Hiram College Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship

2013springBiannual Review: September-February

Unlocking Your Inner Entrepreneurnature or nuture

often get asked if a person can really be taught to be an entrepreneur. Isn’t a person born an entrepreneur?

Since our approach to entrepreneurship begins with the mindset as the framework for an entrepreneurial life,

as one working in the education field for over twenty years, I truly believe that nurture has much more to do

with it. Traits associated with an entrepreneurial mindset, like the liberal arts mindset, are creativity, problem

solving, passion, strategic thinking, tolerance, self-awareness, communication and leadership. Just as little children

learn to read, write and do arithmetic by being taught the fundamentals, so too can the fundamentals of developing

and embracing an entrepreneurial mindset be taught.

I believe that there are many more entrepreneurs out there than are aware of it. They just have not had their

inner-entrepreneur unlocked in them.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

Kay F. MolkentinDirector, Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship

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o help celebrate Global Entrepreneurship Week, The Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship hosted

Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow Harriet Rubin the week of November 4–9. Rubin, a writer,

consultant, and lecturer on leadership trends, was very busy visiting classes, giving a

campus-wide talk, meeting with faculty and various student groups, and being a judge for ideablitz! Her

convocation was titled “Thinking Big, in a Gig Economy,” where she addressed the enterprising nature of today’s

graduates who are becoming independent workers (freelancers, consultants, artisans, and self-employed) and

turning their non-traditional “gigster” paths into very real careers.

Author of the international best-seller, The Princessa: Machiavelli for Women, as well as Soloing: Realizing Your Life’s

Ambition, and On Dante’s Track, Rubin founded Currency Books in 1989, a division of Doubleday, and under

her direction became a leading publisher of business books as she encouraged poets, theologians, and scientists

to write for business leaders. Her articles have appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and a

number of other publications.

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Harriet Rubin at Hiram Collegewoodrow wilson visiting fellow

Presenting at USABE 2013sharing best practices

The Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship nominated the Terrier Bakery for the United States Association

Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE*) Special Recognition for Entrepreneurship Education

Innovation Award. This award recognizes innovation in entrepreneurship education in one or a combination

of the following areas - pedagogy, teaching, scholarship, and outreach. The submissions are first reviewed and

judged by a committee that selects the top three finalists. The three finalists are then asked to present in a

plenary session at the annual USABE conference where those in attendance are asked to vote.

Selected as one of the top three finalists, along with Rutgers and St. Thomas’ Schulze School of Entrepreneurship,

Center Director Kay Molkentin and Professor Ella Kirk presented The Terrier Bakery – A Recipe for Entrepreneurship

and the Liberal Arts at the January 2013 conference. While Hiram did not take first place—edged out by St. Thomas in

a close vote—those in attendance were very impressed by how first-year students are learning about entrepreneurship

and small business via the Bakery and its related courses. Our program overall received kudos not only for integrating

entrepreneurship and the liberal arts, but also to the extent we are doing it across our campus. We have been

encouraged by the USASBE award chair to apply again next year for this highly competitive and coveted award.

*USASBE is the largest independent, professional, academic organization in the world dedicated to advancing the discipline

of entrepreneurship.

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hat is, a new Terrier cookie is coming to the Terrier Bakery this semester. The Terrier cookie was

suggested as a menu product by the inaugural Bakery class last year. Since no commercially produced

cookie mold existed that resembled the Hiram mascot, the Bakery had to get entrepreneurial if it wanted

to get the product to market.

The Bakery worked with Jeff Bee, the Computer-Aided Engineering Instructor at the Maplewood Career Center

in Ravenna to help develop the mold. The Maplewood students scanned the Terrier logo, refined the computer

program, and then produced a positive die using a 3-D printer. From the positive die a silicon cookie mold was

made and tested. The students in the Bakery then began exploring possible cookie recipes, then selecting one and

refining it to produce the perfect Terrier cookie. Because the image is now digitized, a die can be made to any size

to produce a new mold. The ideas for new Terrier products are endless!

The cookie has quickly become a big hit with everyone on campus. The Terrier cookie is a regular staple in the

Admissions Office as a treat for visiting prospective students and their families.

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Students Create a New Menu Itemthe terriers are coming!

A Student Run Venture Retail Storecoming soon to hiram

ocation, location, location - a key success factor for any business. Well, Hiram’s Student Run Ventures

(SRVs) - The Terrier Bakery, the Olive Branch Fair Trade Store and any future retail ventures - won’t

have to worry about location. The Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship received a grant from the

Hoover-Price Foundation to create a dedicated retail store space on the first floor of the Kennedy

Student Center.

The SRV Store (its working name) will take over a space currently occupied by a computer lab, which will be

relocated to the lower level. This prime locale will provide the student run ventures greater visibility with potential

customers to showcase their products. Additionally, by creating a common storefront, all of the SRVs will be able

to benefit from pooled resources and economies of scale to create operational efficiencies – shared sales staff and

store hours, retail displays, cash register, and marketing opportunities.

Students in the SRV Internship course are working on the design and layout for the new store. A campus-wide

contest is being considered to come up with a name that will resonate with students and the campus community.

Renovation of the space will begin once the academic year ends in May. The Grand Opening is set for the start of

the 2013-14 school year in August.

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hat was the theme of ideablitz!2012 as thirty-eight students presented eleven ideas for the right to claim they had the one! At the fourth annual ideablitz! competition on November 8, 2012, eleven innovative ideas were pitched by students from across the College to a panel of outside judges. Each student or team had five minutes to present followed by two minutes of Q & A from the judges. Ideas were judged on concept, market need, technological and competitive attributes, pricing, uniqueness,

and presentation.

All participants received feedback about their concepts and presentation from the panel of judges: Scott Altman, Senior VP, Raymond James; Joe Bica, Mayor, City of Ravenna; Dar Caldwell, Founder and Managing Partner, Launchhouse; Daniel Moss, Owner, UnSwing Golf, Ltd; and Harriet Rubin, author, writer, consultant and Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.

The top three winners were:1st Place ($500.00) – Spencer Birney ’13 with Common Cents2nd Place ($300.00) – Richie Webb ’16 with Webb’s Warning Brakes3rd place ($200.00)– Jacob Vaughan ’16 with AA Ponics

“The judges all said the quality of the presentations, as well as the creativity, quality and thoughtfulness of the ideas, were really stellar,” said Center Director Molkentin. “They had a tough time making a decision.” The Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship hopes that many of the students will continue to work on their ideas, taking them through a feasibility analysis, and entering ideabuild!2013 on February 28, 2013.

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Just One.how many does it take?

Entrepreneurs Share their Stories with Studentsfireside chats

s one of the Center’s signature events, Fireside Chats bring a variety of entrepreneurs and others working in the entrepreneurial field to campus to talk to students, faculty, and staff about the entrepreneurial process. The Chats take place on Wednesday evenings in the Center’s Forum from 7:00 to 8:30PM during the fall and spring semesters. While some students take it as a course for credit, the Chats are open to the general public.

Fireside Chats are an opportunity for our students to hear an entrepreneur’s story ...what they do, why they do it, and how they did it. The Chats are also an opportunity for students to learn about other topics like venture capital, protecting intellectual property, non-profit and social entrepreneurship models, and financing related to entrepreneurship. The Chats are informal by design, but provide invaluable information for our students and all in attendance.

This year the Fireside Chats are supporting the campus-wide theme of Food & Hunger sponsored by the Center for Engaged Ethics, thus many of this year’s speakers are in food-related businesses. The fall speakers included: Anthony Mastromatteo, artist; Jim ’88 and Karen ’89 Scher, owners, Uncle Jim’s Pepper Mustard; Jennifer Fred-ricks ‘95, president, Cancer Angel Network and Phire Branded Apparel and Graphics; Christina Benton ’02 WEC, owner Just Pizzelles; Sally Koepke, co-founder, Mom’s Gourmet, LLC; Tim Klug, co-founder, Essentially Organic Vending; James Busch ‘86, president, Busch Funeral Homes; Bonnie Warren, owner, Comfort Keepers; and Harriet Rubin, author, journalist, consultant. To view the current Fireside Chat schedule visit our website at http://www.hiram.edu/centers-of-distinction/entrepreneurship/student-opportunities/fireside-chats .

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CENTERfor IntegratedEntrepreneurship

for more informationabout entrepreneurship at Hiram, contact

Kay F. Molkentin, Director of the Center, molkentinkf@hiram.edu 330.569.5256David Kukurza, Academic Program Director, kukurzadj@hiram.edu 330.569.5480

About the spring 2013 Entrepreneurship Biannual ReviewGraphic Design provided by Sarah BianchiPhotography provided by Samuel J. Adams, Kay Molkentin, and Christine Semety

Visit us on the web: www.hiram.edu/entrepreneurshipFind us on Facebook: The Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship at Hiram College