Unlike most business school entrepreneurship centers, the Owen Entrepreneurship Center (OEC) has become a major catalyst in the business community beyond the confines of the campus, and Owen entrepreneurship students profit significantly from that situation. The OEC is the hub of entrepreneurial activity among Vanderbilt's Business, Law, Medical, and Engineering graduate schools as well as the University’s Office of Technology Transfer. The Center has become a highly respected training ground for serious student entrepreneurs and frequently fields winning teams in the national business plan competitions. The OEC is one of the few entrepreneurship centers in the country that has spawned an active angel investor network, the Nashville Capital Network (NCN) focused on funding early-stage start-up ventures, a vital resource for the regional entrepreneurial business community. The OEC also sponsors the regional chapter of the Young Entrepreneurs Organization (YEO), allowing Owen students to have easy access to a large network of highly successful entrepreneurs.
