From cupcakes to custom suits to colorful African jewelry, approximately 50 students in the University of Evansville’s Schroeder Family School of Business Administration are showcasing their products and services today at an entrepreneurship fair.
The fair will run from 9:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. in the Schroeder Family School of Business Administration Building atrium. Admission is free and open to the public.
Sixteen student-founded businesses are taking part in the fair as part of a two-semester curriculum in entrepreneurship, taught by UE assistant professor of management Joe Trendowski.
During the fall semester, students enrolled in Business 269 (Fundamentals of Entrepreneurship) form a business plan and secure loans for start-up costs. In the spring, they continue their efforts in Business 270 (Experience in Entrepreneurship) by launching and marketing their businesses.
“This curriculum not only walks students through the entrepreneurship experience, but gives them a real-world opportunity to put their academic knowledge into practice,” said Trendowski. “Today’s entrepreneurship fair is a chance for students to share their hard work with the UE community.”
One of those students was sophomore Taylor Parker from Louisville, Kentucky, a business management major. His business, Ekisa Designs, sells jewelry and other small crafts handmade by Ugandan widows. Proceeds return to the widows and also benefit Fields of Dreams, a partner organization that promotes soccer and education to help Ugandan orphans.
“I’m big into social entrepreneurship — how I can use my business to help someone else,” said Parker. “Business 269 and 270 have given me organizational skills and helped me discover ways of overcoming challenges in starting a business.”
