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BYOBiz Newsletter - Spring 2008
Champlain’s Speaking from Experience Entrepreneurship Series brought to campus businessmen and women whose diversity of experiences, styles and variety of enterprises gave our students an overview of the many possibilities open to them as entrepreneurs.
The culmination of the academic year was the Elevator Pitch Contest, an evening of verbal finesse during which student entrepreneurs had 90 seconds to pitch their ideas for a business, a job or internship, or a non-profit or social cause, while competing for distinction and prizes.
Just click the links and take a visual trip through the events that stoked the energy and entrepreneurial spirit at the core of Champlain College.
Win Smith/Sugarbush – January 22
We began the season with Win Smith, one of Vermont’s most dynamic entrepreneurs, who took us inside the challenges he and his team faced in restoring Sugarbush to one of Vermont’s finest ski resorts and previewed where he’s taking it from here.
Smith reviewed some of the problems he faced in bringing a resort in demise back to life. He highlighted the principles that have made him successful: putting guest’s interests first; respect for the individual; valuing integrity; being fiscally responsible; and getting involved in the community. He stressed to attendees in Alumni Auditorium that what ultimately had made him successful was that he loves what he’s doing.
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BYOBiz student entrepreneurs James Lennon (left) and Russell Martin listen to Winn Smith. Lennon and Martin are co-founders of IMAG3, a line of sweatshirts and tees of Russell’s design based on a three-part strategy that incorporates riding, hip-hop and clothing.
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Win Smith addresses a packed house at Champlain College’s Alumni Auditorium.
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Win Smith’s story of success at Sugarbush serves as inspiration for students in Champlain’s BYOBiz (Bring Your Own Business) program.
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Smith + Sugarbush = Success
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| The evening’s host, BYOBiz Director Bob Bloch. A veteran marketer and entrepreneur, Bloch has invigorated the BYOBiz program through one-on-one involvement with student entrepereneurs, the Speaking from Experience series and a host of initiatives that have raised the profile of this distinctive program.
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The evening concluded with prize giveaways, including a season’s pass to Sugarbush.
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Harrison Leibowitz/Snow Farm Vineyards – February 7
Harrison and Molly Liebowitz started Snow Farm Vineyard, Vermont’s first commercial vineyard and grape winery, in 1996, as a way to keep farmland in Vermont open and working. Their story is the essence of entrepreneurship. They did what people said couldn’t be done and made a sustainable business out of it. Harrison regaled the audience with tales of his travels from the cold climates of Michigan and Minnesota to sunny California in search of knowledge and the right varieties of grapes to grow. He related the role a French winemaker named Patrick Barrelet played in helping him and his wife grow a successful business. Champlain College Professor of Marketing Jay McKee hosted the event.
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Harrison Leibowitz of Snow Farm Vineyards
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Snow Farm Vineyards overlooks Lake Champlain in South Hero, Vermont.
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Wendell Farrell/Wendell’s Furniture – February 19
Prof. McKee also welcomed serial entrepreneur and Champlain College graduate Wendell Farrell '70, who explained how his willingness to take risks and do things differently from his competition led to an extraordinarily diverse career (farming, construction, commercial cleaning, furniture sales and many others).
Wendell regaled students with how he writes all of his own print, radio, and television advertising, creates print ads in-house and co-produces his television spots. Wendell’s well-targeted marketing campaigns, including using a parrot as his sales manager, have resulted in Wendell’s Furniture becoming the sales leader in the local marketplace.
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Wendell Farrell at Wendell’s Furniture
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Young Entrepreneur’s Forum – March 11
Champlain welcomed to campus four young Vermonters who, with ingenuity and skill, are building businesses whose products and services are different from anyone else's. The lively forum was moderated by BYOBiz Director Robert Bloch.
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The Young Entrepreneurs Forum—which featured four Vermont-based entrepreneurs—drew a good crowd to Champlain’s Alumni Auditorium. The four told stories of their successes, failures and lessons learned, and, in a lively exchange with audience members, offered advice and encouragement.
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Jake Whitcomb (Emily Fitzgerald at right) is co-founder and products director of Brighter Planet, which offers credit and debit cards that earn carbon offsets instead of frequent flier points.
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Emily Fitzgerald’s commercial cleaning company GEM Cleaning Service helps members of Burlington’s immigrant community pursue their own version of the American dream.
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Trevor Crist (Michael Adams at right) rebuilt Sterling Valley Systems, Inc. (Inntopia.com) from the wreckage of the dot com bubble and offers turnkey reservations services to resort communities like Stowe, Breckenridge, Crested Butte and Telluride.
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Michael Adams grew Eddie’s Energy Bars by over 600% in 2007 and struggled to keep up with demand for his ultra-good-tasting energy bars.
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BYOBiz Director Bob Bloch with (from left) Jake Whitcomb, Emily Fitzgerald, Trevor Crisp and Michael Adams before they went under the lights for the Young Entrepreneurs Panel.
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The BYOBiz season finale was the Elevator Pitch Contest.*
Elevator Pitch Competition – March 25
“How well can you sell in 90 seconds?” was the clarion call that inspired over 55 students to cast their lot in a contest to find the best elevator pitches among “entrepreneurs,” “job or internship seekers” and “social advocates” categories in the Champlain College student community. The 16 finalists appeared before a full house in Alumni Auditorium to pitch their ideas while competing for distinction and prizes.
A collaborative effort by the BYOBiz Program, Career Services Office and the Oral Communications Lab, the Elevator Pitch Competition featured “celebrity suits” who received the pitches, which were rated by a panel of judges comprised of prominent local business people. TV talk show host and Champlain alumnus Tim Kavanagh (’86) emceed.
The three top scorers in each category won prizes: first, $500; 2nd, iPod Touch and 3rd, iPod Nano.
*An “Elevator Pitch” is a concise, compelling, and conversational personal introduction that an entrepreneur can use to pitch an idea for a product, service or project to a potential investor he or she might meet in an elevator. Our maximum pitch time was 90 seconds. The contest also served as a potential tool for students to develop confidence in pitching themselves to prospective employers or internship hosts, or for advocates to pitch their favorite non-profit organization to supporters in the community.
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The panel of judges, comprised of prominent local business people, applauds during the opening ceremonies.
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Master of Ceremonies Tim Cavanaugh reads the guidelines to contestant Russell Martin while “celebrity suit” Sarah Potter, Champlain’s Director of Human Resources and Occupational Development, waits to be pitched.
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Doug Tetrault pitches his idea to celebrity judge Moneer Greenbaum, Champlain’s Senior Development Officer
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Scorekeepers Dave Mona (Champlain Accounting assistant professor), (left) and Dave Binch (Vermont Information Technology Center) kept perfect scores (and didn’t need an audit).
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Jose Sucre delivers his pitch to celebrity judge and BYOBiz Director Bob Bloch.
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The panel of judges enjoys a light moment between contestants.
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Pam Wheeler gives her business card to BYOBiz Director Robert Bloch, one of the evening’s celebrity judges.
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Champlain President Dave Finney presents Pam Wheeler with her prize for winning in the social advocates category.
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