my eyes to see how to grow my business and become more unique.”

Catalina Zaldana, Owner of Bilingual Consulting

Read more success stories from our graduates→

Meet the staff

We are a group of passionate professionals who love helping small businesses grow and succeed. We have diverse backgrounds, skills and experiences, but we share a common vision: to empower entrepreneurs with the best resources and guidance possible.

Phil Powell

Phil Powell

Phil Powell is the Executive Director of the Indiana Business Research Center where you will find Enterprise Corps. He is the Daniel C. Smith Faculty Fellow and Associate Clinical Professor of Business Economics on the Bloomington campus. Previously, Powell was Associate Dean of Academic Programs on the Indianapolis campus. Phil co-founded Enterprise Corps when he saw how the Kelley School could help small business owners scale and grow revenue. More on Phil→

Tracy Reiter

Tracy Reiter

Tracy Reiter has been the project manager of Enterprise Corps since its inception. She brings a passion for helping small businesses to everything she does, from registering new cohort members to tracking metrics and demographics to ensure Enterprise Corps is serving growth-minded entrepreneurs with real potential. Tracy is a graduate of IU Bloomington with a wealth of experience in organizational management.  More on Tracy→

To contact Enterprise Corps:

16 Tech Innovation District
1220 Waterway Blvd #111
Indianapolis, IN 46202

Phone: 317-274-4263

Email: ecorps@iu.edu