This year’s list includes founders or leaders who graduated from more than a dozen different Miami degree programs including the school’s widely acclaimed Farmer School of Business, noted Miami officials in a released statement.
This year’s honorees have had a combined income of nearly $5.5 billion and employ more than 7,100 people, said officials.
And half of the 50 companies honored are in Ohio - 11 in the greater Cincinnati area - while the other half are spread among a dozen states, some doing business internationally.
Credit: Scott Kissell
Credit: Scott Kissell
“Cincinnati’s strong representation on this year’s RedHawk50 list underscores the powerful synergy between Miami University and the StartupCincy(CQ) (an entrepreneurial support organization) ecosystem,” said Jenny Darroch, dean of the Farmer School.
“The deep connections, talent pipeline, and strong alumni community make it clear that Miami entrepreneurs are not only building successful companies but also driving innovation and economic growth right here in Cincinnati and beyond,” said Darroch.
The RedHawk50 program was created by the John W. Altman Institute for Entrepreneurship at the Farmer School of Business.
The institute is a past winner of the Nasdaq Center of Entrepreneurial Excellence Award as the top entrepreneurship program and institute worldwide and last year won the Model Program Award from the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship.
Moreover, the institute has earned a “Top 10” ranking among public schools in The Princeton Review and an Entrepreneur Magazine annual ranking of the Top 50 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs in the world for 17 consecutive years. The Altman Institute is also currently ranked as the No.8 program in the world and No. 5 among public institutions.
The RedHawk50 was created by the school in 2023 with its first honorary class celebrated in 2024, the entrepreneur alumnus organization has provided a new statistical measure of Miami business school graduates’ impact on Ohio’s economy.
As calculated from RedHawk50’s first year, Miamian-founded/Miamian-led private, high growth companies accounted for the creation of 18,404 new jobs, the creation of 12,070 new jobs and a $1.1 billion impact to Ohio’s economy, during that same period.
Among the notable Farmers School of Business graduates and their local and national business start ups including the “Mad Rabbit” company, whose two Miami-trained founders were featured on the TV program “Shark Tank.”
Miami President Gregory Crawford told the audience at the Friday event:“I really, truly believe that students that take entrepreneurship and learn from our faculty and staff really know a couple of things when they get finished. They really know themselves. They understand how they’re driven and their mission and purpose in life (and) they know how to grow themselves in this experience, taking on a problem that nobody else has solved yet.”
“They write a business plan, and they pitch it in front of professionals, and take the criticism and refine it and keep going,” said Crawford, adding “they really know how to connect themselves (and) they connect themselves to an amazing ecosystem that comes back to Miami.”
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