Alum Volunteer Cultivates Entrepreneurship in the Bentley Community
In the small New Hampshire town where Jim Burnham ’80 grew up, a family friend named John E. Webster was an owner of a lumber mill who had graduated from Bentley in 1921. A proud alum, Webster set up a campus visit for Burnham when he learned the teenager was considering a career in accounting.
Webster was convincing — not only did he accompany Burnham to Waltham for the tour, but he arranged a one-on-one meeting with Gregory Adamian, Bentley’s president at the time. Webster’s guidance set Burnham on a path to his own success story in the finance industry and sparked a passion for entrepreneurship.
“So many students at Bentley absolutely have the ability to be entrepreneurs,” Burnham says. “I want to help students and their parents understand the ROI associated with getting an education at Bentley.”
Burnham volunteers as an instructor in Bentley’s Entrepreneurship Hub (E-Hub), which fosters innovation through mentorship, workshops, resources and on-site development opportunities. He served on a panel of alumni judges for the E-Hub Incubator program to support aspiring student entrepreneurs. He is also an active alum in the New York Alumni region, and for more than three decades has organized dozens of networking and educational events in that area.
An Entrepreneur at Heart
Burnham’s own career is testimony to the value of a Bentley degree. His first job was as an accountant at Deloitte & Touche, a prestigious role for a new graduate, and he rose through the ranks to a senior manager position. He went on to hold a series of executive financial posts and in 2003 started his own firm — GO! Accountants, Inc., a multi-service accounting firm. As CEO, Burnham advises entrepreneurial clients on creating business plans and establishing key operational strategies, from information systems to sales and marketing.
“I live and breathe entrepreneurship,” says Burnham. “Entrepreneurs come in all shapes and sizes — what matters is how they think and act. They are leaders who, when they see a problem, come up with a solution for it.”
As a volunteer lecturer for the E-Hub, Burnham has conducted workshops on how to create financial projections and how to use legal counsel while establishing a business. “I love it when I see a student suddenly have an ‘aha’ moment,” he says. “You can see them thinking, ‘I never thought of that!’ and you realize that you’ve just expanded their mind.”
The Incubator program was established in 2024 and supports student ventures with resources as they advance through three rounds of pitch competitions. The two most promising startups receive $10,000 in seed money in the final round. Burnham recalls that one of the final groups had a promising app, but what really convinced him of its potential was the students’ confidence.
“The group gelled as a team,” he says. “They knew what their roles were, and they were absolutely executing on their tasks, and that just breeds more confidence. They came across as very polished.”
Bentley Beyond New England
As a New York regional volunteer, Burnham has organized panel discussions on business trends and networking opportunities at sporting events like the U.S. Open Tennis Championships. He was a founding member of the Global Alumni Board, and he is dedicated to promoting Bentley outside of the university’s traditional New England market. In fact, he and his wife established the Beyond New England Fund, an endowed scholarship for students from regions beyond the six New England states.
“The four years you spend on campus are just the tip of the iceberg,” Burnham says. “Yes, you're going to get a great education, but it's who you meet from Bentley that's going to make a huge difference for the rest of your life.”