Bruce Gjovig, founder, CEO and entrepreneur coach of the UND Center for Innovation, has received the 2014 Ronald Reagan Award from the Conservative Political Action Conference.
The award is “given annually to a leader in the fighting in the trenches for conservative principles embodied by President Ronald Reagan,” CPAC said in a news release.
The award presented at the 50th annual conference during the Ronald Reagan Banquet in National Harbor, MD.
“Bruce Gjovig, during his tenure as the leader of the Center for Innovation for 30 years, built the organization into a force for entrepreneurship and innovation nationwide fostering free enterprise and capitalism,” CPAC Chairman Al Cardenas said in presenting the award. “The entrepreneur center has helped about 700 ventures launch that employ over 6,000 people plus the entrepreneur center has inspired thousands of students to be innovative and entrepreneurial for a lifetime. That impact is immeasurable.”
The center was among the very first entrepreneur outreach centers in the nation when launched in 1984, according to the news release. Today entrepreneurship is a strong national movement to create new employers, foster innovation and to grow the economy. The Center has received 14 national and international awards for excellence and remains a leader in innovative programming.
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“It is humbling to receive the national Ronald Reagan Award, named after the President who helped America restore its economy and greatness - at home and abroad - after the terrible malaise, a gruesome economy killing inflation rate of 13.5 percent, and a dangerously high unemployment rate in the late 1970s,” Gjovig said. “A photograph of President Ronald Reagan still hangs in my office that continues to inspire me 30 years later.”
The Ronald Reagan award includes a $10,000 cash stipend.
