ENTREPRENEURIAL SPIRIT DRIVES COLLEGE PROGRAMS

Posted on April 2, 2008
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Posted by WHITNEY LLOYD | Capital News Service February 01, 2008 09:35AM
LANSING — It started as a way to fund the journey, but it turned out to be the destination.
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As a college freshman, Drew Donner — now a senior studying entrepreneurship at Central Michigan University — started Best Books Around, an online business he hoped would help pay for his college education.

Four years later, Donner’s online book venture has done more than just pay for his textbooks.

In 2007, Best Books Around competed with Barnes&Noble.com and Amazon.com, shipping more than 30 truckloads of books to customers around the world and raked in $82,000.

Now Donner, who will graduate in May, plans to turn his virtual bookstore into the bricks-and-mortar variety.
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Donner, born in Midland and raised in Atlanta, Ga., is an example of entrepreneurial success that the Small Business Association of Michigan — SBAM — believes is an important piece of the puzzle in solving the state’s economic troubles.

On Feb. 7, SBAM, with Crain’s Detroit Business, will release an entrepreneurial scorecard, said Todd Anderson, its vice president of government relations.

The report assesses a number of factors, ranging from tax structure to quality of life to diversity, to determine how friendly Michigan is to entrepreneurship, Anderson said.

The scorecard will show that “there are a number of positive signs for entrepreneurship, and there are things we think need work,” Anderson said.
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One thing in need of work is entrepreneurial education.

Anderson said it’s an essential component of encouraging entrepreneurship, even if he, as many people might, consider entrepreneurship a natural talent rather than a learned skill.

“Entrepreneurial education is a critical culture change. Our universities can do more to give naturally talented entrepreneurs the tools they need to be successful,” he said.

Four of Michigan’s 15 public universities offer degrees in entrepreneurship — CMU, Eastern Michigan University, Northern Michigan University and Ferris State University. Grand Valley State University and Oakland University offer minors in entrepreneurship. Almost all 28 community colleges have courses geared toward entrepreneurship.

CMU’s program began nine years ago and is the university’s second-largest business major with 600 graduates so far, James Damitio, director of entrepreneurship, said.

Traditional business programs teach students to be middle managers at large companies — not the same skill set an entrepreneur needs, Damitio said.

Mohan Tanniru, dean of Oakland’s School of Business Adminstration, agrees with Damitio. “Large companies aren’t hiring, so we can’t train students for jobs at big companies that might not exist. Students need a broader base, skills for small companies, and the best way to provide them with that is through entrepreneurial programs.”

Entrepreneurial talent and training not only paid off for Donner, but also for his classmate Cason Thornsby of Davison.

Like Donner, Thornsby launched his business as a freshman, a party rental company called Elite Tent Rental.

Thornsby started with one tent, eight tables and 64 chairs. Four years later, it has grown to include dance floors, inflatable obstacle courses and one thousand chairs.

Beyond weddings and bar mitzvahs, Thornsby has branched into cuisine with his latest venture, Hunter’s Choice Soup Co. He partnered with a chef in Birch Run to bring soups with names like “peasant noodle” and “wild boar and bean” to more than 50 sporting goods and grocery stores around the state.

Anderson concedes that not everyone has the entrepreneurial spirit of creative ideas and a high tolerance for risky investments.

And there will be people who prefer plain old chicken noodle soup — literally and metaphorically.

Regardless, entrepreneurship is important because traditional jobs with large companies might not hold as much promise as they have in the past, said Chuck Fitzpatrick, director of the LaBelle Entrepreneurial Center at CMU.

“We would love to see high-tech development in the life sciences, in alternative energy, but we believe it would will be quite limited. We firmly believe it will be one entrepreneur at a time,” he said.
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To help such individuals, SBAM will propose a legislative package to stimulate entrepreneurship, Anderson said. In addition to education, issues such as tax policy and business regulations might be included, he said.

Meanwhile, Donner is gambling that Fitzpatrick’s prediction is right. “I’m hoping entrepreneurship will play a huge role in the economy in the years to come. One-third of companies started are really successful, but two-thirds do fail, so you never know.”
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