The University of South Florida’s Nault Center for Entrepreneurship is searching for its next leader.
Andy Hafer, the interim executive director of the Nault Center, became leader of the then-named Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in 2022 with a few goals: creating an institutional strategy, finding sustainable funding, hiring staff and building bridges between USF and the business community at large, according to a release.
With these objectives complete, Hafer is ready to search for an executive director to take over and “help the Nault Center reach new heights,” according to the release.
“That stuff is completely where we want it to be, and I’m excited about hiring the next person and returning to the role in an advisory capacity,” Hafer said.
With his stepping down, Hafer will focus on his adjunct professorship at USF and his adviser role at the center. He’s also working on several companies and will attend to those with the available time.
The Nault Center is a business program at the USF’s Muma College of Business that accelerates and educates student entrepreneurs. It was founded in 2002 and connects students with a network and opportunities while teaching them business skills and entrepreneurial thinking.
Since Hafer started, several programs and resources have also been introduced, and a $10 million donation was gifted to the center from USF alumnus Jay Nault, the CEO of Jacksonville-based real estate company Anclote Holding Company Inc. The name was changed to the Nault Center for Entrepreneurship with the donation.
“We are very proud of the long history of academic success we’ve had in the Nault Center for Entrepreneurship,” GJ de Vreede, the interim dean of Muma College of Business at USF, said in the release. “We are excited that USF is taking its proper place in the region as a critical resource for the innovation ecosystem.”
Hafer never planned to be a permanent leader for the program. He was a strong fit for the role with his background in ecosystem building and entrepreneurship after co-founding Synapse Florida and being a tech industry veteran. Still, he always planned to grow it and pass it on, he previously told the Tampa Bay Business Journal.
De Vreede will oversee the application process for the next executive director and ensure a smooth transition, according to the release. The new executive director will ideally understand the Tampa ecosystem and be bold and ambitious, Hafer said.
Recently, Hafer helped USF partner with Tampa’s Mainframe, a local nonprofit, to create a pipeline of success for Black student entrepreneurs in the area.
