“It’s the American Dream right in front of you,” explains Dean Jim Strong. “You’ve got students who might not have the means to see an idea through but the passion to do so, and then you’ve got this impressive group of business leaders with their hundreds of years of business and entrepreneurial experience giving their time to help make it happen. For the business leaders, it’s why they’re helping our university – if you can help [these students] realize that they can do more and achieve more by their own initiative, motivation, spirit, and brain power, well then your day is pretty much made.”

The competition was open to all CSUDH students and showed the spectrum of ideas that can come from such an entrepreneurial competition. Their ideas ranged from a game designed to help K-12 students in math to a nonprofit that would develop a transitional housing and placement program for foster teens and youth to a consulting business focused on bringing effective marketing and advertising campaigns to dental professionals. 

Strong had been involved in such a competition while at the University of Akron and knew he wanted to start one here at CSUSH since it puts into practice all of the principles discussed in classes. “We don’t get too many opportunities to take a holistic approach to business with our students because there are so many principles and concepts in each of the core business disciplines such as accounting, finance, information systems, management or marketing. The curriculum has to be very specialized to cover needed content. So a contest like this is great because it’s business in a nutshell, at the start-up level and its fun and hands-on.”

Ann Camp in the University’s Office of Development was instrumental in getting State Farm and Citigroup to fund the awards, yet in the midst of being a candidate for AASCB accreditation and the countless other things on the college’s plate on a day to day, the contest didn’t get off the ground – until Ernie Klinger got involved. Klinger, a longtime entrepreneur and business consultant with companies such as It’s A Grind coffee houses, had already become the chair of the Advisory Board’s Executive Committee because he saw a lot of himself in CSUDH’s students and wanted to give back. Yet this contest brought that connection even closer to home.

“I was a first-generation college student and so are many of the students at CSUDH. I also remember the first few business plans I did looked pretty shabby. This brings back memories because I’ve been exactly where these students are now,” he says.

Klinger was given the reins of the project in September 2008 and quickly went to work. The call for abstracts and applications went out in October, two seminars were held in December to help the 26 students who had submitted abstracts refine those ideas into full-fledged business plans, which were due on Jan. 12. From there, it was up to the panel of judges to read through every single plan, agree on the list of seven finalists, and then devote an entire day to hearing the students present their proposals later that same month. Afterward, the winners presented to the Advisory Board to receive even more feedback.

The selection of the judges was Klinger’s most difficult and most impressive achievement. Given the time constraints, it would have been much easier for him to cobble together a panel of business leaders as judges – finding bodies to fill the spaces rather than the right professionals. Instead, he deliberately handpicked each one because they collectively had the backgrounds and experience vital for any entrepreneur to get an idea off the ground. They included Wade Downey (B.A. accounting, 1992) a CPA and founding partner of the Downey, Smith and Fier state and local tax consulting firm; Lee R. Petillon, an attorney and principal at Petillon, Hiraide and Loomis specializing in corporate law and author of several books on start-ups; Michael Oard, State Farm recruiting manager; and Rodney A Pierce, partner of Compass Acquisition Partners, LLC, a business consulting and investment banking firm.

Recognizing that he had a lawyer, an accountant, an investment banker, a high-level business executive, and himself, a lifelong entrepreneur, at the student’s disposal, Klinger then convinced each of the judges to give 10 hours worth of their time to the winner of the contest, pro-bono. It was no small request given their busy schedules, yet they’ve all gone above and beyond that by not only helping winner Lakesha Harris but several of her fellow winners as well.

Harris received the $5,000 first prize and is currently working with Petillon to get the 501(c)3 status filed for her nonprofit that will give foster teens a place to go once the state sends them out of the foster system when they turn 18 years old.

“I’ve had this idea for three years, but it’s pretty amazing because that idea has turned into a real plan in just the past few months because of this contest,” she explains. “It’s much more real now. Before, I knew I needed to do things but I didn’t know how. The judges and Advisory Board members gave me the guidance, the scaffolding, whatever you want to call it, to get this nonprofit working.” Harris expects to launch her nonprofit in 2010.

Naturally, for an event that developed such excitement on all fronts, plans are already in the works for next year’s contest. State Farm has already committed to sponsoring the contest next year. Strong was very pleased with the interest in the first event and particularly with the timing that allowed students to flesh out their plans over winter break armed with some know-how from the December seminars. Next year, the plan is to give them the entire break to develop the business plans.

And Klinger, who will come on as a full-time lecturer within the college at the start of the fall semester, already has his hands in making the event better. He’d like to extend the judges’ panel to include six professionals, heavier on the business side to complement the professionals from last year who have already committed to being involved again. He would also like to host more seminars to give students even more effective feedback for their ideas.

The goal, of course, is to see these ideas turn into actual businesses – and nonprofits – in the marketplace. Klinger is realistic yet optimistic about that objective: “If we have just one out of all of these developed into an actual business, that will be an amazing success. That’s what it’s all about – giving people the tools to help them get themselves and their ideas where they want to go and contributing to the economy and society by doing so.”