WORCESTER—For students at Quinsigamond Community College with big dreams and business ideas, help is officially on the way.
QCC kicked off StartUp Week Worcester on Monday by unveiling the Auxilium Center for Entrepreneurship, a new campus initiative designed to support aspiring entrepreneurs across all disciplines. Made possible through a generous multi-year gift from the Cliff and Susan Rucker Foundation, the center offers students access to mentorship, workshops, consultation services, and entrepreneurship-focused academic programming.
“This has been an amazing partnership,” said QCC President Dr. Luis Pedraja in the announcement. “The center will help our students get the social capital and the guidance that they need. The generous gift of the Cliff and Susan Rucker Foundation will help empower QCC students to be catalysts for economic growth. Our students are rooted here and they will invest in our community.”
The Rucker Foundation has pledged $100,000 per year for at least three years to support staffing and programming at the center. Jacob Rucker, private equity analyst and co-founder of Auxilium, called the initiative a critical step toward building a strong entrepreneurial culture in the region.
“No aspiring entrepreneur should ever feel like they’re doing it alone,” Rucker said. “In partnership with QCC, we’re laying the groundwork for a vibrant entrepreneurial hub…in the broader Worcester community. This will be a space where bold ideas are welcome, risk is encouraged and support is real.”
The excitement extended to QCC students such as Noah MacDonald, who is studying business administration and recently launched a student group called the Coalition of Rising Entrepreneurs (CORE).
“I just started getting into entrepreneurship and I can see how important it is,” MacDonald said in the announcement. “I have very big goals for my life so I’m grasping opportunities. A place like this could give me the mentorship that I need and show me the paths I can take.”
QCC Board of Trustees President Dr. Linda Maykel, who opened a dental practice earlier in her career without much guidance, said the new center would have made a world of difference to her as a young business owner.
“To have a center now where students can come and have people to mentor them through is absolutely one of the most exciting things I’ve seen since I’ve been here,” said Maykel. She also noted the opportunity to link the Center to QCC’s existing wraparound support services, including counseling and the HomePlate Food Pantry & Resource Center.
The Auxilium Center for Entrepreneurship is slated to open on QCC’s main campus in Fall 2025, offering a welcoming space for students to explore their ideas and turn them into action.
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