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Entrepreneurial
ideals become realities
Eileen M. Rafferty ‘06
The field of entrepreneurship is essential for the growth
of the economy, because it generates employment, creates wealth, provides
opportunity and serves as a source of innovation. Therefore, there always
is a growing need for entrepreneurship. More than a year ago several students
in the College of Commerce and Finance, surprised that the University
did not provide any entrepreneurial preparation, undertook the task of
creating the Villanova Entrepreneurial Society (VES). Since then, this
organization has become one of the most active groups on campus. Because
of the interest it generated, an entrepreneurial minor was established
through C&F with further developments in progress.
“The entrepreneurship minor is focused on generating ideas, qualifying
business opportunities, obtaining resources and building a team,”
said instructor William Bregman, department of management. It is a semester-long
program, comprised of four courses: new-venture management, entrepreneurship
marketing, new-venture finance and entrepreneurship practicum.
Dr. James Klingler, assistant professor of management, co-teaches the
entrepreneurship practicum with Bregman. Klingler taught the original
small business course and Bregman has more than 30 years of entrepreneurial
experience. Bregman explained, “In the entrepreneurship practicum,
we aren’t just giving the students a textbook and multiple choice
tests. We’re coupling thought with hands-on education.”
The students receive hands-on education through creating, designing and
operating a real business venture. The nine seniors currently enrolled
in the minor debuted “Late Nite, Quick Bite” located in the
Corner Grille of Dougherty Hall. Featuring Tex-Mex, chicken fingers, soft
pretzels and other refreshments, they opened for three consecutive nights,
so that students were able to dine on campus until the early hours of
the morning. Profits from the sales were donated to St. Francis Inn, a
homeless shelter in Philadelphia.
“This was a step toward living my dream,” said senior Kevin
Heher who is majoring in both marketing and finance. “We’re
learning it all and doing it all at the same time.” Heher and his
peers decided to enroll in the minor because they thought it was a valuable
opportunity. According to senior economics major Joe Jesuele, another
prevalent reason stemmed from family background.
Now that the students in the minor have this foundation, some plan to
enter the Start-Up Challenge, which is the VES’s First Annual Business
Plan Competition. The competition is scheduled for March and is open to
all majors. “The students are to form teams, develop a business
model, based on a predetermined product or service and build successful
ventures,” explained junior Travis McMenimon, majoring in Management
Information Systems, who is vice president of VES.
VES already has attracted many accomplished individuals. Mechanical engineer
junior Adam Siegrist, president of the society, founded an investing business
for teenagers. Freshman C&F student Meghan Murphy, inventor of BOINKS!
Buddies, is another member of the society who also is an entrepreneur.
“Villanova has had similarly talented young people in the past,
but now there is a society and a minor available for these kind of students
with this kind of aptitude,” stated Bregman.
Sophomore C&F student Lauren Beirne, who eventually plans to own a
small business, was pleased to hear about the new offerings: “Most
of the business classes and majors prepare students for jobs in the established
firms of corporate America, but now we have the option of earning a minor
focused on the skills needed to create a start-up business.”
Yet the entrepreneurial minor is just the beginning. The teaching team
not only plans to extend the minor to students in all colleges within
the University but aspires to create an entrepreneurship co-major, with
courses focusing on family business, home-based business and law. Furthermore,
the teaching team also hopes to create a Center for Entrepreneurship where
students, faculty and alumni can engage in various activities such as
summer entrepreneurial camps for children and non-credit courses. Emphasizing
the ideal of service, they also hope to have students work with an organization
such as the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE).
“Although the real dream,” stated Klingler “is to be
the first school prospective students and their parents think of when
they are thinking about a high-quality, hands-on undergraduate entrepreneurship
education.”
Additional members of the teaching team are Jeffrey Pelesh, assistant
professor of accountancy and Michele Masterfano, professor of marketing,
who are also both entrepreneurs. Further contributors to the progress
of the minor are Stephen A. Stumpf, dean of C&F, who holds the Fred
J. Springer Endowed Chair in Business Leadership in the college, James
Wooton and Dale Fickett. To receive a newsletter with the latest entrepreneurial
updates contact James.Klingler@villanova.edu
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