Pioneer entrepreneur school in Asia to build Cebu branch

Vivienne Tan, the founder of Entrepreneur School of Asia (ESA) has formally announced to establish a branch in Cebu as soon as she finds a site that meets the school's requirement.

ESA is so far the only institution in Asia entirely focused on entrepreneurship development and education. It is also one of the pioneering academic institutions in the Asia Pacific region to offer a Bachelors degree in entrepreneurship. The school is established in Manila in 1999, and it expanded its network of academic partners in the United Kingdom, Australia, United States, and most recently China.

"We are in process of talking to different groups. We are looking at four possible sites for the location of the school," Tan said in her recent visit to Cebu.

By next year, ESA will then announce the exact location of the school, said co-founder Joel Santos.

Tan, who is the daughter of Taipan Lucio Tan said she decided to put an ESA campus in Cebu, because of the place's conducive environment for entrepreneurs.

She said the future Cebu campus should be in a bigger scale, which will have an integrated facility that is conducive for creative learning, and should not be a "typical" campus structure.

ESA's campus in Manila located in Libis area, has now over 400 students taking real entrepreneurship courses, such as Bachelor of Science in Entrepreneurship, BS Administration, Diploma in Marketing, Diploma in Business Information Technology, and Diploma in Mass Communication.

She said the South Road Properties (SRP), is one of the choices for the school's location, but she is also considering other options.

According to Tan, it is more likely that the school will have to build its own facility, as soon as it can determine the location.

She said she is going to build not only a school campus, but an integrated facility that will offer dormitories, leisure facilities for students, among others.

"Entrepreneurship is a mindset. It needs a paradigm shifting especially for Filipinos. Students are motivated to be highly creative and conducive environment (for learning) is very important," Tan said.

She added that the school will not only attract Filipino who wanted to be successful entrepreneurs but also from other countries.

Tan strongly believes that Cebu has the right environment to sharpen entrepreneurial skills of the students, mentioning that Cebu has a significant role in his father's success in business.

Lucio Tan, the owner of several big businesses not only in the Philippines, but overseas, including the country's flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL) had spent many years in his childhood in the northern part of Cebu province, in Bantayan, Island, although he is not literally a Cebuano, Cebuano community acknowledged that Cebu was part of Tan's early years in building his business empire.