By RORY MOORE
Tiger Media Network
Fort Hays State University’s Robbins College of Business & Entrepreneurship and Department of Management hosted three open houses last week inside Hansen Hall to highlight the facility’s Entrepreneurial focus and elevation for students aspiring to enter the business world. The program showed students the benefits of its housing, success stories of past students and how the scholarship hall stands apart from other campus dorms.
Associate Professor Edward Vengrouskie explains why Hansen Hall is the perfect setting for aspiring business owners. 
Management Instructor Henry Schwaller gives an analysis of the facility’s three levels and 33 units. 
Vangrouskie shows activities young entrepreneurs have engaged in to develop this skills and compete against other students. 
An open house for Hansen Hall was hosted last Wednesday to showcase the scholarship hall’s entrepreneurial spirit.
Edward Vengrouskie, associate professor of Management and Marketing, asserted Hansen Hall’s reputation as an accelerator for business owners.
“Many of our students who leave our program don’t start anything immediately,” he said. “They go to work for a company and use those skills in an entrepreneurial setting. Companies today are crying for students who understand how to apply those skills within an organization. So, that full gamut is what we offer here. We have something very unique here, and when we say entrepreneurs thrive here, that’s what we really mean.”
Henry Schwaller, a senior lecturer of Management, briefly overviewed the program’s history.
“Hansen Hall was funded mostly due to the generosity of the Dane G. Hansen Foundation,” he said. “Mr. Hanson had a prominent business in Northwest Kansas. His empire went over 26 counties, and he was involved in a number of different businesses. When he died, he split his estate into two trusts. One took care of family members, and the other was strictly for philanthropy. The university entered the agreement with the Hansen Foundation in 2014 to build this structure, and they committed $3 million toward this $4 million building.”
The three-level facility was established to encourage students to live inside its rooms and launch businesses while connecting with its entrepreneur-based community.
“Our goal here is to provide students an opportunity to meet and interact with entrepreneurs they can associate with,” Vengrouskie said. “We’re talking about young entrepreneurs so our students can say, ‘You know what, I can see myself doing that.’”
Vengrouskie highlighted business-oriented activities students partake in to compete with other entrepreneurs and hone their skills, along with the presence of international students from various countries.
“We think this is the most exciting place to be [on campus], especially for students looking for more,” he said. “This is not a social dormitory. It’s a living ecosystem in a learning environment, and even though we have a lot of fun here, we do work hard.”