alumni – Page 10 – Ciocca Center for Business, Ethics, and Society Blog

November 5, 2014

HCEG: Boston Networking Event 10/23/14

The Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies Office worked with the HCEG Alumni Group to host the bi-annual HCEG Boston Networking Event last month on Thursday, October 23rd at the Racepoint Global offices on State Street. It was a fun-filled night with good company, food and drink. Present alumni covered a broad area of careers from commercial real estate to communications to c-level executive at technology companies. The theme of the night was “The Ability to Adapt to an Ever-Changing Market” and this topic was covered by the keynote speaker of the evening, Ray Jorgensen ’91. He is the President and CEO of PMG which specializes in revenue cycle management for community health centers. Ray gave a powerful speech on the art of adaptation in a career.

He broke this concept into three separate ideas to become successful in a perpetually changing career.

1) Find a “Hedgehog Concept”
a. Do what you love
b. How can you be the greatest in the world at what you do?
c. Success is very gradual until you hit a tipping point in which it skyrockets

2) Be Resilient…Persevere!
a. Fail and learn
b. Jim Collin’s Stockade paradox: the resilient and realistic persevere, not the optimists in the world

3) Be “Lucky”
a. Create your own like; be in the right place at the right time and out work everyone
b. Solid support network
c. Good fortune is rarely unplanned
d. Control what you can control: your attitude and effort

Ray’s speech was incredibly informative, entertaining and relevant to his audience. The Holy Cross community is truly fortunate to have such successful and passionate alumni like Ray who are willing to share their advice and story. Next time we hope to have more students in the mix for networking! Watch for the spring event registration.

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Thanks to Matt Campbell ’15, for attending the Boston event and writing this succinct review. Great keynote, great food/drink and great networking! As always, don’t forget to “like” COES on FACEBOOK and follow us @HCPrebusiness

Cassie Gevry
Associate Director
Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies

November 3, 2014

NEW: Advertising & Communications/PR Workshop

ADVERTISING, COMMUNICATIONS & PR WORKSHOP – New COES Program!

– three-day intensive workshop

– successful alumni presenters

– career advice for the industry

WORKSHOP DATES: mon. – wed., march 2-4, 2015 (spring break)

two days on campus, one day site visit to Boston, MA

ALUMNI

Want to get involved? Email Prof. David Chu at dchu<at>holycross.edu

STUDENTS

APPLICATION DEADLINE: thu., november 6, 2014 @ 11:59pm

email your resume & cover letter to prebusiness<at>holycross.edu

August 4, 2014

HCEG: Leveraging One’s Network Effectively in the Technology Sector

The Holy Cross Entrepreneurs Group of New York City held its second networking event of the year at Bryan Cave on Wednesday evening, July 23. The evening was a great success, as many alumni and students attended. Professor David Chu, Director of the Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-Business Adviser, also attended the event.

Many thanks to those who participated on the panel, including Michael Barrett ’84, CEO of Millenial Media, Chris Nace, ’06 VP Executive Search at Connections NY, Colin Cunningham ’09, Manager at Axial, and moderator Andrew Cialino ’10, Senior Account Executive at Axial. A hearty thanks goes to Patricia Werner ’97, Counsel at Bryan Cave LLP, who hosted the event at the law firm. Patricia is also a member of the Steering Committee for the Holy Cross Entrepreneurs Group of New York City, along with Daniel Barrett ’93, Andrew Cialino ’10, Colin Cunningham ’09, and Chris Nace ’06.

The alumni panelists focused their insights on leveraging one’s network effectively in the technology sector. With today’s growing tech space, whether pertaining to startups or to the field in general, it is important to understand industry basics. More importantly, both students and alumni should know how to recognize and utilize technology’s benefits in an entrepreneurial way.

The panelists addressed various issues under this umbrella topic, such as how to secure a job in the tech industry, how to reach out and successfully network within the field, and what kinds of tactics both students and alumni may leverage when acclimating themselves to the tech sector.

As always, this networking event successfully fostered that famous Crusader spirit and alliance, as alumni and students were brought together under the same passion for entrepreneurship. The goal of these events is to further the mission of HCEG of creating more entrepreneurial relationships, so that the Holy Cross community is not only a group of “men and women for others,” but also a community of men and women for each other.

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Thanks to Sydney Pugliares ’16 for covering this event and to all the alum sharing insights to the tech industry! As always, don’t forget to “like” us on FACEBOOK and follow us @HCPrebusiness

Cassie Gevry
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

June 24, 2014

HCEG: Boston Networking Event Summary

The Holy Cross Entrepreneurs Group of Boston held its spring networking event at McGladrey on Thursday evening, June 12, 2014.A remarkable number of Boston alumni attended the event, along with the students participating in the Holy Cross Summer Business Program. This opportunity gave students the opportunity to practice their networking skills and expand their alumni circle in a professional setting. Professor David Chu, Director of the Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies and HC’s Pre-Business Adviser, also attended the event accompanied by several other members of the College administration and the Pre-Business Office.

While the event cultivated that classic Holy Cross spirit, the evening’s host, Bob Allard ’91, proved most energetic of all, with his insights on Servant Entrepreneurship: How to Survive in a Not-Just-for-Profit World. The Managing Partner of ExtensionEngine LLC explained how “Servant Entrepreneurship” is in fact NOT an oxymoron, but rather a strategy that all successful business gurus recognize and utilize.

Allard placed significant focus on the benefits of networking, giving anecdotes and valuable advice that have aided him in the ongoing process of entrepreneurship. He explained how it is often “who you know” along with (and sometimes more important than) “what you know” that will help you succeed in business. However, Allard took this philosophy one step further to note how it is also “who you help” that will lead you to success. He explained how “paying it forward” in the world of networking will come full circle — a sort of entrepreneurial “karma,” per se.

After Allard’s discussion of “Servant Entrepreneurship,” the alumni and students returned to more networking fueled with even more enthusiasm than before, as his insights gave more purpose to the event. Alumni Tom Brennan, CFO of AbilTo, Inc and Ray Jorgensen, Co-Founder & CEO of Priority Management Group, Inc. (PMG), also helped to facilitate discussion regarding these topics of entrepreneurship and networking.

Many thanks to those who helped in organizing this successful event. A big thank you to Bob Allard ’91, Tom Brennan ’86, and Ray Jorgensen ’91 for facilitating such valuable discussion of entrepreneurship during the event.

It is always an honor to host such successful alumni at events that bring together a variety of stories and passions, as each attendee is linked with the same drive of entrepreneurship and Holy Cross identity. The connections made during these events are instrumental in furthering the HCEG mission of creating more entrepreneurial relationships. Our goal is to foster the Holy Cross community as not only a group of “men and women for others,” but also a community of men and women for each other.

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Thanks AGAIN to Sydney Pugliares ’16 for helping to organize, attending and writing this summary of the event! Be sure to like us on FACEBOOK and follow us @HCPrebusiness!

Cassie Gevry
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

May 15, 2014

HCEG: NYC Networking Event Summary

The Holy Cross Entrepreneurs Group of NYC hosted its inaugural event on Thursday evening, April 3 at the Time Warner Center Screening Room in midtown Manhattan.

The event was bustling with alumni representing classes from the 1970s to 2013. Also in attendance were members of the College administration, and Professor David Chu, Director of the Ciocca Office of Entrepreneurial Studies and HC’s Pre-Business Advisor.

Many thanks to those who helped organize the event, including Kristen O’Hara ’92, CMO of Time Warner Media Group, who generously secured the Screening Room, HCEG-NYC co-founders Andrew Cialino ’10 and Colin Cunningham ’09 who managed marketing and social media outreach along with the Holy Cross Alumni office. The event was financially supported by a number of individuals and two company sponsors. Those sponsorships were arranged by J.D. Rehm ’88, co-founder of Mercury Group and Patricia Werner ’97, attorney at Bryan Cave LLP.

HCEG-NYC co-founder and the event’s host, Dan Barrett ’93, opened the event with a question: Why a Holy Cross Entrepreneur’s Group? In response, he expounded on two points. First, that alumni involved in entrepreneurial activities or servicing entrepreneurs have lacked a networking organization that has so long existed in other fields, such as law and finance. And second, alumni and students would greatly benefit from efforts to raise the profile of the College among entrepreneurial leads in the NY Metro area. HCEG-NYC would provide a professional networking organization in to help fulfill these goals.

Dan also shared interesting data on entrepreneurship among HC alumni. Using information gathered from the alumni office database, he noted that approximately 200 alumni have ‘founder’ or ‘co-founder’ in their job title. These individuals come from classes as far back as 1945 and as recent as 2013. The majority of these alumni reside in Metro NY, Boston, California, Maryland/DC and Florida as the top five locations. The list also revealed a wide variety of fields in which these alumni worked, including non-profits, finance, and consulting in addition to traditional entrepreneurial fields, such as technology and communications.

The evening culminated in the hour-long discussion with Tom Keirnan ’92, serial entrepreneur and currently co-founder and CEO of ClickPay, and Jack Hanlon ’06, co-founder and VP of Product and Data at Kinetic Social. In January, Jack also received the distinction of being named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 for the Marketing and Advertising industry for his transformational work at Kinetic.

Tom discussed how his early involvement in web development during the early days of the internet played a transformational role in his career and development as an executive or founder of several digital ventures over the past two decades. The concept of working for himself came as a result of advice from his father, as well as the training he received as a student. He stressed the value that a broad-based, liberal arts education provides an entrepreneur not only with the ability to think critically, but also with the skill set to solve problems and learn new tasks quickly. These skills, he claimed, were instrumental to his success thus far.

Jack added that his time at Holy Cross allowed him to explore various avenues which jumpstarted his passion for entrepreneurship. He was one of only four Music majors in his class, and he organized a thriving Ultimate Frisbee club on campus. These activities at Holy Cross required many of the same skills he leverages today at Kinetic.

It was a privilege to host such successful alumni speakers and hear their entrepreneurial stories. It is our hope that they provide an inspiration to all in their efforts, and that HCEG as a community can in the future cultivate even more talent and ideas to further our mission of connecting with each other on a professional, entrepreneurial level.

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Thanks to Sydney Pugliares ’16 for attending and adding to this great review of the event! Don’t forget to mark your calendars for the HCEG: Boston Networking Event on June 12th, 2014. Be sure to like us on FACEBOOK and follow us @HCPrebusiness!

Cassie Gevry
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

March 13, 2014

For the Love of Buildings

On February 24, Holy Cross alumni who have distinguished themselves as leaders in the commercial real estate business shared their wisdom, advice and experiences in a COES event focused on educating students about careers in real estate.

James Whelan ’00, Senior Vice President at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, and Colin Blair’00, Account Manager in the Corporate Services Group at Cushman and Wakefield, described some of the opportunities in the industry before introducing keynote speaker John Power ’80, Principal and Co-Founder of Fairley, White. Four panelists, Matt Harvey ’02, Principal at Cresa Partners ; Sean Duffy ’86, Executive Director, Brokerage, at Cushman and Wakefield; Catherine Britt ‘04, Senior Project Manager at Northstar; and Tim Mulhall ’10 of Colliers International also offered advice on how to stand out as a potential intern and job candidate.

As someone who has been knocking on the door or real estate companies for the past several months, I was especially interested in hearing their views on what it takes to break into, and succeed in, the industry. Their response: passion, persistence and networking.

John Power, who has more than 30 years of experience in the field , sought advice from another Holy Cross alum, Bill McCall, and described how standing in McCall’s office, he became fascinated by the buildings he saw through the window. He began to imagine the possibilities for the building and knew from that moment that he wanted to be involved in commercial real estate. “Commercial brokerage is the best profession. It involves no risk, and it offers high rewards. But you must be willing to invest your time,” stated Powell.

Here are some other insights:

— All majors can apply. Both Whelan and Blair pointed out that commercial real estate offers opportunities for students of all majors and with a variety of interests, whether it is sales, finance, law, or marketing. Work ethic and personality matter more than major.

— One building, many opportunities. Every building offers a range of transaction/business opportunities: sales, rentals, leasing, purchasing, financing, management/operations, etc. This is what makes the industry so dynamic.

— Learn the business first. Harvey stressed that new recruits should take the time to learn the business and not be frustrated if they aren’t involved in big deals right away. Knowledge about the business will help you in future deals.

— Sell, grind and build relationships. Duffy emphasized that every day you need to sell both yourself and the product. He reminded attendees that relationships matter, always – and that persistence pays off.

— The Holy Cross advantage. Power pointed out that Holy Cross students have an advantage in the field because of the school’s high reputation in the real estate industry. Mulhall added that his Holy Cross education boosted his confidence and gave him an edge because his writing was stronger than his peers.

The lesson? Holy Cross’ liberal arts curriculum and the reputation of its alum can help open doors to a vast array of career opportunities in commercial real estate.

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Thanks to Kevin Kennedy ’16 for covering this event and to all the alum sharing insights to the real estate industry! As always, don’t forget to “like” us on FACEBOOK and follow us @HCPrebusiness Watch for our next blog post…

Cassie Gevry
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

July 10, 2012

This is Summer Business Program: Grand Finale

Sorry for the delay! Here is the final installment of Frank DeLeo’s ’14 guest blogger series. We are so excited to here how it all ended!

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Game day: Friday, June 22. The big day had finally arrived. Four weeks of preparation and hard work has lead up to a mere 30 minute presentation. We practiced for hours upon hours. Execution was the final step, and my team was determined to knock ‘em dead.

That morning I woke up at 6:30 to meet Mr. Corria and the team at 7 before the first presentation started. Although our presentation wasn’t until 10, Mr. Correia couldn’t speak with us once the competition began at 8. We ran through our presentation once more, and Mr. Correia gave us a pregame speech that calmed our nerves (for the time being). He told us that we knew the information, and how he was more than confident in our ability.

The team decided to take an hour to go back to Carlin, get dressed, and get in the zone. We met up at 9:15 outside the Science Library. Dressed to impress, the team decided to run through the presentation one final time. As 10 a.m. kept getting closer and closer, nerves surfaced. At any moment we would be called in…

Personally, I believe that our presentation went off without a major hitch. We all remembered our transitions; however, each of us fumbled over a couple lines, but recovered nicely. We were all nervous, but then again who wasn’t? I think we got our point across and articulated ourselves clearly. The professionalism that a corporate presentation should have was unmatched by any team. Business cards, transitions, dress, and mannerisms were all perfectly executed. I couldn’t have been happier with our performance.

After the presentations, it felt as if a weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Walking back to Carlin, I couldn’t believe four weeks flew by that quickly. I got changed into casual clothes for lunch and sat in the AC of the science building until it was time to hear the results.

Unfortunately, my team didn’t come away with a win in either the elevator pitch or the Home Depot presentation. Despite this fact, Mr. Correia told us how proud he was of us during his reflection on working with us as a team. Hearing him talk so highly of us was uplifting and motivating. Although we all wanted the win, the SBP was about the experience.

The Summer Business Program was a phenomenal opportunity that taught me so much about the world of business. After participating in the ELW, the in depth business exposure I was looking for was fulfilled, especially in marketing and advertising. There were so many aspects of business I had no clue about. From finance to global expansion and everything in-between, I have pages of notes on every subject.

One of the greatest aspects of the program, in my opinion, was meeting distinguished Holy Cross alumni. Every person that spoke volunteered to educate the next generation of crusaders. Through numerous conversations, the business world isn’t as mysterious as I once thought. I am optimistic about becoming successful in the business world despite being a psychology major. Through my time in the program, I have gained a newfound interest in pursuing a career in business (if law doesn’t work out). Interning is definitely my next step.

Aside from the speakers, the mentors deserve a special thanks and separate category as a reason someone should do the SBP. The six mentors took 4 or 5 individuals under their wing to guide them through the project and teach them everything they could about business.

For my team, Mr. Correia was always excited about working and educating us with his expertise. He was constantly there for help and to ask questions because of the immense amount of information we needed to absorb. In addition, my team learned about professionalism and presentation skills, not only business. One quote that will never leave me is, “Tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell ‘em, tell ‘em, tell ‘em what you told ‘em.”

Overall, the SBP yielded valuable information and honed my presentation and leadership skills. Much of what I learned is applicable now and in the future: making ethical decisions, public speaking, organizing a presentation, and networking just to name a few.

When I signed up for the SBP I thought I’d never like business because it was only about numbers. Through the program, I came to the realization that the business field is so much more than finance. I now have an open-mind to a potential career in business down the road.

After graduating from the Summer Business Program, I’m ready. Are you?

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Thanks, Frank!

Teams 3 & 4 took home the prizes, but all of our students deserve a huge congratulations for their hard work and dedication. SBP was a huge success and COES can’t wait until next year! Check our our facebook page for pictures and updates on SBP!

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!

Kaithlyn

Kaithlyn Kayer
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

David Chu
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-business Advisor

June 25, 2012

This is Summer Business Program: Part 4

Here’s another one from Frank DeLeo ’14!

Week four began our quest to obtain a victory on Friday after all the trials and tribulations of the Summer Business Program. The stress and anxiety set in early when trying to perfect our presentation. Every bullet, every sentence, and every movement had to be rehearsed and scripted. The PowerPoint needed to be clear and concise to get our ideas across. Most importantly we needed to look and sound our best in order to be the epitome of a real business presentation: professional.

The week began with a session on career planning. Taught by Pam Ahearn and Amy Murphy, we learned the nuisances of navigating the Holy Cross website and LinkedIn to find alumni not only for internships and jobs, but also for informational interviews.

The Holy Cross network is a phenomenal resource that I will continue to tap into during my last two years at HC, and even after graduation. I still don’t know what I want to do with my life after college, but I have a strategy to piece together my varying interests. By taking advantage of everything Holy Cross has to offer: the academic internship program, study abroad, ELW, SBP, etc, I can gain a better understanding of my likes and dislikes.

During my journey, I know that the network is always there for me to ask questions. The most important take away from the session was that alumni want to help, so I should never hesitate to contact them. After Monday, my two primary summer priorities became networking and setting up my LinkedIn profile.

As the week went on we were taught how to use Microsoft Office tools such as PowerPoint and Excel. Wednesday’s session on PowerPoint and presentation skills with Jessica Blau’08 and Roger Lobo ‘04 provided pertinent information to incorporate into the pitch.

During the session, we learned about tips and tricks for PowerPoint, verbal delivery, and slide content. My team took this new knowledge and touched up our presentation before we asked Ms. Blau to film our first dry run. I always hate watching myself on film, but the team and I discovered a lot from watching ourselves. We were able to see areas in which we could improve and mistakes that needed to be corrected by Friday. Thursday was the day to make those corrections.

When Mr. Correia told us that Thursday meant perfection, he wasn’t kidding. The team had no idea what to expect at 10 a.m. for the start of our meeting in Smith 155. We began with sharing all of the new information we had learned in our sessions, in addition to our perfected PowerPoint. From there, we jumped right into the dry runs. Every movement and sentence was scrutinized. People forgot lines, swayed in place, stepped forward wrong etc. Each time we made a mistake Mr. Correia would say, “Do it again.”

After a few tries, we got the hang of it. All that remained was being able to control our nerves the next morning and remember the transitions. We were confident in the content of our presentation and our ability to pitch the information. We simply needed to execute.

At 2 p.m., Mr. Correia had to go talk to the parents at Gateways. His wife couldn’t make it, so he needed someone from the team to go with him. I volunteered to talk to the parents with the mentality that I’d be sitting on a panel answering questions. Oh how wrong I was. It turned out that I had to speak in front of an almost full ballroom of parents with no preparation. I was terrified, but it was a great public speaking experience. I told my story and explained how the parents should let their children grow up, but still be involved in their lives for support and advice.

After my near heart attack, the team reconvened and decided to go practice separately for tomorrow. We had rehearsed so much that we needed a break to get our heads on straight. Mr. Correia left us to work by our own accord, and trusted us to be ready for game time, 10 a.m. Friday morning.

We were as ready as we’d ever be.

I can’t wait to find out how they did! Thanks again, Frank!

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!

Kaithlyn

Kaithlyn Kayer
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

David Chu
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-business Advisor

June 21, 2012

This is Summer Business Program: Part 3

Frank DeLeo ’14 is on a role! Here is a recap of week 3.

The end of week three meant that there is only one week of the program to go. With the team project looming, I was in desperate need of an energy boost to get motivated. My prayers were answered when Tom Patton ’86 and Carolyn Rizzoli ’86 led Thursday’s session. Personally, it was the most exciting day of the program, hands down. When 4 o’clock rolled around I didn’t want it to end.

During the session, we learned about marketing and business ethics. In the morning, we played the marketing game. We weren’t given any rules other than what type of product we were selling. Our objective was to make the most profit during the allotted time by selling exclusively to or in combination with the three types of stores: a high end boutique, a department store, or a big retail chain.

Chaos and role-playing ensued with time being of the essence. My team, Karma, ended up winning with over 12,000 dollars in profit in 3 hours. The game taught me how to manage time, think about possible curveballs, and communicate with the different parts of a supply chain: the banks, the customers, and the manufacturers.

After lunch, we resumed on the topic of business ethics. Mr. Patton role-played as we worked through different, difficult ethical dilemmas. The answers were not black and white due to the varying circumstances and legal consequences. Through acting out the scenarios, he turned a provocative subject into a good time. The best part was that all of the situations were real life examples, and we learned how he personally dealt with them.

What I took away from our discussion was that we need to make many moral decisions during our lifetime; we have to take a step back, think rationally and logically, and rely on our values to make the right decision.

The project being a week away meant buckling down on the presentation over the weekend. On Friday and Saturday, my team structured and created the first draft of our PowerPoint. Since we had a meeting with Mr. Correia at his house on Sunday, we needed to bring something to get feedback on.

When we arrived at the Correia household, we had a phenomenal Father’s Day bbq. Mr. Correia having us over on a day set aside for relaxation and spending time with family was an incredibly nice gesture. I took advantage of the opportunity because I was in dire need of solid food. Rice and take out just wasn’t cutting it. After dinner, we got down to business. The PowerPoint definitely needed touching up; in particular, the content and word choice. I had already cut down majority of our wordy slides; however, it was simply not enough. In the end, we had a productive evening, which resulted in plenty of work that needs to be completed as we move forward.

As the weekend comes to a close, the start of week four is upon us. Week four is crunch time. The Excel and PowerPoint sessions this week will provide pertinent information to add to our presentation. A lot of long days are ahead. Between practicing, preparing, and touching up our presentation in order to get it just right, my team has the mentality of knowing our facts cold. Every word, sentence, and gesture will be scrutinized to uncover its relevance to the overall message we want to convey. We don’t care how much work it takes. We want to be number one.

Thanks, Frank! Two more posts to go for SBP… will Frank’s team take home the win? Keep reading to find out!

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!

Kaithlyn

Kaithlyn Kayer
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

David Chu
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-business Advisor

June 6, 2012

The “New” Summer Business Program: Students become Consultants

This year, the Summer Business Program has a new look! Based on feedback from students and executives, we’ve decided to raise the stakes. This summer, unlike programs in the past, our students are functioning as actual consulting teams.

Summer Business Program is a 4-week immersion into business practices. The program consists of day-long workshops that fall under 4 modules: understanding business, business skills, leadership, and entrepreneurship. These workshops are taught by Holy Cross alumni who currently work in the business world and are teaching from real life experiences.

In addition to the workshops, SBP students are partaking in a competition. In the past, 6 teams of 4 students were lead by an alum executive who provided them with a project. This project was a hypothetical (but intensive) approach to creating a business plan or solving a particular business problem.

Due to the hardwork and success of the last few programs, we have had to devise a way to make the competition more challenging. We gathered feedback from past executives and presenters and found a clear theme: the students are doing real world quality work. So, we decided to give them a real world project.

Our office (the Ciocca Office of Entrepreneuiral Studies) presented an offer to the members of the Holy Cross Entrepreneurs Group in the Boston area: Give us a project and we’ll give you 6 competing consulting teams to provide a solution/service/plan – for free!

Needless to say, we had more than one interested company, but after serious deliberation, we have partnered with Mats, Inc. to help create a marketing plan and pitch for a new venture they are introducing. In turn, Mats, Inc. will use the winning team’s plan to launch this project and our students will have gained real consulting experience.

The teams will still have an executive to act as mentor and advisor. Also, a team from Mats, Inc will be holding status meetings to check on progress. But, make no mistake, the students are running the show. The teams are competing for a cash prize, bragging rights, and the chance to add successful marketing consultant to their resumes!

We hope this is the first of many real life ventures the Summer Business Program attempts. Good luck to all and may the best team win!

As always, don’t forget to “Like” us on FACEBOOK and look for our WIB, SBP and ELW groups on LinkedIN!

Kaithlyn

Kaithlyn Kayer
Associate Director, Entrepreneurial Studies

David Chu
Director, Entrepreneurial Studies & Pre-business Advisor