The Entrepreneurship Education Consortium (EEC) held its 5th annual Entrepreneurship Immersion Week at Ashland University on August 7 – 12. Teams of five undergraduate students from each of the nine member schools arrived on Sunday afternoon to begin an intensive educational program focused on entrepreneurship and the entrepreneurial resources available in Northeast Ohio. Member schools of the EEC are Ashland University, Baldwin-Wallace College, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kent State University, Lake Erie College, and the University of Akron.
The educational program was led by EEC faculty and outside experts; topics included opportunity recognition, brainstorming, market analysis, marketing, leadership, networking, team building, entrepreneurial finance, funding, and legal issues. Keynote speakers included EEC program alumni, Trevor Clatterbuck, CEO, Fresh Fork Market (Immersion Week 2007) and John Knific, CEO, Citizen Groove (EEC regional business concept competition 2009).
Additionally, during the week each team was charged with developing a product and/or service business concept in competition with the other teams to be presented to a panel of distinguished judges from Northeast Ohio’s entrepreneurial community. Team business concepts were:
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Case: Entrepreneurs Consolidated, a web-based search and network tool matching entrepreneurs with the professionals that can assist them through their development and startup.
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Kent State: Teddy Alert, a teddy bear with a built-in smoke detector.
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John Carroll: MEDshift Solutions, improving hospital operating efficiencies for the operating suites by insuring no lost time due to lack of personnel.
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Cleveland State: Procryption, encrypting the transmission of client point-to-point data through their servers.
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Lake Erie: EZ Aisle, the first of many smart phone applications that improves retail shopping experiences and advertises sale items.
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B-W: CustoME color, a unique cosmetics product color and packaging system.
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Akron: Pattern recognition software for improved biological research.
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Ashland: An innovative beverage safety concept.
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Hiram: mmeko sauce, a specialty food sauce and condiment from Guinea for the “foodie” market.
The team from Baldwin-Wallace won the first place prize of $2,500; Ashland took the second place prize of $1,500, and Kent State took the third place prize of $1,000. As of late September, members of five of the nine teams continue to pursue the business concepts developed during Entrepreneurship Immersion Week.
Read Wakefield, Director, The Burton D. Morgan Center for Entrepreneurial Studies, Ashland University, and, President, Entrepreneurship Education Consortium, stated, “Though the judges select winning concepts, every student who participates in Entrepreneurship Immersion Week is a winner. They learn about and experience entrepreneurship. They return to their own campuses with a confidence and enthusiasm that they can make a positive significant difference in the world by being entrepreneurial in starting their own businesses or by working for others. They share this experience with their classmates and help us to reach additional students with our entrepreneurial programs.”
The national award-winning programs of the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium are funded in large part by The Burton D. Morgan Foundation.
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