|
|
 |
| |
| News and Information |
| |
| College of Business Administration |
| |
| Five Students Attend Entrepreneurial 'Boot Camp' |
| |
Akron, Ohio, Sept. 28, 2007 — Five University of Akron students took part in the first Entrepreneurship Immersion Week, aka boot camp for entrepreneurs, which was held over the summer.
The event was hosted by the Entrepreneur Education Consortium (EEC), a group of seven Northeast Ohio (NEO) universities and colleges with entrepreneurship programs.
The program, open to any major, involved 35 students — five from each school. During the week, teams brainstormed and selected one idea for a viable and sustainable venture, then were taught how to capitalize on them.
At the end of the week, they presented their ideas to a team of investors. Throughout the week, the students were taught by leading entrepreneurs and university professors.
UA students attending the program were Gary Williams of Akron; John Ridley of Aurora; Michael Modon of Bath; Nick Vesley of Canton and Michael Tokarz of Smoot, W.Va., president of UA's Students in Free Enterprise chapter.
They developed a new Web site called “I Can't Dress.com” to help people coordinate outfits and match colors.
Tokarz and Ridley, both juniors, say “The whole process was a valuable experience; it combined hands-on learning about the entrepreneurial process, and networking with leading students, entrepreneurs, professionals and investors from all over Northeast Ohio. We were excited to come back to UA and share what we have learned with other students.”
“By concentrating our efforts to teach the best and the brightest young minds in Northeast Ohio about entrepreneurship, we are planting the seeds to stimulate entrepreneurship within existing businesses, and create new businesses, jobs and wealth for the area,” says Dr. Todd Finkle of UA's Fitzgerald Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies.
“This is about innovation, collaboration and entrepreneurship — exactly what the region needs. To my knowledge, something of this magnitude has never been done before,” Finkle says. “Our goal is to develop entrepreneurs who will remain in the region after graduation.
The economic future of our region will be shaped by students like these. The event was a complete success — the interest from the students, universities, professors and the business community was phenomenal.
“Several schools are knocking on our door to become part of our consortium,” he adds. Other EEC members are Ashland and Baldwin Wallace Colleges, and Case Western Reserve, Cleveland State, John Carroll and Kent State universities.
The camp, held at Cleveland State University, was made possible by a grant from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation. |
| |
| Click here to view the Akron Beacon Journal article |
| |
| |
 Return to News & Information |
| |
| |
|
|
|
