B-W will host next LaunchTown competition

Baldwin-Wallace has been chosen to host the regional LaunchTown Entrepreneurship Award competition in April.

The event includes students from seven colleges and universities in Northeast Ohio, who compete to present the best idea for a new product, service or business. Launchtown is sponsored by the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium.

B-W is using the competition as a catalyst to reform its Introduction to Entrepreneurship course taught by Phil Bessler, director of the college’s Business Clinic, and Peter Rea, the Burton D. Morgan Chair in entrepreneurial studies. Both professors are incorporating the competition into the course this fall.

Student teams will be formed from these classes. In fact, interested students across the entire campus can form teams and compete as well. The winning team will then represent B-W in the April 2 competition.

While the competition has value, school officials say “the most significant benefit is demonstrating to a wide range of students that an entrepreneurial mindset and skill set can be learned.”

Five Baldwin-Wallace students already got a taste of competition this summer when they participated in the second annual Entrepreneurship Education Consortium Immersion Week at John Carroll University.

The week-long event, sponsored by The Burton D. Morgan Foundation, pits students from seven area colleges and universities. Each college team must complete a feasibility study of a business venture, including product development and marketing.

Baldwin-Wallace, one of five NEOCEP colleges working to spark entrepreneurial thinking across all academic disciplines, chose its team through a competitive process. Team members included those studying film history, economics and chemistry as well as two business/marketing majors.

The B-W team, under the leadership of Bessler, focused on improving the operations and efficiency of small but high value-added landscape construction firms.

The B-W team did not win – Case Western Reserve took top honors for an electronic coupon shopping card – but the students left with a wealth of new knowledge.