Morris was presented the award earlier this month by the United States Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), which is known nationally as the premier association for entrepreneurship educators.

He becomes the first OSU faculty member to receive the award, and joins such notable entrepreneur educators as Jeffrey Timmons and William Bygrave from Babson College, Tom Byers from Stanford, George Solomon from George Washington University, and Don Kuratko from Indiana.

The award has only been presented 12 times since its inception in 1992.

“I would like to extend my personal congratulations to Mike and everyone involved in our entrepreneurship program for their great successes,” said Larry Crosby, dean of the Spears School of Business. “We are very proud of Mike. Those of us at the Spears School know that he’s very deserving of the Entrepreneur Educator of the Year award.”

The School of Entrepreneurship also was honored by the USASBE with the National Model Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program Award at the group’s annual meeting.

“The award is a validation of what we are doing and where we are going at Oklahoma State,” Morris said. “We have done a number of things that others have not, and so it is good to find that others recognize the value in our approach and see it as a model to guide where the discipline is going.

“We want OSU to be recognized as the best in the world, and our goals are high. As such, I was not surprised when the announcement was made, but instead felt joy for all the people in our program and all the others at OSU who have supported us and made our progress possible. And one always feels humbled when their peers provide this kind of recognition.”

The OSU School of Entrepreneurship is just in its fourth year of existence and is already attracting national attention from USASBE, the premier organization for entrepreneur educators, and is recognized as a leader across the nation.

“This award indicates that we are at the leading edge in terms of a comprehensive approach to entrepreneurship education,” Michael Morris, director of the School of Entrepreneurship, said. “Our approach to curriculum design, student engagement, experiental learning, infrastructure development and community outreach represent a model that other universities can learn from.

“The award is a validation of what we are doing and where we are going at Oklahoma State. We have done a number of things that others have not, and so it is good to find that others recognize the value in our approach and see it as a model to guide where the discipline is going. We want OSU to be recognized as the best in the world, and our goals are high. As such, I was not surprised when the announcement was made, but instead felt joy for all the people in our program and all the others at OSU who have supported us and made our progress possible. And one always feels humbled when their peers provide this kind of recognition.”

The award is given annually to colleges and universities that have developed and offer high quality and innovative programs, the purpose of which is to educate and train future generations of entrepreneurs. Programs are evaluated on innovation, quality, comprehensiveness, sustainability, transferability, depth of support, and impact.

“I think they were especially impressed with our competency-based approach, seeing it as the future of where education needs to go,” Morris said.

Larry Crosby, Spears School of Business Dean, is thrilled that the School of Entrepreneurship is making an impact in the lives of OSU students.

“What a great way to start the new year. While the School of Entrepreneurship is few in numbers, it packs a powerful punch that is being noted across the land,” Crosby said. “Everyone at the Spears School takes great pride in this accomplishment.”

Morris was at Syracuse University when it received the National Model Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program Award in 2005. But for OSU’s program to receive the same recognition after only a few years is especially satisfying.

“This was our goal but one can never tell with these things,” Morris said. “We have moved very far and done so very fast; at least in terms of the pace at which universities work. But it is one thing to create and implement the program and quite another to get the recognition for what we are doing. So it is quite humbling to receive this recognition.”

The award is just another sign of the school’s impact since the program began in 2008. In the past 12 months, OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship has received a research productivity world ranking of No. 10 (by the M.J. Neeley School of Business at TCU), was one of the few schools to have its undergraduate program (No. 24) and graduate program (No. 23) ranked among the nation’s top 25 (The Princeton Review/Entrepreneur Magazine), and learn that the student-led E-Club was No. 9 in the 2011 Top 20 University Entrepreneurship Club rankings (FledgeWing.com).

The fellows represent 15 different departments across the university, making the program the largest and most interdisciplinary of its kind in the nation.

The Riata Fellows Program is a core component of the university-wide entrepreneurship initiative, where the entrepreneurial mindset and core entrepreneurship concepts are applied to disciplines across the campus. Launched in December of 2009, the program offers a unique opportunity for entrepreneurial faculty from any discipline or academic area to be jointly appointed in the School of Entrepreneurship. Fellows are typically appointed for 2 to 3 years to work on research, curriculum development or outreach initiatives that link their home discipline to entrepreneurship.

The fellows come together for a major forum each year to share progress and outcomes from the project on which they are working. They also contribute to ongoing discussions regarding cross-disciplinary applications of entrepreneurship and the development of OSU as an entrepreneurial university.

The 11 new Riata Faculty Fellows include:

• Allen Apblett, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry
• Lloyd Caldwell, associate professor in the Department of Theater
• J. Cecil, associate professor in the School of Industrial Engineering
• Julie Croff, assistant professor in the School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology
• Catherine Curtis, assistant professor in the School of Hotel and Restaurant Administration
• Steve Harrist, associate professor in the School of Applied Health and Education Psychology
• Derina Holtzhausen, associate professor in the School of Media and Strategic Communications
• Kalkan Kaan, assistant professor in the School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering
• Dale Maronek, head of the Department of Horticulture and Landscape Architecture
• Nicholas Materer, associate professor in the Department of Chemistry
• Jane Talkington, Sustainability Scholar in Residence

The returning Riata Faculty Fellows include:

• James Hess, assistant professor of family medicine and chief operating officer for the OSU Center of Health
• Lin Liu, regents professor in the Department of Physiological Studies at the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences
• Melanie Page, professor in the Department of Psychology and director of the OSU Institute for Creativity and Innovation
• Nathan Richardson, assistant professor in the School of Architecture
• Liz Roth, assistant professor in the Department of Art
• Jason Vogel, associate professor in the Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

The School of Entrepreneurship will be launching a new fellowship for doctoral/senior graduate students across campus in the near future. Also, OSU faculty members wishing to apply to become a Riata Faculty Fellow in 2012-2013 can find more information and the application form by visiting http:entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/fellows.

Oklahoma State University students, from left, Lynsie Morris, Jodie Navarre, Cale Hyer and Max Whitemyer teamed up to form Styro Insulations, which won the $25,000 first-prize money in last year’s Riata Business Plan Competition.

Last year’s $25,000 grand prize went to Styro Insulations, whose members proposed a business that would take discarded polystyrene (styrofoam) from retail establishments to use it to make a superior home and commercial building insulation product. Cale Hyer, Lynsie Morris, Jodie Navarre and Max Whitemyer were the OSU students who came up with the business plan for Styro Insulations.

Hyer and Morris agree that the competition was valuable to starting their business.

“Winning the competition gave us the startup capital to start a business,” said Morris, now the company’s chief marketing officer. “It’s hard to get investors as college students, so it would have been really difficult without the money.”

Hyer offered some advice for the new competitors.

“When you enter the competition, you have to have an open mind,” said Hyer, the chief operating officer for Styro Insulations. “You have to go into it knowing they’re going to question your business, and you have to take their criticism and improve. I think the No. 1 piece of advice I would give is to get people to buy into your idea. Believe in it and get people to buy into it.”

Ninety-seven teams of OSU students entered last year’s contest, and organizers are expecting to surpass 100 this year.

“The Riata Business Plan Competition is exciting,” said Michael H. Morris, professor and head of the OSU School of Entrepreneurship. “Because any of the thousands of students at OSU are eligible to enter, we get creative ideas for ventures from every corner of the campus. These are businesses students want to launch, and the competition provides an avenue to showcase their imagination, ingenuity and creativity and gives them the seed money to get things off the ground.”

From the beginning of the competition, teams will receive feedback and assistance from the OSU School of Entrepreneurship and the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship, including a weekly business plan writing lab, mentoring from faculty experts and accounting and law firms, and access to online resources and a video library of successful business plan presentations.

A group of outstanding entrepreneurs and venture investors will serve as judges. They will critique the completed plans on the strength of concept, the marketability of the product, the economic feasibility of the business, the planned business operations, the management of the team and the ability of the plan to receive financing.

Assistance in the form of a business plan lab is provided to all students wishing to participate, which students can take as an audit or enroll for one hour of course credit.

The competition is open to OSU students of all majors and classifications, and no business experience is necessary. There is no cost to enter. Applicants must submit their intent to compete by Dec. 16. The final rounds of competition will be April 20-21, 2012.

The Riata Business Plan Competition website is entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/competitions. For more information, call 405-744-7552 or email bigidea@okstate.edu.

Rani has since expanded this to 18 locations in four of the black townships, empowering thousands of historically disadvantaged South Africans. Some of his current partners include Microsoft, Vodacom (the leading cellphone company in South Africa), Dell and HP.

Michael Morris, head of the School of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University, invited Rani to Stillwater. Morris had the opportunity to work with Rani in the past through the Entrepreneurhsip and Empowerment in South Africa program.

“Luvuyo was initially a client entrepreneur in our South Africa program six years ago, when he was just getting started with his venture,” Morris said. “Our students have now worked with him in three different years. He has become an amazing success story with 19 locations today in four different Black townships.

“He is empowering the poor through technology, while also mentoring dozens of other township-based entrepreneurs, and giving back in very significant ways to his poverty-stricken community. He is inspiring not just for what he accomplishes professionally, but also because of his enthusiasm, positive outlook, belief in people, and passion for making a difference.”

Rani’s lecture, entitled, “Uplifting the Poorest of the Poor: My Journey with Entrepreneurship and Technology” will take place on Friday, Nov. 4, in Business Building 018.

The event is open to the public.

Rani has since expanded this to 18 locations in four of the black townships, empowering thousands of historically disadvantaged South Africans. Some of his current partners include Microsoft, Vodacom (the leading cellphone company in South Africa), Dell and HP.

Michael Morris, head of the School of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University, invited Rani to Stillwater. Morris had the opportunity to work with Rani in the past through the Entrepreneurhsip and Empowerment in South Africa program.

“Luvuyo was initially a client entrepreneur in our South Africa program six years ago, when he was just getting started with his venture,” Morris said. “Our students have now worked with him in three different years. He has become an amazing success story with 19 locations today in four different Black townships.

“He is empowering the poor through technology, while also mentoring dozens of other township-based entrepreneurs, and giving back in very significant ways to his poverty-stricken community. He is inspiring not just for what he accomplishes professionally, but also because of his enthusiasm, positive outlook, belief in people, and passion for making a difference.”

Rani’s lecture, entitled, “Uplifting the Poorest of the Poor: My Journey with Entrepreneurship and Technology” will take place on Friday, Nov. 4, in Business Building 018.

The event is open to the public.

Now, a unique program is helping business owners get the entrepreneurial spirit.

At the end of 2nd Street in Avant, Oklahoma is an eclectic little building with a big mission. Nona Roach operates her accounting business here, Agape and Associates Inc.

“I’m the largest employer in Avant, of course there’s nothing here except the school,” Roach said.

Roach says owning her own business has been one of the best things to happen in her life, but she was also looking for ways to improve. So she enrolled in the Cowboy Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs.

• Go to the NewsOn6.com website to read the entire story
• Learn more about the Cowboy Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs

OSU is ranked No. 24 in the undergraduate program rankings of the nation’s top schools and its graduate program achieved a No. 23 ranking of the more than 2,000 programs reviewed.

“It is indeed wonderful news that our School of Entrepreneurship and the accompanying programs of the Riata outreach center achieved these top-25 rankings by the Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine,” Larry Crosby, dean of the Spears School of Business, said. “The timing couldn’t be more auspicious considering this is the week of our annual Experiential Classroom, bringing together scholars from around the country and even the world to learn the best classroom practices of entrepreneurship.”

The Princeton Review and Entrepreneur magazine combined on the ninth annual survey that ranks the top 25 undergraduate and top 25 graduate entrepreneurship programs in the United States.

Oklahoma State’s School of Entrepreneurship entered the top 25 for the first time ever. OSU was joined as one of three newcomers to the undergraduate and graduate rankings by the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the University of Maryland-College Park.

It should not come as a surprise that OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship cracked the top 25. The school’s entrepreneurship program started in 2008 and has quickly made a name for itself across the nation. The program was recognized earlier this year as the 10th-best school in the world for outstanding research productivity by the M.J. Neeley School of Business at TCU. Most recently, OSU’s student-led E-Club achieved a No. 9 ranking of the Top 20 University Entrepreneurship Clubs in a poll by FledgeWing.com.

“I can’t say enough about the success that Dr. Mike Morris, head of the school, and Nola Miyasaki, head of the Riata Center, have achieved in their three short years here at OSU,” Crosby said. “They have rolled out degree programs at all levels, tech-transfer initiatives, incubators, large-scale conferences, community outreach, cross-campus cooperations, and you name it. On top of that, the School of Entrepreneurship, that includes leading scholars like Dr. Robert Baron, is ranked 10th in academic research productivity. As you can tell, we are very proud of our entrepreneurship program here at OSU.”

In addition to teaching strong entrepreneurship fundamentals in the classroom and staffing departments with instructors who are successful entrepreneurs, criteria for the school rankings included excellence in mentorship, and providing experimental or entrepreneurial opportunities outside the classroom.

“Behind the top ranked schools is not only a great formal classroom experience, but a cross-disciplinary approach to teaching entrepreneurship that embraces and encourages a student’s vision to build a successful business,” said Robert Franek, The Princeton Review’s Senior Vice President – Publisher and nationally recognized expert on college admissions.

To view the rankings, go to entrepreneur.com/topcolleges or visit princetonreview.com/entrepreneur. Full details will also appear in the October issue of Entrepreneur.

Kevin Kriner had quite an impact on the lives of many young Americans during his 29-year career in the U.S. Air Force. He’s hoping that doesn’t change now that he’s retiring and joining Oklahoma State University’s School of Entrepreneurship.

Col. Kriner was to be honored during a retirement ceremony Friday night at the Wes Watkins Center on the OSU campus. Maj. Gen. Robin Rand, special assistant to the vice chief of staff at the U.S. Air Force’s headquarters in Washington, D.C., was the featured speaker.

Several of his former colleagues flew to Stillwater, including pilots who flew a pair of A-10 Thunderbolts from Mountain Home Air Force Base in Boise, Idaho, and another from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, Ariz., to honor Kriner. One person flew all the way from Chile to attend the special ceremony.

“You’re not sure who’s going to attend, but they’ve flown in from all over the country,” said Kriner while posing for photos Friday afternoon in front of an A-10 sitting on the runway at Stillwater Regional Airport. “It’s mean a lot.”

Kriner will be Executive-in-Residence in OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship.

Sam Milam, operations group commander at Davis-Monthan Air Force who worked with the retired colonel for several years at Nellis Air Force Base in Las Vegas, believes the OSU community is in for a treat.

“He had a lot to do with changing the A-10 community’s attitude and approach to how we developed officers, particularly A-10 community officers. It’s had a community-wide impact, and it’s pretty impressive. He’s very well respected throughout the community for that,” said Milam.

“He’s as good as they get. And it will go beyond teaching just the curriculum. He’s very conscientious and a great mentor for young people. He certainly was for me and all these guys that you see in the green flight suits (who have flown in to honor him).”

Kriner never envisioned working in the world of academia when he retired from the Air Force. A U.S. Air Force Academy graduate who majored in engineering, he had numerous opportunities related to his field of study but all signs kept pointing to Oklahoma State.

He became familiar with OSU when he began working with the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, a program offered by the School of Entrepreneurship and the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship. The Air Force colonel was impressed with Rubin Pillay, the Daniel White Jordan Clinical professor in Entrepreneurship and Creativity, and also the online master’s program for all branches of the military.

“If you’d asked me a year ago, offers were coming in to do different things, more in line with my traditional background. To be around (the faculty), and certainly seeing the Veteran’s program, it was just a comfortable fit. The way Dr. (Mike) Morris does things and runs it, charging straight ahead, I was comfortable right from the beginning,” said Kriner.

Kriner is adjusting to his new role this fall by assisting Bruce Barringer, who oversees the Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurs Scholar program. But he expects to begin teaching an Engineering and Entrepreneurship class in the spring.

Milam says students who enroll in Kriner’s classes will be pleased.

“It was amazing to see how he changed the attitude of our young pilots that were coming through our course there, and the instructors like me who were in the course. We got there with one attitude of how to grow up in the Air Force and we left with a completely different attitude, and that was completely on him,” he said.

“While we were there together he was talking to people who were majors all the way down to lieutenants and captains. He was very adept at adjusting the message to the audience. It was always the same message, but he had a very good way of making sure they understood what he was talking about. I don’t think that will change here at Oklahoma State.”

Kriner says his learning curve has been huge since joining the School of Entrepreneurship faculty.

“Right now, I’m pretty much overwhelmed. The overall theme of innovation and creativity and certainly the school under Dr. Morris is one of being doers. They just get stuff done. I’m learning something every day,” he said.

“I’m trying everything that gets pitched at me to do the best job that I can for the Spears School of Business and OSU. Just seeing how they do things, I’ll be surprised if they’re not No. 1 in the world some day. They are headed that direction, so I feel lucky to be a part of it.”

Oklahoma State’s E-Club was ranked ahead of the clubs from Stanford University (No. 10), UCLA (No. 11), Michigan (No. 13), Syracuse (No. 15), and INSEAD in France (No. 20).

“The Entrepreneurship Club is the heartbeat of our entire entrepreneurship program at OSU,” said Michael Morris, head of the School of Entrepreneurship. “It’s an organization where students can develop their entrepreneurial potential, share their dreams, and collaborate on creative projects.”

The OSU E-Club was recognized in the top-20 rankings for its many achievements, including its feature-rich website and excellent integration of social networking. FledgeWing® stated that Oklahoma State’s entrepreneurship “students were particularly enthusiastic about their club.”

FledgeWing® states that the first ranking of the world’s top entrepreneurship clubs is an aim to begin an annual tradition of recognizing the accomplishments of the top clubs, while also fostering a sense of competitiveness between them to grow, build collaborative communities and ultimately help put student entrepreneurs on the path to developing and growing innovative start-ups.

Top 20 University Entrepreneurship Clubs

1. The Web Startup Group (Brigham Young University)
2. Yale Entrepreneurial Society (Yale)
3. HBS Entrepreneurship Club (Harvard)
4. Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (Cambridge)
5. Oxford Entrepreneurs (Oxford)
6. Northeastern Entrepreneurs Club (Northeastern)
7. Hass Entrepreneurs Association (California-Berkeley)
8. University of Minnesota Entrepreneurship Club (Minnesota)
9. OSU E-Club (Oklahoma State)
10. Stanford GSB Entrepreneurship Club (Stanford)
11. UCLA Entrepreneur Association (UCLA)
12. LBS Entrepreneurship Club (London Business School)
13. University of Michigan Entrepreneur & Venture Club (Michigan)
14. Temple Entrepreneurial Student Association (Temple)
15. Syracuse Entrepreneurship Club (Syracuse)
16. USD Entrepreneurship Club (University of San Diego)
17. USC Entrepreneur Club (University of Southern California)
18. Entrepreneurship Club at Boston University (Boston)
19. Carnegie Mellon Entrepreneurship & Venture Capital Club (Carnegie Mellon)
20. INSEAD Entrepreneurship Club (INSEAD)

SACRAMENTO, CA – Why are college costs rising so dramatically? Not because of football, fancy dorms or gourmet dining halls, says a new report from the American Enterprise Institute. The report says universities should cut costs by targeting research and unnecessary programs while increasing faculty productivity.

It’s the latest look at how colleges and universities should reduce their expenses at a time when tuition and fees are on the rise, state funding for public higher education is seriously threatened and the cost of a college degree is increasingly burdensome for the average student.

The paper from the institute’s Future of American Education Project suggests that things like student housing and big-time athletics are a “red herring” and not a major cause of large tuition increases. Instead, the report says, colleges should focus on eliminating waste from their education budgets and focus more on teaching undergraduates.

To figure out where colleges can cut back, the report’s author, Vance H. Fried, the Riata Professor of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University and author of “Better/Cheaper College: An Entrepreneur’s Guide to Rescuing the Undergraduate Education Industry,” created a hypothetical university. Although it was designed to offer a top-of-the-line, comprehensive undergraduate education, the made-up College of Entrepreneurial Leadership & Society ended up with an annual cost per student of $6,705, less than half that of the average public regional college, which costs $14,073. So, how does CELS save so much cash?

It gets rid of unpopular majors and the accompanying unpopular classes, which never fill up and therefore are expensive to offer. It increases class sizes in most cases while giving students the chance to take at least one “micro-class” of eight students or fewer each semester. It dramatically reduces the number of administrators.

CELS faculty also teach more classes. Fried notes that a common teaching load for a tenure-track faculty member at a research university is six credit hours a semester, with release time for research. Fried argues that research release is a waste of time for teaching-oriented colleges.

In fact, he advocates eliminating funding for research altogether at public regional colleges.

“From society’s viewpoint, the costs of university research may be justified because it provides a public good, generating new innovation and knowledge in fields like medicine, engineering, and the hard sciences,” Fried writes. “However, these costs do not do much for educating most students.”

Jane Wellman, executive director of the Delta Project on Postsecondary Education Costs, Productivity, and Accountability, said Fried’s report hit the nail on the head, for the most part.

“I think (he’s) quite right that the typical focus on auxiliaries and dorms is a red herring,” Wellman said. “Most of the savings (he) imagines come through different use of faculty and faculty productivity – that’s the meat of it – and you either agree that’s something that can be done without sacrificing quality or not.”

But Wellman questioned the idea that even the smaller universities can just scrap research.

“We probably subsidize departmental research more than we should, and we probably have too many research institutions,” she said. “But is it possible to eliminate the research function from a teaching institution and do a good job? No, I don’t think so. It’s part of quality. You don’t want faculty who learned it once in grad school and never picked up a paper again.”

In California, a number of universities are looking for ways to cut costs. UC Berkeley’s Operational Excellence program is trying to reduce expenses, with the help of the consulting firm Bain & Co. In January, the program’s executive committee said it would cut $20 million by cutting nearly 150 staff positions and eliminating unnecessary management layers.

The CIE Scholars Program is a distinguished initiative developed to recognize and engage the top graduate students at Oklahoma State University, according to the program’s website. CIE Scholars serve as ambassadors for OSU, organize the university’s annual Creativity Festival, and undertake creative, innovative and entrepreneurial projects. Selected individuals earn course credit for their work and receive a $5,000 scholarship awarded over two semesters.

The CIE Scholars are chosen based on previous academic performance, scholarly achievements, leadership experiences, extra-curricular activities and community engagement. Each year, up to 10 outstanding MBA students and up to 10 other exceptional graduate students from across campus are selected for the program. It is open to both full- and part-time students, but applicants must be available for all CIE activities and programs.

To apply, visit http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/cie. For more information about the CIE Scholars Program, contact OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship, by calling 405-744-5357.

STILLWATER, Okla. — Two dozen Oklahoma State University students will be landing in South Africa over the weekend, and they will spend the next six weeks acting as consultants to local entrepreneurs.

The students will be arriving in Cape Town, South Africa, today and Saturday, where they will be working with two faculty members from OSU’s Spears School of Business, as well as a professor from the University of Colorado’s Leeds School of Business.

The students are participants in Entrepreneurship and Empowerment in South Africa, a program sponsored by OSU, CU, Texas A&M’s Mays Business School and the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town. The program is designed to help entrepreneurs in the historically disadvantaged township around Cape Town grow their fledgling businesses.

While there, the students will work in small groups made up of American business students and 15 students from across Africa. A number of nations are represented, including Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Namibia, said Michael Morris, the head of OSU’s school of entrepreneurship and the program’s lead instructor.

Each of the groups will work for six weeks with two entrepreneurs each to try to solve problems that are keeping their businesses from growing. Each team is required to produce four so-called deliverables, or solutions to problems, for each client over the course of their stay in South Africa, Morris said.

Although the program’s requirements are difficult to manage, Morris said, the students’ success is crucial — people’s livelihoods depend upon it.

“We’re messing with people’s lives here. These people that we work with, many of them, if they don’t sell something today, they don’t eat,” he said. “So failure is not an option.”

Matt Villarreal is one of the students in the program. Villarreal graduated from OSU last month with a degree in entrepreneurship. He’s spent the past several weeks reading background information on customs and social issues in South Africa. He’s also met with his consulting team, he said.

Villarreal is part owner of a Stillwater-based startup business, called CleanNG, that makes parts for compressed natural gas vehicles. He spent the last few weeks tying up loose ends so he could leave his responsibilities in the hands of his two partners.

“That’s been a little bit more difficult than the rest of the stuff,” he said.

The South Africa trip is Villarreal’s first time outside the United States. Travel abroad is important, he said, because of the growing international nature of business.

“Everything’s going global,” he said.

Held at St. Petersburg University’s Graduate School of Management May 16-18, the clinic was an intense, three-day event that taught the best practices in entrepreneurship education to faculty members from every corner of the Russian Republic. The main goal of the training program was to equip the participants with the tools they need to teach entrepreneurship both within universities and to Russian citizens hoping to start new ventures.

“We’re living in the entrepreneurial age,” Morris said. “Russia has made a profound transition from a closed, planned economy to a market-based economy centered on innovation and creativity. One loses sight of how really radical that is, but that’s when you feel you have an impact. Much of what you’re saying really resonates there.”

The 33 Russian faculty members who attended the Dynamic Entrepreneurship Classroom were exposed to lectures, discussions and demonstrations from American experts from OSU, Texas Christian University and Syracuse University. Participants were introduced to leading methods for teaching entrepreneurship, new perspectives on the core content of entrepreneurship, approaches for building a superior entrepreneurship program, and novel approaches to experimental teaching and learning.

“We were honored to host this very important program,” said Galina Shirokova, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship at St. Petersburg University. “It is exciting to work with top entrepreneurship educators from America and to explore how the entrepreneurial spirit can be nurtured in the modern Russian economy.”

This is the fifth time OSU has joined with Texas Christian University and Syracuse University to reach out to Russian faculty members.

After returning from the conference, Morris said OSU recently finalized a formal agreement with St. Petersburg University, one of the premier universities in Russia, for ongoing student and faculty exchanges.

“At OSU, we have embraced entrepreneurship as one of the most powerful tools for change and growth,” Morris said. “For us, entrepreneurship is a philosophy, a way of life. Our mission is to foster entrepreneurship in Oklahoma, the nation and even the world. The Dynamic Entrepreneurship Classroom is a key component of this mission.”

With one of the most comprehensive academic programs in the world, the School of Entrepreneurship is a leading innovator in educating current and future entrepreneurs. The faculty includes thought leaders who are changing the way entrepreneurs around the world approach new venture creation. The entrepreneurship program at OSU includes 11 faculty members, 35 courses and each semester serves hundreds of students at the graduate and undergraduate levels. OSU is one of the few universities in the country with an academic school of entrepreneurship and an outreach-focused center for entrepreneurship. Together, the two are strongly committed to innovative engagement with the entrepreneurial community.

A study recently released by the M.J. Neeley School of Business at Texas Christian University analyzed and ranked the research productivity of entrepreneurship schools worldwide; the School of Entrepreneurship at OSU came in at No. 10, behind such schools as Indiana University, Syracuse University and the University of North Carolina.

“It’s a great start for a young program,” said Michael Morris, N. Malone Mitchell chair and head of OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship. “It’s nice to have our work recognized, and being ranked so high is reinforcing.”

In the past year, the Spears School entrepreneurship professors have published more than 20 journal articles and research books on a variety of topics, including the ways successful entrepreneurs learn how to excel and the differences in the experience of founding a family compared to a non-family venture.

“Entrepreneurs are the innovators who are changing the world one venture at a time,” Morris said. “Our hope is to touch every student on campus with our message of dreaming and doing. Yet, these efforts must be coupled with scholarly work that advances how entrepreneurship is approached and facilitated. With what is in the research pipeline, I am hopeful we will climb up even further in the coming years.”

Statistically, disabled veterans have more barriers to success than the average entrepreneur because it is more difficult for them to access resources and networks when they start a business, said Michael Morris, the head of OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship and the founder of the VEP. Morris, who is a veteran himself, said the VEP is specifically geared to provide them with the practical, focused training and the strong support networks they need to create and grow a new venture.

“Like a military bootcamp, this program is intense, rigorous and challenging,” Morris said. “Building upon key elements of OSU’s comprehensive entrepreneurship curriculum, the program consists of a series of training modules designed to assist [veterans] in creating a business that can be profitable. We make this program available to service distinguished veterans as a way to say ‘thanks’ for all they have done.”

The VEP is presented by the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship and School of Entrepreneurship in OSU’s Spears School of Business and offers a three-stage learning experience. Participants complete an online self-study session and an intense eight-day on-campus bootcamp, followed by 10 months of mentoring and support from successful entrepreneurship educators from around the country, VEP faculty members and volunteer entrepreneurs.

The entire VEP program – transportation, accommodation, books, food and instruction – is provided free of charge to participants. OSU alumni and supporters have rallied around the program and donated thousands of dollars to help make the program possible.

“I believe we owe it to these veterans who have paid such a high price to serve our country,” Morris said. “The whole idea is to empower veterans and to show them a path forward that centers on entrepreneurship.”

Cynde Collins-Clark, the mother of one of last year’s participants, said the VEP was a wonderful experience for her son, Joe Collins, who has suffered from a case of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder so severe that he barely left his bed for three years. Even with Collins’s terrible illness, Collins-Clark said he recognized the VEP program as an opportunity for growth.

“It was extremely difficult for him because of the degree and severity of his illness, but he said it was one of the most awesome and unbelievable programs he has ever attended,” Collins-Clark said. “I attended on ‘graduation night,’ which was the final day of the week on campus, and it was one of the most honoring events I have ever been to for veterans. I would strongly encourage you to share this opportunity with any disabled veteran. It is state of the art, amazing, and their follow through is as excellent as the program itself.”

The deadline for application is Oct. 1, and participants will be selected by Nov. 1. The online self-study session will be available to participants from Dec. 5 to Jan. 13, 2012, and the eight-day bootcamp will be held Feb. 4 – 11, 2012, on OSU’s campus in Stillwater, Okla.

For more information about the VEP 2012, visit the VEP website at http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/vep, send an email to VEP@okstate.edu or call 405-744-7552.

Morris was chosen as the Veteran Small Business Champion of the Year for his commitment to helping the nation’s veterans thrive and develop their own businesses.

The Chamber’s Crystal Star awards are presented each year to small businesses that represent vision, innovation and dedication.

Dear Colleague:

In these difficult times, universities face a vexing challenge in developing their entrepreneurship programs. There are significant difficulties in staffing courses, especially as student demand continues to grow, but also in ensuring the quality, rigor, and substance of these courses. Schools are scrambling to find qualified faculty to design and deliver a growing range of entrepreneurship courses. Individuals from disciplines both inside and outside the business school are getting involved, with a growing reliance on adjuncts and entrepreneurs.

Many of these individuals lack exposure to the best practices in the entrepreneurship classroom. Some know little of the core content of an entrepreneurship course, or are less familiar with the use of cases, business plans, field projects and related teaching tools. Others are uncertain in terms of how to build a curriculum and program in entrepreneurship. Some have had little exposure to the organization of the entrepreneurship classroom.

To address these needs, twelve years ago we created The Experiential Classroom, a rigorous clinic to help faculty new to entrepreneurship. Our first eleven offerings received outstanding reviews (let us know if you would like to talk to previous delegates!). The clinic lasts three days, and is delivered by some of the top entrepreneurship educators in the world. It is a content rich program, and introduces a number of highly effective, state-of-the-art approaches to the teaching of entrepreneurship.

The Experiential Classroom XII will be offered at Oklahoma State University from September 22-25, 2011. We encourage you to apply or nominate others to apply.These could include faculty members who are re-tooling so that they can teach entrepreneurship, new faculty members, or entrepreneurs and adjuncts who want to come back to the classroom. Enrollment is on a first-come, first-served basis, and is limited to sixty delegates. While the tuition is $1700 per delegate, we have a limited number of partial scholarships funded by the United States Association for Small Business & Entrepreneurship (USASBE) and the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship.

These are awarded based on need and allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. The Clinic itself fills up quickly as we limit the size.

Information and application forms can be found at http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/classroom. Please give me a call at (405) 744-5357 or Crystal at (405) 744-3325 if you have any questions.

Michael H. Morris, Ph.D.
Professor and N. Malone Mitchell Chair
Head, School of Entrepreneurship
Oklahoma State University
Stillwater, OK 74078
ph:(405) 744-5357

Oklahoma State University’s School of Entrepreneurship will now pair with East Central High School as part of the Tulsa Metro Chamber’s Partners in Education program. The partnership will bring East Central’s students mentoring and guidance from the internationally-recognized OSU program, giving them the tools they need to think and act in entrepreneurial ways.

“We’re very excited to facilitate this partnership between OSU and East Central,” said Susan Harris, senior vice president of education and workforce for the Chamber. “While every partnership that the program hosts is important, this one is especially exciting for us. East Central has a wonderful entrepreneur program and the guidance and strength of OSU’s program will certainly take students to the next level.”

The Partners in Education program, established in 1983, connects students in the Tulsa Metro with the community to increase their quality of education through resources, expertise, guidance and support. This partnership between East Central and the OSU School of Entrepreneurship will give students an opportunity to attend conferences and guest lectures from entrepreneurs and professors, get involved in experiential learning opportunities, access OSU’s facilities and be mentored by graduate level students.

Dr. Michael Morris, the Malone Mitchell Chair in Entrepreneurship and head of the School of Entrepreneurship at OSU, explains that “Oklahoma’s future is tied to entrepreneurship, and it must begin in our primary and secondary educational institutions. We are both honored and enthused to be part of this special partnership with East Central. Our goal is to help students to dream big, and give them the tools and confidence to act on those dreams.”

OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship will include East Central in a number of facets of its program, including attendance by an East Central High faculty member in the national Experiential Classroom clinic, hosting students in the Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Dormitory and involving East Central students in social entrepreneurship projects done in Tulsa.

In addition, the OSU School of Entrepreneurship will:

• host East Central students as virtual tenants in the School of Entrepreneurship student incubators, where they would be assigned to companies the master’s or undergraduate students have started;

• involve East Central faculty and students with the School of Entrepreneurship’s small business consulting efforts done as part of the Cowboy Entrepreneurs Boot camp in Tulsa each fall;

• invite East Central’s top students to observe the private judging session in the final rounds of the Riata Business Plan Competition;

• work with East Central High faculty on module and course development with School of Entrepreneurship faculty and entrepreneurs-in-residence;

• involve East Central High students with the Riata Entrepreneurial Internship Program

• provide free admission to female students to attend the annual Women Entrepreneurs Inspire event in Oklahoma City.

“Entrepreneurialism is the true spirit of Tulsa,” said Suzette Huggins, principal of East Central. “OSU and East Central recognized a need to promote that spirit through its students and we are excited to forge this partnership.”

For more information on the Partners In Education program, please contact Heather Johnson at heatherjohnson@tulsachamber.com or 918.560.0218.

The Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship (CIE) Scholars Program is designed to recognize and involve top graduate students at Oklahoma State University. The CIE Scholars are selected based on previous academic performance and achievements, leadership experiences, extra-curricular activities, community service and unique life accomplishments.

CIE Scholars undertake entrepreneurial projects, serve as ambassadors for the Spears School and OSU, and organize an annual CIE Scholars Forum. Those selected receive a $5,000 scholarship awarded over two semesters.

“This is a very special group that represents some of our best and brightest,” said Michael Morris, professor, N. Malone Mitchell chair, and head of OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship.  

The 2010-2011 CIE Scholars include:

• Faith Garlington, MBA candidate
• Gerard Demancus, Ph.D. in analytical chemistry candidate
• Kyle Eastham, master’s degree in entrepreneurship candidate
• Trey Knight, MBA/Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine candidate
• Ahn Hong Tran, MBA candidate
• Gilpatrick Hornsby, master’s degree in hospitality management candidate
• Karen Steed, MBA candidate
• Vamishi Krishna Kolla, MBA candidate
• Jonathan Kelly, master’s degree in agriculture candidate
• Felicity Milton, master’s degree in entrepreneurship candidate
• Christopher O’Connor, MBA candidate
• Claude Kershner, MBA candidate     
• Annie Nsafoah, master’s degree in agriculture candidate
• Mike Kavalier, MBA candidate
• Marina Hargrave, MBA candidate      
• Rebecca Crain, Ph.D. in counseling psychology candidate
• Jacob Schroeder, MBA candidate
• Amir Bhochhibhoya, master’s degree in entrepreneurship candidate

At the banquet, Eastham and Garlington were honored as this year’s Outstand CIE Scholars. Morris said they were selected because they embody the spirit of entrepreneurship.

The CIE Scholars program is funded by Dan Howard and Tiffany Sewell-Howard, who are both alumni of the OSU MBA program. Tiffany Sewell-Howard is the CEO of the DitchWitch® Organization in Perry, Okla., and Dan Howard is an attorney practicing in Edmond, Okla. As alumni and Oklahoma residents, the couple said they see fostering entrepreneurship and executive leadership as key to the state’s future economic success.

There’s only one instance where sharks circling is a good thing, and it’s when those “sharks” are the multimillionaire investor types.

The kind Broken Arrow’s Johnson Bailey is hoping to reel in on Friday’s new episode of “Shark Tank.”

Bailey will be making a pitch for a $50,000 investment in trade for 25 percent of his “Original Man Candle” business on the reality show.

Yes, Man Candles for manly men. Not those frou-frou fragrances like lavender and vanilla. We’re talking smells a he-man loves to get a whiff of – Bacon, Football, Golf Course, Draft Beer, Poker Room, New Car, Cup O’ Joe, Beach Babe, Roadkill (skunk), Fishing Dock, Garage, and that gaseous natural wonder known only to a man as the, pardon the expression, Fart.

On the ABC reality series, entrepreneurs must persuade multimillionaire investors to fund their ideas. If the “sharks” bite and both sides can agree, the “sharks” get an equity portion of the business and a return on their personal monetary investment. If not, the business owner may walk away with nothing but advice from the five “sharks” – real estate mogul Barbara Corcoran, high-tech billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban, technology innovator Robert Herjavec, fashion icon Daymond John and financial expert Kevin O’Leary.

Bailey, a marketing major at Oklahoma State University-Tulsa, came up with the idea for man candles during an entrepreneurship class. The idea, which produced its first prototypes in January 2009, was good enough to earn him OSU’s “Student Entrepreneur of the Year” award. Back then, he and his wife, pharmacy technician Summer, were testing fragrances and making candles in their garage.

That was enough to elicit more than a little concern on the part of his in-laws back in early 2009.

“At first, they really thought I was crazy and had lost my mind because I was quitting my job to go sell a pot roast-scented candle, but they came around,” said Johnson, 28, who previously worked for a mortgage group.

Johnson said he applied for the show in fall 2009 but wasn’t contacted until almost exactly a year later.

Since the episode was taped, the business has grown from him hand-pouring the candles and selling them at Broken Arrow’s Rooster Days to having the 8-ounce $12 candles being carried in more than 500 stores.

They’re also available on a website – tulsaworld.com/mancandle – and he has new deals in place to handle manufacturing and distribution. That leaves Bailey to do what he does best – create new scents and market them. A fragrance, such as BBQ, can take as long as two years for a chemist to perfect.

He said the economy has hurt the novelty gift industry, and the gift shops that sell his products are having to compete with the big-box stores. But sales are on the rise.

“We’re trying to provide as much value as we can to the retailer and consumer and give them a product that makes them laugh and doesn’t hurt in the pocket book,” said Bailey, whose prime customers are women shopping for their hard-to-buy-for men. “Like I told the sharks, it’s all about the 10-minute belly laugh.”

He said being on the show was a “wonderful experience.”

“Getting to be in front of five people who have taken risks and made fortunes off of their ideas and fortunes,” he said in a phone interview Tuesday. “Surrounding yourself with those types of people and getting to hear honest feedback is a good thing. It will give me a lot of publicity and really get my product name out there.”

And his advice to other potential “shark” bait?

“You have to be willing to take criticism on national television,” he said. “I would recommend it to anyone trying to get a small business going.”

A separate group of entrepreneurs judged the final four competitors and the winners were announced at a banquet Friday.

Taking the top prize and $25,000 was Styro Insulation, a business that would use discarded plastic foam from retailers and use it to create superior home and commercial building insulation.

CleanNG, a business making advanced performance products for natural gas vehicles, took second and $10,000.

Third prize and $5,000 was given to Cold Plasma LLC, which plans to market a new medical sterilization device. Bold Step LLC, which proposes to provide personal safety, instruction and information to universities in-person and online came in fourth place and received $1,000.

An additional $1,000 prize went to MaxQ for having the best technology based venture; the team plans to give researchers access to automated, reduced gravity environments so they can conduct space experiments on Earth.Full Cellar Farm received $1,000 for having the best social venture; the project is a unique, franchisable model of community-supported agriculture that will offer locally grown fresh vegetables, cut flowers and free-range poultry to customers in Washington, D.C.

For more information about the Riata Business Plan Competition, visit entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/bpcompetition.

The campus-wide competition began in December when 97 teams of OSU students declared their intent to compete. The teams were required to submit their business plans throughout a series of deadlines during the spring semester, until only 16 teams remained in the competition.

The “Sweet 16” presented their business plans to a group of successful venture investors from Oklahoma, Texas and Washington D.C. on Friday, April 29. The teams were critiqued on the strength of their concept, the marketability of their product, the economic feasibility of their company, their planned business operations, the management of their team, and their capability to receive financing. At a reception following the day’s presentations, the “Final Four” were announced. These teams include:

Bold Step LLC:
Kyle Eastham, Master of Entrepreneurship candidate and Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scholar

CleanNG:
Matt Villareal, entrepreneurship senior
Michael Tate, 2010 graduate with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship
Jacob Crawley, Master of Entrepreneurship candidate  

Cold Plasma Medical LLC:
Mariena Hargrave, MBA candidate and CIE Scholar
Michael Kavalier, MBA candidate and CIE Scholar
Annie Nsafoah, Master of International Agriculture candidate and CIE Scholar

Styro Insulation:
Max Whitemyer, entrepreneurship senior
Lynsie Morris, entrepreneurship student
Jodie Navarre, Master of Entrepreneurship candidate
Cale Hyer, entrepreneurship student

Before the banquet on Saturday, April 30, the “Final Four” teams were judged by a separate pool of distinguished entrepreneurs, including Steve Irby of Stillwater Designs, Tiffany Sewell-Howard of The Charles Machine Works Inc., MVL Prasad of Artex Inc., Ronald Siegenthaler of EXTA Technologies Inc. and Charity Call, Russ Teubner of HostBridge Technology, Carl Thoma of Thoma Bravo, and Lew Ward of Ward Petroleum.  

The grand prize and $25,000 went to Styro Insulation, whose members proposed a business that would take discarded polystyrene (styrofoam) from retail establishments and use it to make a superior home and commercial building insulation product.

CleanNG placed second in the competition and received $10,000 to support its business, which is an innovator of advanced performance products for natural gas vehicles. Third place and $5,000 went to Cold Plasma LLC, a company planning to market a new medical sterilization device. Bold Step LLC received fourth place and $1,000. It proposes to provide personal safety instruction and information – both in person and online – to universities.

An additional $1,000 prize was given to MaxQ for having the best technology-based venture. Its team members included engineering students Saravan Kumar Shanmugavelayudham, Ashwin Ravi, Balaji Jayakuma, Shoaib Shaikh, Ryan Jenkinson and Brandon Hawthorne. The team intends to give researchers access to automated, reduced gravity environments so they can conduct space experiments on earth. Another $1,000 was given to Full Cellar Farm for having the best social venture. Kip Kelley, the company’s founder, proposed a unique, franchisable model of community-supported agriculture that will offer locally-grown fresh vegetables, cut flowers and free-range poultry to customers in the greater Washington, D.C. area.

For more information about the 2011 Riata Business Plan Competition, call 405-744-7871 or visit http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/bpcompetition.

“Shark Tank” is a reality television series starring five multi-millionaire business tycoons, referred to as “sharks” on the show. These experts hear business proposals from entrepreneurs, consider whether to invest in the ventures, and provide thousands or even millions of dollars to expand the companies.

Bailey, who was named last year’s Student Entrepreneur of the Year by OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship, will be pitching his company, Original Man Candles. Original Man Candles creates candles specifically engineered for men, selling such scents as golf course, draft beer, football, and other, more extreme aromas. Bailey pours each candle by hand.

On the show, Bailey is seeking an investment of $50,000, and he proposes to share 25 percent of his company with the shark who will support his idea.

To watch a preview of Bailey’s appearance, visit http://video.app.msn.com/watch/video/shark-tank-sneak-peek-man-candle/5xw6xtl?cpkey=fd3e63ec-7807-4df9-a5d4-70a55fb0776e%7C%7C%7C. If you are interested in purchasing one of Bailey’s candles, check out his website at http://test.originalmancandle.com/.

“The Riata Business Plan Competition is exciting,” said Michael H. Morris, professor and head of the OSU School of Entrepreneurship. “Because any of the thousands of students at OSU are eligible to enter, we get creative ideas for ventures from every corner of the campus. These are businesses students want to launch, and the competition provides an avenue to showcase their imagination, ingenuity and creativity and gives them the seed money to get things off the ground.”

The competition began in December, when 97 teams of OSU students entered the contest. From the beginning of the competition, teams received feedback and assistance from the OSU School of Entrepreneurship and the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business, including a weekly business plan writing lab, mentoring from faculty experts and accounting and law firms, and access to online resources and a video library of successful business plan presentations.

A group of outstanding entrepreneurs and venture investors will serve as judges of these final two rounds, Morris said.  They will critique the completed plans on the strength of the concept, the marketability of the product, the economic feasibility of the business, the planned business operations, the management of the team and the ability of the plan to receive financing.

The first place business plan will earn $25,000, second place will receive $10,000 and third place will take home $5,000. Prizes will also be given to the top technology-related venture plan and the best social venture. An awards reception will follow the final competition.

The teams participating in the semi finals include:

·         Bold Step LLC
Members: Kyle Eastham
Concept: Provides personal safety instruction and information, live and online, to universities, where the target audience is enrolled college women.

·         CleanNG
Members: Matt Villareal; Michael Tate; Jacob Crawley
Concept: An innovator of improved natural gas canisters for use in natural gas vehicles (NGVs).

·         Cold Plasma Medical LLC
Members: Mariena Hargrave; Michael Kavalier; Annie Nsafoah
Concept: A medical sterilization device that will replace current chemical submersion sterilization methods.

·         EbenGroup
Members: Candace McCreary; Chelsea Muncil; Yohanna Tamez; Emily Whitson
Concept: Sells uniquely-designed backpacks where a proportion of the returns are used to provide badly needed school supplies to underprivileged children in underdeveloped economies.

·         Evergreen Associates
Members: Arunkumar Gunasekaran; Beaux Fulton
Concept: Providing recyclable paper waste collection services in the US and trade this collected paper waste as recyclable paper scrap to paper manufactures in developing countries.

·         Everterrestrial
Member: Alane Metcalf
Concept: Organic farming where hard to find truffles will be grown and supplied to high end restaurants and specialty grocery stores.

·         Ficus, Inc.
Members: Rocky Yu
Concept: A community-based search capability for queries that typically require direct human observation. The business provides an information trading platform built on location-based mobile phone networks.

·         Full Cellar Farm
Member: Kip Kelley
Concept:  A unique franchisable model of community-supported agriculture (CSA) offering locally-grown fresh vegetables, cut-flowers and free-range pastured poultry to customers in the greater Washington, D.C. area, where customers buy shares in the CSA.

·         Man Made Bone
Members: Feng Gao; Jigang Zhao; Waigen Zhao
Concept:  A superior process for chemically treating bone implants prior to their being surgically implanted in humans.

·         MaxQ
Members: Saravan Kumar Shanmugavelayudham; Ashwin Ravi; Balaji Jayakuma; Shoaib Shaikh; Ryan Jenkinson; Brandon Hawthorne
Concept:  An improved system for conducting zero gravity experiments in unmanned aircraft vehicles  where the impact on different kinds of payloads can be assessed and the data reported to the scientist or research institution.

·         Nambari Search
Members: David Sikolia
Concept: Search engine that addresses questions from users where the answer can be conveyed in a single number.

·         ResLer Fire Protection Services, LLC
Members: Barrett Boone; Christopher Snider
Concept: A new approach to residential fire protection systems including design, installation, inspection and maintenance.

·         Styro Insulation
Members: Max Whitemyer; Lynsie Morris; Jodie Navarre; Cale Hyer
Concept: Taking discarded polystyrene from retail establishments and using it to make a superior home and commercial building insulation product.

·         TVA 360 Tours
Members: Tyler Van Arsdale; Jessica Grimes
Concept: Provides panoramic photography services to real estate brokerages and brokerage chains.  The company employs new technologies to accelerate sales of property by real estate agents and brokerages.

·         TransApption
Members: Addison Bair; Patrick Huber; Jonathan Pember; Seth Charles; Chrissie Hyde
Concept: Allows businesses to easily automate customer ordering and payment processing through an application run on a user’s smart-phone, effectively replacing a traditional point of sale experience for the customer.

·         1 Point 6 LLC
Member: Felicity Milton
Concept: A disruptive therapeutic garment for athletes which incorporates graduated radial compression with onboard Far Infrared (FIR) heating and instant cooling.

For more information about the Riata Business Plan Competition, call 405-744-7871 or send an email to brooke.stuart@okstate.edu. The website fore the competition is http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/bpcompetition.

This year’s festival featured the world’s largest twister board and booths from OSU students, faculty and staff showcasing how the OSU family is solving local and global social problems through research, teaching or outreach. The booths were judged on the importance of the idea, whether the booth was interactive, and the creativity of the booth. $1,000 was given in prizes.

First place and $500 went to Elizabeth Whitson, an undergraduate student at OSU, for her booth on the EbenGroup. Second place and $300 went to Julie Croff, a faculty member in the School of Applied Health and Educational Psychology, for her booth about her research in drinking environments. Third place and $200 went to Cass Roberts, an undergraduate student in entrepreneurship, for her booth about the E Club.

For more information about the OSU Creativity Festival, visit http://creativity.okstate.edu.

The OSU Creativity Challenge is an annual contest open to any OSU student, faculty or staff member. This year, entrants had to answer the question, “What world record would you break to make the biggest impact on society?” The entries had to include a description of up to 100 words and either a 30 second audio or video file or another multimedia depiction, such as a photograph, collage, animation, etc. The entries were judged on the potential number of people impacted by the event, the positive effects of the event, whether it would directly affect society, whether it would solve a serious societal problem, and how creatively it was delivered.

Out of the 109 entries in the contest, only four winners were chosen. First place went to Sandeep Katta, a graduate student majoring in computer sciences. Katta’s entry included a 43-second video clip and three illustrations demonstrating his desire for OSU to hold the world record for the university with the lowest energy consumption. Katta received $700.

Second place and $500 went to Dakota Koenig, an undergraduate student at OSU-Tulsa. Koenig’s entry focused on reducing fossil fuel emissions given off by automobiles by setting the world record for the number of vehicles using e85, a gasoline alternative.

Jennifer Smith, a staff member at OSU-Tulsa, received third place and $300. Smith wanted to set the record for the largest blood donation in the world. Her entry detailed the importance of blood donation and suggested a blood drive be held at the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial on April 19, the anniversary of the tragedy.

The honorable mention for this year’s competition was Emily Whitson, an undergraduate student at OSU. Whitson received $100 for her idea for breaking the world record for the weight of school supplies given out in a 24 hour period. 

For more information about the 2011 OSU Creativity Challenge, contact Melanie Page, director for the OSU Institute for Creativity and Innovation, by calling 405-744-7334 or visiting http://creativity.okstate.edu/about/contact-us/.

“The Riata business plan competition is exciting,” said Michael H. Morris, professor and head of the OSU School of Entrepreneurship. “Because any of the thousands of students at OSU are eligible to enter, we get creative ideas for ventures from every corner of the campus. These are businesses that students want to launch, and the competition provides the seed money to get things off the ground.”

The teams will present their businesses on Friday, April 29 in the Business Building in rooms 018, 108, 123 and 124. The finals will be held on Saturday, April 30 in room 018 of the Business Building.  A group of outstanding entrepreneurs and venture investors will serve as judges of these final two rounds, Morris said. 

The teams participating in the semi finals include:  

• Bold Step LLC
  Members: Kyle Eastham
  Concept: Provides personal safety instruction and information, live and online, to universities, where the target audience is enrolled college women. 
• CleanNG
  Members: Matt Villareal; Michael Tate; Jacob Crawley
  Concept: An innovator of improved natural gas canisters for use in natural gas vehicles (NGVs).
• Cold Plasma Medical LLC
  Members: Mariena Hargrave; Michael Kavalier; Annie Nsafoah
  Concept: A medical sterilization device that will replace current chemical submersion sterilization methods.
• EAF’s College Creation
  Members: Matthew R Johnson; Fred Johnson; Jamie Johnson-Hughes
  Concept: A design for affordable “ready-to-assemble” collegiate desks and bookshelves.
• EbenGroup
  Members: Candace McCreary; Chelsea Muncil; Yohanna Tamez; Emily Whitson
  Concept: Sells uniquely-designed backpacks where a proportion of the returns are used to provide badly needed school supplies to underprivileged children in underdeveloped economies.
• Evergreen Associates
  Members: Arunkumar Gunasekaran; Beaux Fulton
  Concept: Providing recyclable paper waste collection services in the US and trade this collected paper waste as recyclable paper scrap to paper manufactures in developing countries.
• Everterrestrial
  Member: Alane Metcalf
  Concept: Organic farming where hard to find truffles will be grown and supplied to high end restaurants and specialty grocery stores.
• Ficus.Inc
  Members: Rocky Yu
  Concept: A community-based search capability for queries that typically require direct human observation. The business provides an information trading platform built on location-based mobile phone networks.
• Full Cellar Farm
  Member: Kip Kelley
  Concept:  A unique franchisable model of community-supported agriculture (CSA) offering locally-grown fresh vegetables, cut-flowers and free-range pastured poultry to customers in the greater Washington, D.C. area, where customers buy shares in the CSA.
• Man Made Bone
  Members: Feng Gao; Jigang Zhao; Waigen Zhao
  Concept:  A superior process for chemically treating bone implants prior to their being surgically implanted in humans.
• MaxQ
  Members: Saravan Kumar Shanmugavelayudham; Ashwin Ravi; Balaji Jayakuma; Shoaib Shaikh; Ryan Jenkinson; Brandon Hawthorne
  Concept:  An improved system for conducting zero gravity experiments in unmanned aircraft vehicles  where the impact on different kinds of payloads can be assessed and the data reported to the scientist or research institution.
• Nambari Search
  Members: David Sikolia
  Concept: Search engine that addresses questions from users where the answer can be conveyed in a single number.
• ResLer Fire Protection Services, LLC
  Members: Barrett Boone; Christopher Snider
  Concept: A new approach to residential fire protection systems including design, installation, inspection and maintenance.
• Styro Insulation
  Members: Max Whitemyer; Lynsie Morris; Jodie Navarre; Cale Hyer
  Concept: Taking discarded polystyrene from retail establishments and using it to make a superior home and commercial building insulation product.
• TVA 360 Tours
  Members: Tyler Van Arsdale; Jessica Grimes
  Concept: Provides panoramic photography services to real estate brokerages and brokerage chains.  The company employs new technologies to accelerate sales of property by real estate agents and brokerages.
• TransAption
  Members: Addison Bair; Patrick Huber; Jonathan Pember; Seth Charles; Chrissie Hyde
  Concept: Allows businesses to easily automate customer ordering and payment processing through an application run on a user’s smart-phone, effectively replacing a traditional point of sale experience for the customer.
• 1 Point 6 LLC
  Member: Felicity Milton
  Concept: A disruptive therapeutic garment for athletes which incorporates graduated radial compression with onboard Far Infrared (FIR) heating and instant cooling.

Blakeman’s book, “Making Money is Killing Your Business,” was voted as the No. 1 Best Business Book for 2010. He is traveling the nation and teaching aspiring entrepreneurs how to build a successful business built on a strong foundation. 

This event is open to all students and faculty members.

WE Inspire 2011 is hosted by the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University and will explore the unique obstacles, demands and challenges women face when creating and expanding ventures. The goals of the one-day event are to equip women with the resources they need to turn their business ideas into realities, help them create their own companies, and teach them to make their ventures sustainable.

“The main benefit of the conference is that the participants will have the opportunity to network with and be inspired by entrepreneurial role models who can talk about failures as well as successes,” said Nola Miyasaki, Norman C. Stevenson chair and executive director of the Riata Center. “This year we have a terrific line up of women entrepreneurs coming from all over North America who are from diverse industries with diverse backgrounds – all of whom are enormously successful.”

In addition to Sobrino, other keynotes include Cathrine M. Ann, founder of the million-dollar company Consumer Connections® in Vancouver, Canada; Susan Yamada, founder of TRUSTe (Silicon Valley) and several information technology related companies; and well-known social entrepreneur Karen Berg, who founded the Kabbala Center and whose devotees include Madonna and Donna Karan. WE Inspire 2011 will feature a total of 30 presentations, including breakout sessions that will examine a range of practical issues and enable women to act on their dreams, Miyasaki said.

“All of our speakers are role models who inspire women to act on their dreams and to dream big,” Miyasaki said. “Last year, the WE Inspire conference attracted more than 650 women, and this year we anticipate having even more entrepreneurial women in attendance. The energy and the networking that go on at this event are truly amazing for all who attend.”

The registration fee for the WE Inspire conference is $50 until April 4; walk-in registration will be $75.  Register online at www.weinspire.net. Registration includes a continental breakfast, lunch, networking reception, a resource binder and access to highly successful entrepreneurial speakers and experts from the U.S., Canada and Oklahoma.  Seating is limited, so women are encouraged to sign up before the deadline.

For more information, call the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at 405-744-7552 or visit http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/inspire. Companies interested in sponsorships or exhibit tables for the conference should call Brooke Stuart, the events and marketing specialist for the Spears School, at 405-744-7871 or e-mail her at brooke.stuart@okstate.edu.

The one-day event, presented by Oklahoma State University’s Riata Center for Entrepreneurship, will offer opportunities for aspiring women entrepreneurs to learn from successful entrepreneurial women and the award-winning faculty from OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship. Participants will be shown tools to help them start and grow a business, discover ways to do business better and network with other women entrepreneurs.

“We have a terrific line up of women entrepreneurs coming from all over North America who are from diverse industries with diverse backgrounds – all of whom are enormously successful,” said Nola Miyasaki, Norman C. Stevenson chair and executive director of the Riata Center. “All of our speakers are inspirational role models for women entrepreneurs. This conference will give entrepreneurs real tools to take home to start or grow their businesses.”

In total, the conference will offer 30 presentations from thriving businesswomen, including Maria de Lourdes Sobrino, who founded the first ever ready-to-eat gelatin company and whose products are now sold in supermarkets nationwide. 

The WE Inspire Conference will also feature hands-on breakout sessions that will examine a range of practical issues and enable women to act on their dreams, Miyasaki said. The breakouts will include two tracks: start up and growth. The start-up track will focus on creating new ventures, while the growth track will emphasize ways to grow a venture once it is up and running.

“It’s a day packed with learning, inspiration and networking,” said Michael Morris, professor, N. Malone Mitchell chair and head of OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship. “We anticipate that this will lead to other opportunities to provide year-round support to women entrepreneurs in Oklahoma.”

Registration includes a continental breakfast, lunch, networking reception, a resource binder and access to successful entrepreneurial speakers and experts from the United States, Canada and Oklahoma.  Seating is limited, so women are encouraged to sign up before the deadline.

The registration fee for the WE Inspire conference will be $50 until April 4; walk-in registration is $75. For more information, call the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at 405-744-7552 or visit http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/inspire. Companies interested in sponsorships or exhibit tables for the conference should call Brooke Stuart, the events and marketing specialist for the Spears School, at 405-744-7871 or e-mail her at brooke.stuart@okstate.edu.

In the six-week-long Entrepreneurship and Empowerment in South Africa program, OSU students and students from South Africa’s University of the Western Cape join together on consulting teams to help small business owners expand their scope and make their enterprises sustainable.

“EESA is a life-changing experience that allows all of the students – both American and South African – to grow and get exposure to each other in this rich course,” said Michael Morris, professor, N. Malone Mitchell chair and head of OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship. “But, to me, it’s always been a halfway relationship. It’s always us taking people over there and doing things, but, if it was a full relationship, it would also involve them coming over here and doing some work.”

This semester the partnership has become more complete. Victor Chaitezvi, a graduate from UWC who participated in EESA in 2010, has come to OSU to pursue a master’s degree in entrepreneurship.

Victor Chaitezvi, a master’s student in entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University, is originally from Zimbabwe and is a recent graduate from the University of the Western Cape in South Africa, where he was recognized as one of the 100 Brightest Young Minds in South Africa. He currently works in the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at OSU.

Chaitezvi is a native of Zimbabwe who has an exceptional aptitude for both academics and athletics, Morris said. He ran marathons and played cricket, field hockey and stipple chase for the country of Zimbabwe, and he used his talent in sports to earn scholarships for both high school and college. While at UWC, Chaitezvi majored in finance and earned numerous awards for his performance, including Student of the Year, Leader of the Year, and Entrepreneur of the Year. He was involved with seven commercial and three social ventures in South Africa and Zimbabwe, including an architectural firm he founded after working only 6 months in the industry. Even so, he said he did not discover his true passion until he participated in the EESA program.

“I had already booked a ticket to go home for the summer holidays when one of my professors approached me about participating in the EESA program,” Chaitezvi said. “At that time, I didn’t even know what the EESA program was, so he explained it to me. I thought, ‘Well, since I do my own informal business, I’ll stay.’ I got in at the last minute, and a day into the program I realized my real passion was entrepreneurship. I sat in on one lecture with Dr. Morris, and it has changed my entire life since then.”

Chaitezvi said he thinks entrepreneurship is different from every other course and program because it combines theory with experiential learning.

“In my finance degree, we were only taught to manage other people’s finances,” Chaitezvi said. “We were not taught to expand our minds and be proactive, creative or innovative, but that’s what this program is all about. It’s teaching us to go full out and realize our true potential.”

Morris said one his goals is to have more students like Chaitezvi come to OSU.

“Victor is symbolic that we can make this two-way exchange work,” Morris said. “He’s a good kid. We’re strongly committed to what we do in South Africa, and we would really like to have more students like him involved in our program.”

Chaitezvi said the international exposure is amazing because the business knowledge in Africa is about three years behind the information available in the United States. He said he wants to take the real-time experience he has received at OSU back to Africa.

“Most of my ventures in Africa were informal, and I was just doing them to earn pocket money,” Chaitezvi said. “But since I’ve been in this program, it’s just opened my eyes to how they can grow and expand. My dream is to go back home, refine my businesses, and do something meaningful in my home country. Ten years down the line, I’ll be someone to talk about. This is what I’ve been waiting for my whole life.”

For more information about EESA, call the School of Entrepreneurship at 405-744-1818 or visit its website at http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/riata/eesa.

If you Google “business valuation,” you are likely to find pages and pages of jargon that can make your head spin. Our aim, however, is to break down the technical mumbo jumbo into a concept at least somewhat easy to grasp.

At first thought, one might think business valuation pertains to owners wishing to determine the value of their businesses, explained Vance Fried, Riata professor of Entrepreneurship at the Oklahoma State University Spears School of Business. However, in real world use the concept comes into play even more so when purchasing a business.

There are many different techniques used for business valuation, and pretty much all the techniques are based on one question: What is the business worth, both now and into the future? However, all the techniques lead to the same end point — bringing buyers and sellers together on an agreed sale price.

“The most you want to pay when you purchase a business is the value of the future income that you derive from the business,” Fried said.

Approaching from Different Angles
Three common approaches are used in business valuation: the income approach, the asset-based approach and the market approach. Let’s look at each in turn:

1. Asset-based approach — this approach says the value of a business is equal to the sum of its parts.

“The asset theory is essentially what the business is worth if you go out of business,” Fried said. “Let’s assume you own the real estate and decide to sell it to someone who will tear the building down. You also decide to sell all the equipment the business owns. That would be the asset value approach — you just look at the value of the assets.”

Fried mentioned that business owners are most likely to use this approach if they own their real estate. Also, worth noting is that sometimes the asset value is higher than the going concern value, especially if the business is situated on a prime piece of property.

However, when using the asset-based approach the value of a company’s intangible assets, such as goodwill, is generally impossible to determine apart from the company’s overall value. Because of this, the asset-based approach may not be the most comprehensive method of determining the value of going business concerns. In these cases, the asset-based approach usually values a business at less than the fair market value.

2. Market approach — this approach is rooted in the economic principle of competition, which is that in a free market the supply and demand will drive the price to a certain balance. In essence, buyers will not pay more for the business and sellers will not accept less than the price of a comparable business.

The market approach is closely related to the “comparable sales” method that is commonly used in real estate appraisal.

Theoretically, the market approach identifies a business that closely mirrors the business being valued to establish a price. However, the challenge lies in finding a business with a similar location, of equal volume and operating in the same sector. It can be done a little more easily with publicly traded companies, as information is more accessible. But it can still be tough finding a company that is an acceptable match. Also, for a private company — which most lube shops are — the equity is less liquid than a public company, and thus its value is considered to be slightly lower than such a market-based valuation would give.

3. Income approach — this approach determines fair market value by multiplying the benefit stream by a discount or capitalization rate. The discount or capitalization rate converts the stream of benefits into present value. There are several different income approaches, but Fried shared three that would prove to be useful in the quick lube world.

The first approach is discounted cash flow. It is the most theoretical approach and is essentially how much cash the business will produce in addition to the terminal value.

“When determining discounted cash flow, ask yourself these two questions: ‘What do I think I can get when I sell the business in the future, and how much cash will it produce each year until then? Then, discount that back to today,” Fried said.

In the real world though, Fried explained, most people don’t use that approach. Instead they use a multiples approach. The main multiples approach used in valuing businesses is the multiple of earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization — also called EBITDA.

Here’s how that approach works: Let’s hypothesize a business sells for five times EBITDA. If the earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization is $200,000, the business is worth $1,000,000.

The math is the easy part; what’s hard is determining the multiple, Fried said.

“The multiple varies based on the nature of the business, how well the business is doing and what’s happening in the overall financial market,” Fried said. “Usually the smaller the business the lower the EBITDA. For example, a business with one lube location will have a smaller EBITDA than a business with 100 locations.”

The EBITDA multiple is popular because it is structurally neutral. Since your financial structure influences interest and tax payments, using a multiple of earnings before those are deducted leaves you a structurally neutral number.

Fried also explained a shortcut that is viable for business valuation in the quick lube industry. “Some in the industry might trade off a number of customers per year,” Fried said. “Since there are not a lot of different ways to operate a quick lube, you can assume the amount of money the business will generate is simply a function of the customers per year.

“It’s a simpler version of EBITDA, but you’re logically trying to get to the same spot. The logic always is to determine the amount of cash the business will generate.”

Behind the Logic
The logic of business valuation is really quite simple: A buyer does not want to pay more for the business than the business’ value.

“Valuation to me is really a buyer concept,” Fried said. “From the seller’s standpoint, you want to understand valuation because you want to get as much for the business as you can, but the buyers are the ones coming in with the valuations.”

Fried said business valuation is more art than science. “If you’re evaluating as a multiple of EBITDA or revenues, what exactly is that multiple?” Fried said. “A lot of business valuation has to do with your subjective view of how risky the business is and what else you can do in the market with your money.”

It’s not only multiples one must deduce; it’s also what type of valuation process is right for the situation.

“Mechanically, valuation is pretty straightforward,” Fried said. “However, you must use a lot of subjective judgment as far as what formula you are going to use and what numbers to plug in.”

When it comes down to it, business valuation gets you to the magic number — the number that someone is willing to pay for the business. To sum it up, Fried has advice about how to reach this magic number.

“People don’t need to think of the business valuation process as something set in stone,” he said. “Don’t think that you have to follow a certain format or that you can’t get more than a certain amount. While business valuation techniques are helpful, and a savvy buyer will use the techniques, it’s still a negotiation.”

Whether you’re on the lookout for businesses to add to your portfolio or you’re thinking of packing it up for greener pastures, business valuation can help buyers and sellers start reasonable negotiations and speed up the process of signing on the dotted line.

The Riata Center for Entrepreneurship from Oklahoma State University’s Spears School of Business is hosting the 2nd annual Women Entrepreneurs Inspire Conference.  The one-day conference will be held from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Tuesday, April 5 at the Cox Convention Center in Oklahoma City.

WE Inspire 2011 will explore the unique obstacles, demands and challenges women face when creating and growing their own ventures. The annual convention is aimed at equipping women with the resources they need to turn their business ideas into workable business models, helping them create their own companies, and making their ventures sustainable.

“Women are the fastest growing segment of small business start ups in the nation and make an enormous contribution to our economy in terms of job creation, spending power and other areas,” said Nola Miyasaki, Norman C. Stevenson chair and executive director of the Riata Center. “However, women-owned businesses still lag behind male-owned businesses in terms of numbers, size, jobs, etc. That actually indicates a high potential for growth among women-owned businesses and a great opportunity for them to be more successful and become an even more valuable part of our economy. The main benefits of the conference for women who own existing businesses or women who want to start businesses is that they will be inspired by entrepreneurial role models who can talk about failures as well as successes, learn tools to do business better, and network with each other.”

This year’s conference will host 30 presentations from leading women entrepreneurs across the nation, and hands-on breakout sessions will examine a range of practical issues to help enable women to act on their dreams, Miyasaki said. The breakouts will include two tracks: start up and growth. The start-up track will focus on creating ventures, while the growth track will emphasize ways to grow a venture once it is up and running.

“We have a terrific line up of women entrepreneurs coming from all over North America who are from diverse industries with diverse backgrounds – all of whom are enormously successful,” Miyasaki said. “One of our keynotes is Maria De Lourdes Sobrino, who started selling gelatin in a cup before Jello® had it on the market, and her product is now in Walmart® stores across the country. Another keynote grew up in poverty and lived on the streets before starting her million-dollar business, Consumer Connections®, in Canada. All of our speakers will be inspirational and will help us learn a lot on multiple topics of interest.”

Miyasaki said the response from last year’s inaugural conference was overwhelmingly positive, with more than 650 entrepreneurs and guests in attendance, and it was named as one of “The Top Ten Conferences for Female Entrepreneurs” by blogger and successful writer Jasmine Stephenson.  Miyasaki said she anticipates having even more entrepreneurial women in attendance this year.

“WE Inspire promises to be an exciting opportunity for inspiration, networking and tapping your entrepreneurial potential,” Miyasaki said. “The energy and the networking that goes on at this event are truly amazing for all who attend. The first conference inspired hundreds of women to pursue their passions, think big, and turn their dreams into reality. We plan to continue this tradition.”

The registration fee for the WE Inspire conference will be $35 for those who register before March 12. After that, registration will increase to $50 until March 31; late registration will be $75. To register or for more information, call the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at 405-744-7552 or visit http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/inspire. Companies interested in sponsorships or exhibit tables for the conference should call Brooke Stuart, the events and marketing specialist for the Spears School, at 405-744-7871 or e-mail her at brooke.stuart@okstate.edu.

“Even though the list is in no particular order, this is a great accomplishment,” said Cass Roberts, OSU E-Club president.

Roberts said FledgeWing.com would be using letters from members, faculty sponsors and supporters to rank the clubs on the list. If you think OSU’s E-Club is deserving of a high ranking, submit your recommendation to http://www.fledgewing.com/index.php?title=Articles%2FTop_50_University_Entrepreneurship_Clubs.

“I would like to thank all of you for the support you have given to the club over the years,” Roberts said. “We would not be here without you.”

The annual bootcamp, formally called the Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, is an entrepreneurial training program aimed at empowering veterans, equipping them with the resources they need to turn their business ideas into workable business models, helping them create their own companies, and making their ventures sustainable.

“The evidence makes it clear that disabled veterans who statistically have more difficulty in accessing resources and networks when they start businesses, creating higher barriers to success,” said Michael Morris, the N. Malone Mitchell Chair who heads up the OSU School of Entrepreneurship and founded the VEP. “As a country, we must do more to help those who have paid such a price for our freedom.”

The participants were exposed to all aspects of venture creation during their 12-hour days. Presenters included faculty members from across the country and the OSU School of Entrepreneurship, and a number of successful entrepreneurs. The keynote speaker at the closing graduation ceremony was retired U.S. Air Force General Joseph Ralston. Ralston has served as Supreme Allied Commander in Europe for NATO, Commander for the U.S. European Command and Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the nation’s second-highest ranking military office.

The entire program – transportation, accommodation, books, food and instruction – was provided free of charge to participants. OSU alumni and supporters rallied around the VEP and donated thousands of dollars to help make it possible. The delegates will now begin a 10-month mentoring period, with mentors provided by the Tulsa Rotary.

“This was a great opportunity for OSU and the community at large to show a debt of gratitude to these brave veterans,” said Abby Speed, director of the VEP. “They have made a huge sacrifice for our country and now we have had the chance to give them some entrepreneurial tools and knowledge to succeed in their business and in life. It showed hope, a renewed sense of purpose in the veterans, and hopefully inspired others.”

For more information about the VEP, visit http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/vep or e-mail Speed at VEP@okstate.edu.

Morris will be presented with the award and $7,500 at the Leavey Summit March 18-19 in Philadelphia, Pa. He earned the award based on the passion and innovativeness he demonstrated while forming and developing OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship, a department he continues to lead and cultivate.

“Winning this award is reinforcing in terms of what we’re trying to do here,” Morris said. “It suggests that the program here at OSU is emerging as a world-wide leader in entrepreneurship.”

Morris said the Thomas and Dorothy Leavey Foundation is well known for celebrating the leading programs and initiatives related to free enterprise and entrepreneurship from across the nation. Each year, the panel selects educators from the elementary, junior high, high school and college levels to receive this award.

This is not the first honor Morris has received for his extensive work in entrepreneurship. In addition to founding the revolutionary School of Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University, Morris has built acclaimed programs in entrepreneurship at Syracuse University and the Miami University, and been recognized as one of the top twenty entrepreneurship educators in the country. A former Fulbright Scholar, he has also written seven books and more than 150 academic articles in leading journals, earning numerous awards for his efforts.

“Oklahoma State is an entrepreneurial university that is transforming the lives of students and empowering them to change the world,” Morris said. “Our faculty and staff are academic entrepreneurs.  Their success is tied to a dynamic curriculum, deep commitment to experiential learning, and high-impact community engagement.”

For more information about OSU’s School of Entrepreneurship, call Morris at 405-744-3325 or send an e-mail to entrepreneurship@okstate.edu.

“I became involved because it sounded like an interesting and useful program,” said Allen Apblett, an associate professor of chemistry at OSU who has participated in the TEI and worked with the CIE scholars twice. “The students have been extremely hard working, motivated and intelligent, and the faculty and staff running the programs are highly experienced and extremely competent and effective. They all did well in learning sufficient chemistry to understand my inventions and then developing business plans around them.”

During the fall semester of their term as a CIE scholar, the students endure a rigorous process. Claude Kershner, a CIE scholar and a master of business administration candidate, said each team evaluates the industry in which the business will operate, determines the customer base and how to reach them, works toward a strategic partnership with the primary researcher and with private business, and evaluates a feasible operating plan for the company.

“This program is not for the faint of heart,” Kershner said. “There are certainly times when you feel like pulling out your hair, but the days when things work out the way they are intended are worth all the frustration and hard work. It has been exceptionally rewarding.”

Last year, all four CIE teams were selected as finalists in the Oklahoma Governor’s Cup Business Plan Competition, a contest for students of Oklahoma universities to act on their entrepreneurial ideas, according to the Oklahoma Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research.

“This recognition speaks very well of all the participants in the partnership,” Wood said. “In the next few years, we plan to widen our horizon beyond just the state of Oklahoma because not many universities are doing this effectively.

“I think this program is really the wave of the future, and not just at OSU,” Wood said. “This program is on a permanent track. Every team comes away with something more than they thought they would through this experience, and that speaks best for the program. When I was a student here, I wish they had something like this, and I’ve had several other alumni say the same thing. It’s a way to be in the real world while you’re still on campus; it’s a gaining of perspective, which is very important for anyone serious about working in the business world.”

If you have questions or would like additional information about the CIE Scholars Program or the TEI, call 405-744-3325 or send an e-mail to entrepreneurship@okstate.edu.

“The purpose of the Riata Business Plan Competition is to motivate students to think about ideas and how to put their ideas into action,” said Nola Miyasaki, director of the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship.

In its second year, the competition is open to anyone as long as one team member is an Oklahoma State University student.

“Someone could have their dad, neighbor or some random friend from high school be on their team, as long as there is one OSU student,” said Landon Daft, an MBA student tasked with promoting and marketing for the competition.

Students who graduate this fall semester can sign up also, he said.

Going through the competition helps work out the plan’s kinks and prepares teams to find investors for their business, Daft said.

Students can enroll in EEE 3020 for help. However, anyone not needing course credit can show up to the business plan lab for free, Daft said.

“It makes the process easier than if you went at it on your own,” said Daft.

The plans are judged by local business owners and the Spears School of Business’ board of directors.

Funding for the award is from the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship’s endowment.

Last year’s winning team, MetCel LLC, developed a business plan for a structural honeycomb system to be used in aviation.

After winning, MetCel began focusing on using the design for body armor because it requires less money to develop.

“Be careful when choosing a team and try to find teammates in other disciplines so you can understand different aspects of the business,” said Amir Bhochhibhoya, an entrepreneurial graduate student.

While finishing his MBA during the competition, Bhochhibhoya teamed up with engineering students to form MeCel.

Teams should be open to advice from experts and willing to change the plan several times before the finals, he said.

“Win or lose, it provides teams with a valuable experience,” he said.

“It makes it a really worthwhile effort for someone who is interested in starting a business,” Miyasaki said.

• Performance Art | Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory | 714 S. Main St. | performance art | 6 to 10 p.m.
• DJ Culture | Louie’s Grill and Bar | 720 S. Main St. | 1 to 11 p.m.
• Studio Art | Kinzington Court Lobby | 710 S. Main St. | 1 to 11 p.m.
• Jazz/Classical Music | Zannotti’s Wine Bar | 113 West 7th Ave. | 1 to 10 p.m.
• Interactive Media | AT&T Store | 702 S. Main St. | 1 to 10:30 p.m.

A Main Stage featuring a variety or live performances will be set up in the BancFirst parking lot at 8th Avenue and Main Street from 1 to 10:30 p.m.

“The Main Street Arts Festival is the culmination of the first Entrepreneurship and the Arts course at OSU and is an expression of the students application of the principles, processes and practices of the discipline of Entrepreneurship to the re-invigoration and socio-cultural transformation of the arts in Stillwater,” said Rubin Pillay, OSU Daniel White Jordan Clinical Professor in Entrepreneurship and Creativity and course instructor.

In addition to the OSU School of Entrepreneurship, other event sponsors include the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, Louie’s Grill and Bar, Flannigan’s Footware, AT&T, Zannotti’s Wine Bar, Hideaway Pizza, Redbull and the OSU Entrepreneurship Club.

To enter the contest, students must complete an Intent to Compete form at http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/competitions and submit it to 101 Business Building by Dec. 17, 2010. The competition will begin in January. The first deadline is due Feb. 2, when each team will submit an overview of its plan. If selected to move up to the next phase of the contest, each team must complete the business plan in March. If selected for the finals, they will be hosted on April 29-30, 2011.

Teams will receive support from the Entrepreneurship Program through assigned mentors and coaches, as well as a Business Plan Laboratory that will take place on Wednesday evenings starting in January. The Business Plan Laboaratory can be taken for credit or can be audited by teams in the competition.

To learn more or enter the Riata Business Plan Competition, visit http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/competitions. If you are interested in collaborating with others but not have a team, call the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship at 405-744-7552 or email nola.miyasaki@okstate.edu.

“We hope to have over 100 student teams to enter all throughout the campus,” Morris said on the expectations for this year. “For students with unique ideas, this is an opportunity to adjust and adapt to their idea and to help clarify where they want to go with it. For students who may not have a business background, this is an excellent chance for them to put together a higher quality business plan; it will also give them a chance to learn the logic of how to put together a plan. We also have mentors and a great business lab to help those students out.”

Students can enter the competition as an individual or in teams. At least one member of the team needs to be an OSU student. The plans will be presented to a distinguished panel of judges who will critique the completed plans on the strength of the concept, the marketability of the product, the economic feasibility of the business, the planned business operations, the management of the team and the ability of the plan to receive financing.

“These are, at some level, unreasonable men and women,” Morris said.

Nearly 100 people packed inside a meeting room at the Cox Convention Center for the presentation, called “The Entrepreneurial University: An Emerging Model for the 21st Century.”

Morris, who is also the N. Malone Mitchell Chair in Entrepreneurship, used Oklahoma State University as an example of how other universities can encourage entrepreneurial behaviors and attitudes on campus.

At a time when public colleges and universities are facing a variety of challenges, including competition from for-profit institutions and a decline in traditional funding sources, Morris said it is essential to embrace entrepreneurial thinking. He said students, staff, faculty and administrators should be encouraged to take calculated risks and capitalize on opportunities.

Too many universities are bogged down by bureaucratic processes, Morris said. He said many have become like ivory towers that are too far removed from society.

University officials and professors are not inherently bureaucratic, Morris said. Rather, he said they are innately creative. Schools can tap into that creativity and leverage it to create innovative solutions to problems.

Entrepreneurship needs to extend beyond the narrow confines of the business school, Morris said. He said too many people associate entrepreneurship with starting new business ventures. The true definition is much broader, Morris said.

Entrepreneurship at a university has to encompass all levels of the campus community, from students to groundskeepers to administrators, Morris said. Oklahoma State University is working to promote entrepreneurship through culture building, curriculum, infrastructure and other approaches.

In September, the university launched an Institute for Creativity and Innovation. Melanie Page, director of the institute, said colleges that don’t change the way they operate won’t survive the next 20 years.

She said schools teach students to fret over grades and test scores, which sends the wrong message.

“There are no tests in real life once you pass your accreditation exam, so we’re not giving them the skill set that they need,” Page said.

Liz Roth currently is an assistant professor of drawing, painting and 2D design in the OSU Department of Art. Roth is currently involved in teaching and the development of curricula for the Entrepreneurship and the arts program. Her current research also focuses on how to inspire arts majors to utilize their full potential to identify and exploit opportunities in a highly competitive yet “splintered” art market.

Jason Vogel serves as an extension storm water specialist and as an associate professor in the OSU Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering. Vogel is involved in the Green Entrepreneurship Initiative of the School of Entrepreneurship and currently is engaged in program development in the area as well as research aimed at developing environmentally friendly and sustainable storm water management systems.

James D. Hess serves as the vice president and Chief Operating Officer of the Oklahoma State University Center for Health Sciences and also is an assistant professor of family medicine. As a fellow, Hess will focus on program development and research with the aim of creating an entrepreneurial culture within the health profession.

Lin Liu is a Regents professor and director of the Lung Biology and Toxicology Lab in the OSU Department of Psychological Sciences, a branch of the OSU Center for Veterinary Health Sciences. Liu currently is engaged in developing joint undergraduate and graduate programs between the Schools of Entrepreneurship and Veterinary Biomedical Sciences. His goal is the creation of entrepreneurial veterinary practitioners and veterinary biomedical scientists.

Melanie C. Page is currently a professor in the OSU Department of Psychology and director of the OSU Institute for Creativity and Innovation (ICI) in the School of Entrepreneurship. In her capacity as director of the ICI and Riata Facutly Fellow she aims to foster a culture of creativity and innovation among all faculty, staff, and students thereby making OSU the leading entrepreneurial university in the nation.

OSU faculty members wishing to apply to become a Riata Faculty Fellow in 2011-12 can find more information and the application form by going to: http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/fellows.

He said, he spent two years in the brewery business with help from friend and business partner, Mike Sandufur.

“It took a lot of work starting the brewery because we had to get the legalities out of the way, like health codes, licensing, recipes, etc.,” Gaylor said. “We aren’t going to promote the band aspect of the brewery just yet. We want to wait and see how well it will do on its own first.”

The brewery will be called the Battered Boar, he said. It’s expected to serve beers ranging from ales to lagers. Some of the brewery’s beer has already shown up in businesses in Oklahoma City, such as The Melting Pot, McNellie’s and Charleston’s.

Gaylor’s also discussed how his business knowledge helped with his success in The All-American Rejects.

“On paper, the band is a cooperation,” he said. “Our band was pre-Internet so we had to play and play and play before we got recognized. A lot of business went into our eventual success.”

“Teaching the mechanics of starting a small business is pretty easy,” said Michael Morris, department head and N. Malone Mitchell Chair in Entrepreneurship, who spearheaded the program last year. “That’s really not the focus. What we’re trying to teach is to help people think and act in entrepreneurial ways.

“Getting better at understanding what an opportunity is, where they come from, how to evaluate them — that’s the essence of what our whole teaching approach is based on.”

The program costs entrepreneurs $650, and only 60 delegates will be accepted to the program on a first-come, first-served basis. A limited number of $200 scholarships are awarded to entrepreneurs who exhibit financial need.

The initiative involves students too. Through the Creativity, Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scholars program, top MBA and other graduate students are matched with promising faculty inventions to provide business planning services. As a result, eleven OSU-developed technologies are on the path to commercialization.

The October 5th seminar is co-sponsored by the Office of the VP for Research and Technology Transfer, Spears School of Business, Office of Intellectual Property Management, Riata Entrepreneurship Center, Robert M. Kerr Food &amp Agricultural Products Center, School of Entrepreneurship, OSU New Product Development Center and Creativity and Innovation Institute.

The program will feature presentations by Robert Sternberg, OSU’s new provost and senior VP, Steve McKeever, VP for Research and Technology Transfer, as well as Morris, Price and Wood.

For more information, visit http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/tei or call 405-744-6930.

“Hopefully the evaluations were helpful to the professors who taught us today,” said Robert Meza, an entrepreneurship senior. “With any luck it will enrich the teaching of entrepreneurship to other students around the world.”

Not only will the experiential classroom help improve the educating of entrepreneurship for other universities, but will also help to enhance OSU’s entrepreneurship program.

“It’s nice to see the commitment here at school. It makes me proud to be a part of this process,” said Patrick Huber, an entrepreneur student.

Sample topics to be covered over the six weeks include:

• The characteristics of great entrepreneurs,
• What makes a great business concept and business model,
• The real role a business plan plays and why entrepreneurs need to write it themselves,
• The need-to-know on bookkeeping and accounting,
• What it means to think and act like a “guerrilla” when it comes to marketing,
• The internet’s role in a new business,
• How operations should be organized,
• Issues in hiring people and outsourcing and
• Trademarks and intellectual property.

Last year’s bootcamp provided a promising forecast for the 2010 program’s success, as it helped numerous entrepreneurs around the state.

The Riata Center currently is accepting applicants for the 2010 Cowboy Bootcamp, which will be held on six consecutive Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon at OSU-Tulsa’s campus beginning Oct. 9 and concluding Nov. 13. Optional sessions about strategic topics also will be offered on select Saturdays from noon to 1 p.m.

Program applications will be accepted through October 6 with only the first 55 applicants being accepted. Because of generous sponsors, the fee for the six weeks of instruction is $650 and includes instruction, course materials and refreshments. A limited number of $200 scholarships are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The scholarship application is available on the online Cowboy Bootcamp registration form. Visit www.entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/bootcamp or call Mary Means at 405-744-7871 to register or for more information.

He joins four other local teachers who received scholarships from the center to attend the three-day program. Also attending are Terry Sacket, Monte Roggow, Gary Tucker and Todd Ging.

This is the 11th year for Experiential Classroom, which will be held at Oklahoma State University in Tulsa.

The entire entrepreneurship program is free to participants which includes transportation, accommodation, books, food, and the instruction. The VEP founder says it’s just one way to give back.

“I believe we owe it to these veterans who have paid such a high price to serve our country,” said Michael Morris, who is a veteran himself. “The whole idea is to empower veterans and to show them a path forward that centers on entrepreneurship.”

Applications are available at the OSU website. They are due October 1, 2010.

The class is broadly targeted toward individuals who have a business idea, as well as those who have launched a venture or those who are curious about what it takes to be an entrepreneur, OSU officials said. The only basic requirement is a desire to learn about entrepreneurship and successful enterprise development.

Each class is taught by OSU School of Entrepreneurship faculty members and guest entrepreneurs. Mentoring and coaching also will be provided to individual businesses by the Riata Center consulting staff and MBA students in partnership with the University of Tulsa, OSU officials said.

Class participants will learn about the characteristics of great entrepreneurs, what makes a good business concept and business model, the role a business plan plays and why entrepreneurs need to write it themselves, bookkeeping and accounting essentials, what it means to think and act like a “guerrilla” when it comes to marketing, the Internet’s role in a new business, how operations should be organized, issues in hiring people and outsourcing, and trademarks and intellectual property.

“At OSU we have a unique concept of university wide entrepreneurship,” says Dr. Morris. “The issue is not just what’s happening in The Spears School of Business. We also have a major entrepreneurship in the arts initiative. We have an entrepreneurship in engineering initiative. And we’re working with the medical school in Tulsa on an entrepreneurship in healthcare initiative.”

“When the Mitchells envisioned how their investment might be utilized, I think this is what they were hoping for.”

That investment is more than a financial one. Malone Mitchell serves on OSU’s entrepreneurship advisory board, while Amy Mitchell is involved in the Women Entrepreneurs Inspire (WE Inspire) Conference. “Both Amy and Malone are important sources of guidance as we grow this program,” says Mike Morris. Growing might be an understatement. Last fall the undergraduate entrepreneurship degree program was launched; this fall two master’s degree programs as well as a PhD program are underway. The School of Entrepreneurship is complemented by the Riata Entrepreneurship Center. The former is academic; the latter focuses on outreach and engagement in the community. Prime examples include programs such as WE Inspire, The Cowboy Boot Camp for Entrepreneurs, and What’s Your Big Idea? (Business Plan Competition). Also operating on campus are two business incubators: One for undergrads, the other for graduate students.

Dr. Morris is an experienced academic entrepreneur. He has headed programs at Syracuse University, the University of Hawaii, and the University of Cape Town, just to name a few. Some would also consider Michael Morris a serial entrepreneur; after all, he’s launched one groundbreaking program after another. He has another name for what he does.

“Right now I’m the utility infielder,” he says with a laugh. “I’m covering things that need to be covered as we are trying to aggressively grow this program.” That includes teaching, advising, mentoring, and most importantly, innovating.

“Entrepreneurship is often taught as part of a subarea or part of another department,” says Dr. Morris. “At OSU we have created an actual school of entrepreneurship. In so doing, we’ve made a commitment. We’ve not only created an entrepreneurship program, but we’ve created it so that it’s sustainable.”

Sustainable entrepreneurship. It sounds like a course title or at least a theory worth exploring.

Dr. Morris puts it this way: “The issue is not one of how do we teach you to start your own company, though we do teach that. The much more relevant issue is: How do we ignite the entrepreneurial mindset in the way you look at things and approach things?”

They have identified 11 entrepreneurial competencies. These are competencies that would serve any student in terms of a career and a life.

• • Recognizing Opportunity
• • Assessing Opportunity
• • Creative Problem-solving
• • Leveraging Resources
• • Guerrilla Skills
• • Mitigating and Managing Risk
• • Planning When Nothing Exists
• • Innovation—Developing Ideas that Work
• • Building and Managing Social Networks
• • The Ability to Maintain Focus Yet Adapt
• • Implementation of Something Novel or New

“And I believe that these are competencies that employers of all sorts are anxious to find in young people,” says Dr. Morris.”I’m cautiously optimistic that, five years from now, OSU will be able to show more meaningful results than any other school.”

In addition, the program will include a welcome by Larry Crosby, dean of the Spears School of Business, and a response from OSU President Burns Hargis, who will share his vision for creativity and innovation at OSU. ICI director Melanie Page will provide a brief overview of the institute.

The event also will include a lunch program featuring Peter Sherwood, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, who will provide an update on the state of creativity in Oklahoma; followed by stories from the inaugural Creativity, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship scholars; as well as a panel including OSU faculty members Mike Morris, Diane Montgomery and Tracy Suter, who will discuss why OSU should become more creative, innovative and entrepreneurial. Lunch will be provided free of charge to the first 200 people. Lunch tickets will be distributed at the 10 a.m. presentation.

The final presentation of the day will begin at 1 p.m. Bonnie Cramond, former director of the Torrance Center for Creativity and Talent Development at the University of Georgia, will lead a hands-on presentation about increasing personal creativity.

“Dr. Cramond is recognized nationally for her work on creativity and ADHD and will provide an engaging and fun opportunity for the campus to tap into their own creativity,” Page said. “Given OSU’s focus on creativity, we are especially excited to host this event and share with the campus. Universities are by their very nature creative – we want to work with all segments of campus to harness that power for the good of Oklahoma and the world.”

All events are free and open to the public. Individuals who plan to attend the lunch session are encouraged to RSVP to page at creativity.okstate.edu.

To learn more, email Page at melanie.page@okstate.edu or call 405-744-7334 or visit http://creativity.okstate.edu.

“This is a very special group that represents some of our best and brightest,” said Michael Morris, professor and N. Malone Mitchell chair of entrepreneurship. “We are excited about the intellectual collisions and mutual learning that will occur as they collaborate on CIE projects over the coming year.”

The CIE Scholars program is funded by Dan Howard and Tiffany Sewell-Howard, who are both alumni of the OSU MBA program. Tiffany is the CEO of the DitchWitch® Organization in Perry, Okla., and Dan is an attorney practicing in Edmond, Okla. As alumni and Oklahoma residents, Tiffany and Dan said they see fostering entrepreneurship and executive leadership as key to the state’s future economic success. It was this need that was the impetus for the initial program endowment.

CIE Scholars undertake creative, innovative and entrepreneurial projects; serve as ambassadors for the Spears School and OSU, and organize an annual CIE Scholars Forum. Those selected receive a $5,000 scholarship awarded over two semesters.

For more information about the CIE Scholars Program, call 405-744-3325 or visit http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/cie.

The bootcamp is presented by the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business at OSU.

“The Cowboy Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs is a hands on-environment where you can learn to develop a profitable venture and how to manage the day-to-day operations of your business,” said Nola Miyasaki, director of the Riata Center.

Each bootcamp class is taught by nationally recognized OSU School of Entrepreneurship faculty members and guest entrepreneurs. Mentoring and coaching also will be provided to individual businesses by the Riata Center consulting staff and MBA students in partnership with the University of Tulsa.

Sample topics to be covered over the six weeks include:

• the characteristics of great entrepreneurs,

• what makes a great business concept and business model,

• the real role a business plan plays and why entrepreneurs need to write it themselves,

• the need-to-know on bookkeeping and accounting,

• what it means to think and act like a “guerrilla” when it comes to marketing,

• the internet’s role in a new business,

• how operations should be organized,

• issues in hiring people and outsourcing, and

• trademarks and intellectual property.

Last year’s bootcamp provided a promising forecast for the 2010 program’s success, as it helped numerous entrepreneurs around the state.

The Riata Center currently is accepting applicants for the 2010 Cowboy Bootcamp, which will be held on six consecutive Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon at OSU-Tulsa’s campus beginning October 9 and concluding November 13. Optional sessions about strategic topics also will be offered on select Saturdays from noon to 1 p.m.

Program applications will be accepted through October 6 with only the first 55 applicants being accepted. Because of generous sponsors, the fee for the six weeks of instruction is $650 and includes instruction, course materials, and refreshments. A limited number of $200 scholarships are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The scholarship application is available on the online Cowboy Bootcamp registration form. Visit www.entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/bootcamp or call Mary Means at 405-744-7871 to register or for more information.

About Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University

SCHOOL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

With one of the most comprehensive academic programs in the world, the School of Entrepreneurship is a leading innovator in educating current and future entrepreneurs. The faculty includes thought leaders who are changing the way entrepreneurs around the world approach new venture creation. The entrepreneurship program at OSU includes 8 faculty members, 22 courses and each semester serves hundreds of students at the graduate and undergraduate levels. OSU is one of the few universities in the country with an academic department of entrepreneurship and an outreach-focused center for entrepreneurship. Together, the two are strongly committed to innovative engagement with the entrepreneurial community.

RIATA CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

The Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in the OSU Spears School of Business offers a diverse portfolio of experiential programs to immerse students in entrepreneurship, as well as outreach programs for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs across the state. Together with the OSU School of Entrepreneurship, the Riata Center seeks to support the development of a vibrant culture of entrepreneurship in Oklahoma, and to create a nationally visible program that also impacts the field of entrepreneurship internationally. Core programs of the Riata Center support student entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, a cross campus business plan competition, technology based entrepreneurship and commercialization, entrepreneurial interns, entrepreneurs’ bootcamps, a bootcamp for disabled veterans and related initiatives.

Fee is $650, and a limited number of $200 scholarships are available. For information see entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/bootcamp.

Last year’s boot camp was a boost to Phyllis and Micheal Peabody of Broken Arrow, who own Hollywood Fitness Repair, a company that manages fitness equipment for corporations and commercial fitness organizations.

“The Cowboy Bootcamp gives you a lot of confidence, resources, tools, feedback, and helped me jump-start my business,” said Phyllis Peabody. “It was a milestone opportunity for me.”

The bootcamp is presented by the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in the Spears School of Business at OSU.

“The Cowboy Bootcamp for Entrepreneurs is a hands on-environment where you can learn to develop a profitable venture and how to manage the day-to-day operations of your business,” said Nola Miyasaki, director of the Riata Center.

Each bootcamp class is taught by nationally recognized OSU School of Entrepreneurship faculty members and guest entrepreneurs. Mentoring and coaching also will be provided to individual businesses by the Riata Center consulting staff and MBA students in partnership with the University of Tulsa.

Sample topics to be covered over the six weeks include:

• the characteristics of great entrepreneurs,

• what makes a great business concept and business model,

• the real role a business plan plays and why entrepreneurs need to write it themselves,

• the need-to-know on bookkeeping and accounting,

• what it means to think and act like a “guerrilla” when it comes to marketing,

• the internet’s role in a new business,

• how operations should be organized,

• issues in hiring people and outsourcing, and

• trademarks and intellectual property.

Last year’s bootcamp provided a promising forecast for the 2010 program’s success, as it helped numerous entrepreneurs around the state.

The Riata Center currently is accepting applicants for the 2010 Cowboy Bootcamp, which will be held on six consecutive Saturdays from 8:30 a.m. to noon at OSU-Tulsa’s campus beginning October 9 and concluding November 13. Optional sessions about strategic topics also will be offered on select Saturdays from noon to 1 p.m.

Program applications will be accepted through October 6 with only the first 55 applicants being accepted. Because of generous sponsors, the fee for the six weeks of instruction is $650 and includes instruction, course materials, and refreshments. A limited number of $200 scholarships are available on a first-come, first-served basis. The scholarship application is available on the online Cowboy Bootcamp registration form. Visit entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/bootcamp or call Mary Means at 405-744-7871 to register or for more information.

About Entrepreneurship at Oklahoma State University

SCHOOL OF ENTREPRENEURSHIP

With one of the most comprehensive academic programs in the world, the School of Entrepreneurship is a leading innovator in educating current and future entrepreneurs. The faculty includes thought leaders who are changing the way entrepreneurs around the world approach new venture creation. The entrepreneurship program at OSU includes 8 faculty members, 22 courses and each semester serves hundreds of students at the graduate and undergraduate levels. OSU is one of the few universities in the country with an academic department of entrepreneurship and an outreach-focused center for entrepreneurship. Together, the two are strongly committed to innovative engagement with the entrepreneurial community.

RIATA CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP:

The Riata Center for Entrepreneurship in the OSU Spears School of Business offers a diverse portfolio of experiential programs to immerse students in entrepreneurship, as well as outreach programs for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs across the state. Together with the OSU School of Entrepreneurship, the Riata Center seeks to support the development of a vibrant culture of entrepreneurship in Oklahoma, and to create a nationally visible program that also impacts the field of entrepreneurship internationally. Core programs of the Riata Center support student entrepreneurs, women entrepreneurs, a cross campus business plan competition, technology based entrepreneurship and commercialization, entrepreneurial interns, entrepreneurs’ bootcamps, a bootcamp for disabled veterans and related initiatives.

The “World of Entrepreneurship” consisted of four sessions designed to help the participants develop business plans to start their own lemonade stands. Morris kicked off the first session by introducing the idea of entrepreneurship, and OSU student and creator of Original Man Candles Johnson Bailey also visited about his journey towards becoming a successful entrepreneur.

In the second session, entrepreneurship professor Bruce Barringer introduced a basic business plan template including marketing, production and cost analysis. The children and their grandparents then broke up into three teams to develop their plans, resulting in the businesses “Pistol Pete’s Favorite Lemonade,” “Yay Lemonade!” and “Orange-Power Lemonade.”

The children were responsible for creating marketing materials and any other items needed for their businesses the following day. Session three began the next morning as the teams set up and sold their products, and the last session involved calculating final profits.

“Essentially, these kids were brand new to entrepreneurship,” said Mary Means, the Riata Center for Entrepreneurship assistant director. “A lot of them didn’t even know what the word meant.

“However, by the end of the program, the kids and grandparents were energized with the entrepreneurial spirit and excited to take what they have learned at OSU back to their hometowns to make their schools, families and communities better.”

After completing the program, the students attended their “graduation ceremony” at the OSU Alumni Center and were presented with certificates in their particular fields. Morris said he was impressed with the work the children did and their creative concepts.

“We look forward to next year and to some new innovations,” Morris said.

Photos

But what about veterans who want to sell beyond the federal government? A program at Oklahoma State University offers a model for turning veterans into successful entrepreneurs. The Veterans Entrepreneurship Program, launched last fall, brings together veterans who are either disabled or who distinguished themselves while in service for a year-long series of critiques, mentoring sessions and an intense 8-day bootcamp at OSU’s campus in Stillwater, Okla.

“We try to push them away from being dependent on government contracts,” says professor Michael Morris, director of the School of Entrepreneurship at OSU’s Spears School of Business and the program’s founder. “There’s nothing wrong with that, but you’re betting the farm: if you don’t get the contract, you don’t have a business.”

Instead, Morris and the entrepreneurship experts he works with urge veterans to think beyond Uncle Sam. Concepts being developed by the current group of participants include everything from restaurants and a car wash to an exercise device designed for people in wheelchairs.

“We work them hard, and they rise to the occasion,” says Morris. Despite the 12-hour days during the bootcamp sessions, “we almost have to push them back to the hotel.”

As with other would-be entrepreneurs, veterans need moral support as much as practical business skills. “A big part of what we’re doing is meant to be inspiring, not just educational,” says Morris. “People have an idea, but they need to know they can do it. We want them to leave more motivated than when they came in.”

The Oklahoma State program is based on a similar model Morris developed when he taught at Syracuse University’s Whitman School of Management. Syracuse’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) has since grown into a partnership with the business schools at Florida State University, Texas A&M, Purdue, UCLA, and the University of Connecticut.

Setting up such a program comes with its own challenges. They’re offered free of charge to the veterans who are accepted, which means money must be raised from private sources to pay for airfare, hotels and meals. Both the online content and in-person meetings must be accessible to veterans with a wide range of disabilities, from paralysis to blindness to mental and emotional issues.

But the combination of short-term, intense training and long-term follow-up builds a sense of camaraderie that would be hard to achieve in a one-time, weekend seminar. At the Oklahoma State program, veterans are paired up with mentors from Rotary Clubs in their hometowns, giving them ties to the local business community. “In the middle of the bootcamp, it’s exhausting,” says Morris. “But it left me with the sense that I wanted to do more. The need is so much greater than our capacity to meet it.”

In many ways, successful entrepreneurs are the embodiment of the American dream. Veterans who have served their country deserve a shot at achieving that dream for themselves. “It’s empowering to create your own future and your own wealth,” says Morris. “When you can do that with a veteran who paid the ultimate sacrifice, I can’t think of anything more fulfilling.”

Students earn college credits as they attend lectures, meet with clients and do field research. Clients have included transport businesses, construction companies, community magazines, retail shops and small manufacturers.

“Unfortunately, the large majority of micro-enterprises start small and stay small,” Morris said “To help address this challenge, the EESA program was launched a number of years ago.”

Now in its 12th year, the 2010 installment of the EESA program began May 29 and will conclude July 10. EESA participants – 20 from the United States and 15 from UWC – spend six weeks in South Africa using a unique model developed by program faculty to identify and prioritize the needs of the client enterprises. Students work in teams of four, and each consultant team works with two enterprises.

Expectations are high, as the program focus is less on analysis and more on making meaningful progress in addressing client needs by producing four tangible deliverables that can be implemented by the entrepreneurs. Students develop marketing and financial plans, create bookkeeping systems, improve operations, assist in renegotiating contracts, help prepare tenders and more.

“We interview students and recruit the best students at the four campuses,” Morris said. “Students must bridge a number of divides, recognize an underlying problem in operations or sales and then apply creativity and critical thinking in solving the problem while helping these companies.”

The participants, who can earn up to 6 hours of college credit for their work, are coached by one South African and three U.S. faculty members. The students spend their mornings in lectures conducted by subject-matter experts, and their afternoons and evenings are filled with client meetings and field research. To get a real understanding of the context, students often spend time actually working in the businesses.

“The days are long, and often include weekends, but we get back so much more than we give,” said Kip Kelley, an MBA student from OSU who is currently in South Africa with the program.

EESA client entrepreneurs have managed to overcome a history of apartheid, limited education and severely constrained resources to create small enterprises. Their ventures range from transport businesses and construction companies to community magazines, retail shops, and small manufacturers.

Luvuyo Rani is a good example. His company, Silulo Ulutho Technologies, runs internet cafes, computer training and sales of computer equipment in South African townships.

“The EESA program has made a significant contribution to our ability to grow the company to five locations, and soon to be seven,” Rani said. “The students and faculty work extremely hard to come to really know our business, and work with us in implementing tangible solutions we can use.”

During the program, the University of the Western Cape in Cape Town serves as the host institution, providing housing, classroom facilities and other resources to support the consulting teams.

“We are very proud of the EESA Program,” said professor Christopher Tapscott, dean of the Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences at UWC. “It is a wonderful example of bridging the classroom with the realities of the townships, where students learn by doing. Our students work hand-in-hand with the Americans, and together they solve problems and develop solutions.”

To date, the EESA program has assisted more than 200 entrepreneurs. New improvements are added each year. For example, a new tracking system is being implemented to monitor entrepreneurs’ implementation of the consulting solutions, as well as growth in revenues and employees.

“It continues to inspire me how passionate these entrepreneurs are, and how a period of intense and structured help can make a real difference in their ventures,” Morris said.

For more information about the Entrepreneurship and Empowerment in South Africa program, call the OSU Center for Executive and Professional Development at 1-866-678-3933, visit entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/eesa or call Morris at 405-744-5357.

Photo: OSU MBA student Claude Kershner (right) meets with one of his South African client entrepreneurs during the 2010 Entrepreneurship and Empowerment in South Africa program.

The entire VEP program — transportation, accommodation, books, food and instruction — is provided free of charge to participants. OSU alumni and supporters have rallied around the program and donated thousands of dollars to help make the program possible.

Applications for the 2010-11 VEP are available online at entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/vep. Applications are due by Oct. 1. To make a donation, visit OSUgiving.com, or contact Morris at 744-5357.

The competition was open to anyone with a business ranging from a startup to a company that had been in operation for up to five years, or to people who had an idea for a business.

The 25 chosen will present a full business plan and give a seven-minute pitch to judges who will identify the 12 best business models, who will advance to the semi-final round July 12.

Those 12 semi-finalists will be narrowed to seven finalists, who will compete for the top prize, which will be awarded Nov. 16 at the downtown TCC Center for Creativity during Global Entrepreneurship
Week.

More information about Metcel LLC and Integ Medical Devices LLC.

Corporate sponsorships and individual tickets are available.

For more information or to make a reservation, go to www.okcu.edu/business or call Melissa Cory at 208-5540 or e-mail mcory@okcu.edu.

The entire VEP program – transportation, accommodation, books, food and instruction – is provided free of charge to participants. OSU alumni and supporters have rallied around the program and donated thousands of dollars to help make the program possible.

“I believe we owe it to these veterans who have paid such a high price to serve our country,” said Morris, who is a veteran himself. “The whole idea is to empower veterans and to show them a path forward that centers on entrepreneurship.”

Joe Perez of San Antonio is one of the many participants who have forged a path that centers on entrepreneurship. With the help of instruction he received at VEP’s 2010 bootcamp, Perez since has established his business, Frontline Support Solutions LLC.

Perez’s business, which just celebrated its first month of business, is a commercial general-contracting firm focused on federal government opportunities for disabled veterans. Perez said the business is focused on hiring able and disabled veterans looking to join the construction and facility-services industries.

As these vets become proficient in their selected trades, Perez said he will help them create their own veteran-operated business so they can begin to generate wealth and impact other people’s lives by creating jobs and putting the economy back on track. He added that another goal he has for his company, Frontline Support Solutions, is to become one of the first companies certified under the United States Department of Veterans Affairs’ Mentor Protégé program.

“There are obviously a lot of challenges, but it’s something that’s exciting to me,” Perez said. “I get up in the morning and can’t wait to attack another piece of it.”

Perez said the training he received from OSU’s professors and visiting entrepreneurs was outstanding, and that the program really focused on how to get a business started without the “extraneous hoopla.” While he has attended several other executive-level training courses, he said the level of instruction he received at OSU in entrepreneurship was unmatched.

“It is something that I just cannot speak more highly of,” Perez said. “The team there is led by a group of seasoned instructors and professors that are just incredible.”

A word of advice from Perez for tentative applicants: “What are they waiting for?”

Applications for the 2010-2011 VEP are available online at http://entrepreneurship.okstate.edu/vep. Applications are due by October 1, 2010. To make a donation, visit OSUgiving.com, or contact Morris at 405-744-5357.

Michael H. Morris, head of the Oklahoma State University School of Entrepreneurship, recently was selected as the 2009-2010 recipient of the OSU Outstanding Faculty Study Abroad Leader award.

This annual award, given by the OSU Outreach Council, is bestowed on a faculty member who has made a contribution to the internationalization of OSU by providing a significant study abroad experience to OSU students. Dr. Morris leads Entrepreneurship Empowerment in South Africa, a six-week program in Cape Town, South Africa, that challenges student participants to apply entrepreneurial concepts to assist emerging entrepreneurs.