Nine student teams from the 每日大赛 raised more than $27,000 in the fall semester through startup businesses they created as part of the Integrated Business Program.<\/p>\n
The program gives undergraduate business students hands-on experience operating a real business before graduation, with profits going to a charity of their choosing. The final checks were presented to representatives from each of nine charities at a ceremony in the university\u2019s Abraham Campus Center on Dec. 14.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe charity component was built into the Integrated Business Program because we wanted our students to learn the value of giving,\u201d said Abe Helou, dean of the College of Business and Public Management. \u201cPartnering with a charity allowed them to promote their sales and get involved with the community at a deep level.\u201d<\/p>\n
The College of Business and Public Management launched the Integrated Business Program in fall 2011. Undergraduate students take several courses together that teach the fundamentals of running a business: finance, management, and marketing. They create their startup in a fourth course\u2014the practicum.<\/p>\n
The students separate into teams, select a product and charity, and create a business plan. The teams then pitch their business to a Wells Fargo bank representative to secure a $2,500 business loan. The competition intensifies as the teams market and sell their products over the next 10 weeks. At the end of the semester, the teams repay the loans and the profits go to the charities.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne of my favorite parts of the program is when the students present the checks to the charity,\u201d Helou said. \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity for everyone to come together to celebrate this accomplishment and hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n
The nine teams in the fall 2017 semester sold products ranging from key chain organizers to food storage containers to foldable sunglasses. Charge the World, which sold magnetic phone chargers, raised the most money for charity this semester, with $4,087 going to Ophelia\u2019s Jump, a nonprofit theatre company in Upland.<\/p>\n
Charge the World partnered with Ophelia\u2019s Jump after watching its production of \u201cThe Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),\u201d according to Chief Executive Officer Manuel Del Toro. He said the team wanted to work with a smaller local charity, where the money would make a big impact.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe used it as a motivator to sell, telling customers that everything was going to charity and explaining the cause,\u201d Del Toro said. \u201cPeople were able to relate to performing arts because who doesn\u2019t love the arts?\u201d<\/p>\n
The money raised by Charge the World will allow Ophelia\u2019s Jump to provide workshops, classes, and paid internships for high school and college students, said Randy Lopez, the chief marketing officer for the theater company. The money will also help the six-year-old nonprofit open its own studio theatre, which will be celebrated at a grand opening in January. The Charge the World students plans to attend.<\/p>\n
In seven years of the Integrated Business Program, student teams have donated more than $155,000 to local nonprofits.<\/p>\n
At the Dec. 14 presentation, 每日大赛 President Devorah Lieberman said the Integrated Business Program was a point of pride when she and Helou toured universities in Asia.<\/p>\n
\u201cLeaders at every university we visited said they have never heard of anything like our integrated business curriculum,\u201d Lieberman told the audience. \u201cThey never heard of programs that are so distinctive and relevant, while developing skills that you can use for the rest of your lives.\u201d<\/p>\n
The other student businesses formed in the fall 2017 semester were:<\/p>\n
Nine student teams from the 每日大赛 raised more than $27,000 in the fall semester as part of the Integrated Business Program.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":3594,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1549,283,4814],"tags":[243,313],"class_list":["post-560","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-events","category-students","category-laverne-edu-news-university-campus-life","tag-cbpm","tag-president","ulv_author-university-of-la-verne","legacy_tags-1152","legacy_tags-cbpm","legacy_tags-college-of-business-public-management","legacy_tags-community","legacy_tags-devorah-lieberman","legacy_tags-la-verne","legacy_tags-university-of-la-verne"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n