Albert Lepage (MBA ’71), retired chairman of Lepage Bakeries Inc., has committed $12.5 million to the A. B. Freeman School of Business to establish a new center dedicated to the study, teaching and practice of entrepreneurship.
The Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation will oversee the Freeman School’s offerings in entrepreneurship, including coursework, academic research and student programing. The center will also have a significant focus on community outreach, developing new programs to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem and address unmet business needs in New Orleans and the Gulf South.
Albert Lepage (MBA ’71) has committed $12.5 million to the Freeman School to establish a new center dedicated to entrepreneurship.
“There is a real need for research in the best practices of entrepreneurship and growing a business,” said Lepage. “But it is also important to bring that expertise back into the wider community — both the under-served and well-served — to help entrepreneurs and innovators in New Orleans and the Gulf South achieve their goals and thrive.”
“Business leaders who are successful recognize that economic and social advancements come from tackling issues with an entrepreneurial outlook and embracing innovation of all kinds,” said Freeman School Dean Ira Solomon. “We are so grateful for Albert’s generosity and vision in helping create what will become an even more vibrant hub for this philosophy at Freeman and in the city of New Orleans.”
The Freeman School’s Levy-Rosenblum Institute for Entrepreneurship and the Tulane Family Business Center will continue their work as segments within the Albert Lepage Center.
A native of Lewiston, Maine, Lepage joined the family baking company in 1971 shortly after graduating from Tulane. He became president in 1978 and chairman in 1983. In 2012, Lepage Bakeries merged with Flowers Foods. Lepage remained with the company as co-chairman until his retirement in 2014.
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