By Katy Caldwell and Melissa González, Guest Commentary -- The Beacon
While many of you were relaxing at home, catching up on the latest episodes of Glee or Jersey Shore over fall break, 17 University of Portland students traveled to New York City for the week. Why you ask? No, the University was not funding them to go on a hunt for Kim Kardashian's birthday parties (...which may or may not have been going on that week) but instead to embark on a unique and valuable experience. Students had the opportunity to meet with places like Sony Records, National Geographic, the UN, JP Morgan Chase, NASDAQ, Paige Premium Denim, The Knot wedding magazine, and some of New York's tastiest bakeries. What could all of these places possibly have to do with each other? One word: entrepreneurship.
All seventeen of these students are a part of the University of Portland's Entrepreneur Scholars program. Entrepreneur Scholars (or E-Scholars) is a program that allows students to develop their own business venture and learn the ins and outs of how to become a successful entrepreneur in the business world. Students can either create a new idea or improve upon a pre-existing business venture. This is accomplished through activities like guest lecturers in class, networking events, mentor meetings with local entrepreneurs, business trips abroad, and various other hands-on, real world experiences. Students traveled to New York over fall break to research their individual business venture ideas and meet with successful businesses and entrepreneurs. Next semester, this research and development process will continue for the E-Scholars when they travel to Denver, Colorado for a weekend in February and to Dubai or China over spring break. These trips will make the E-Scholars more comfortable and confident in doing business anywhere in the world.
This year's E-Scholars are exploring a variety of business ventures. Juniors Kenny King and Kurt Berning are actually in the process of launching their non-profit business venture. Their business, Alliance for Developing Education, is focused on building schools in third world countries and providing those schools with access to microfinance and vocational training. King and Berning intend to start this venture in Cambodia and hope to expand from there. They are currently in the process of filing the forms to become incorporated and hope to begin fundraising in the spring. Another project a little closer to home is junior, Tessa Mini's business venture that seeks to provide a sustainable and eco-friendly retirement center on the University of Portland campus! According to Mini, "this building will be 100%, or as close as possible to being sustainable with net zero energy and water." She also mentioned that she plans to have part of the revenue go towards building an equally sustainable school in a developing country in order to provide education to those in need. These ideas are just a few of the potential ventures the E-Scholars are researching. However, not all the businesses have to lean toward non-profit or being sustainable. The business ventures undertaken by the E-Scholars cover a wide spectrum of markets like specialized gyms, premium denim lines, supportive flip-flops, decorate your own cupcake shops, and many more.
Now, do not fear dear reader- you do not have to be a business student to be a part of this awesome program! The students in E-Scholars represent a range of majors at the university. This year's E-Scholar group is made up of students from majors including: business, political science, German, communication, Spanish, English, and engineering - just to name a few. The E-Scholars program encourages innovative thinkers and welcomes anyone who feels they have an inspiring idea and the drive to pursue it.
Applications for the 2011-2012 E-Scholar class can be found online on the UP website or picked up in the Center for Entrepreneurship in BC 216. If you have any questions feel free to contact Melissa González at gonzalez12@ up.edu or Katy Caldwell at caldwelk12@up.edu.
