Staff Spotlight

Get to Know Executive Director Jeffrey Howlett

HowlettAn auxiliary center housed within the Soules College of Business, the East Texas Entrepreneurship Center (ETEC) aims to improve economic development through robust entrepreneurship and innovation programming. ETEC’s targeted areas are economic development, entrepreneurship, technology commercialization, and business research and analysis. The center provides support to all disciplines taught at UT Tyler as well as entrepreneurs and innovators outside the university. Jeffrey Howlett has served as the center’s executive director since April 2020. Watch a video to discover more.

A seasoned entrepreneur, Howlett has cumulated an impressive 20-year career built upon strategy, innovation and business development, with experience in vast areas including software development, manufacturing, energy, real estate development and healthcare. While a college student, he started his first company and went on to be involved in five others.

Howlett helped create one of the top collegiate entrepreneurship programs in the United States and has been educating students on lean startup and helping them validate, launch and scale their ventures for nearly a decade. Howlett also has helped organize international collegiate business competitions and advised on projects with MIT, Harvard, Oxford, Duke, BYU, Tecnológico De Monterey and others. 

Fundraising activities remain an important aspect of his job. With his co-principal investigator, he recently secured an additional $300,000 grant to help support ETEC programming.

In the following question and answer segment, learn more about Howlett.

What made you interested in the position you currently hold? 

The magnitude of the proposed program and shared vision with university leadership both were exciting. The mandate was to build an entrepreneurship center that can reach out to all 23 counties, while also building an on-campus platform open to all students, faculty and staff.

The specter of a new medical school and robust community support from donors like Soules, Hibbs and many others also held my interest.

In the last year, we have gone from an idea to raising a significant amount of money, adding three employees, and we are getting ready to launch a trio of on-campus business competitions and the student-led Business Innovation Group, or BIG. 

We help students, faculty, staff and others in the region understand how to ideate, validate and cultivate their business ideas! Our venture-mentoring platform will be the key differentiator in the success of the program.

Why do you enjoy helping people in this way? 

I think Winston Churchill phrased it best when he said, “We make a living by what we get; we make a life by what we give.” I can’t think of a better way to give than to help find, and mentor, the next generation of innovators and entrepreneurs.

What do you like best about representing UT Tyler and the Soules College of Business? 

In my career, I have had to opportunity to work with some of the top schools in the world and the University of Texas brand is globally respected. The faculty and staff of UT Tyler work incredibly hard to see that our students are learning and have a great student experience. I also like that many of our faculty have adapted their curricula to meet the needs of employers thus helping our students be better prepared to enter the workforce.

Growing up, did you always know you wanted to be in the business arena of some type, or how did you decide on this particular career field? 

My experience is that some entrepreneurs can be made, and others just know. I was the latter. Ideating and figuring out how to validate and build a business around an idea has always excited me. I love the creative and strategic process of business development.

What are your hobbies/interests? 

I am a quintessential hands-on “car guy.” I have restored several 60s muscle cars and a few trucks. I still enjoy alpine skiing, play a bit of piano and am into music in a big way, enjoying many genres! I also study numerous forms of technology, from med-tech and big data to simple household products. I am currently exploring theories proposed by Nicola Tesla. 

What advice do you offer to current and future Soules students? 

As an entrepreneur, sometimes you eat chicken and sometimes feathers; it is market validation, the ability to pivot, and the courage to continue that makes the difference. 

Remember, the deal of a lifetime comes along about once a week. When representing your idea, be high energy but not hyper, be confident but not cocky. Have perspective, and recognize that when life is done the true measure of a person’s success will not be how much money they made or what position they held in a business or the community; it will be how they treated others. Listen more. Surround yourself with the right mentors for business and in life, and if you are fortunate, they will be both!

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Howlett grew up in the western United States and now proudly calls Tyler home. He and his wife have six children, one of whom will attend UT Tyler beginning fall 2021.

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