The Walker College
of Business will hold its first Entrepreneur Summit Oct. 24. The
summit will host over 40 successful entrepreneurs from Boone and
the surrounding areas.
Bryan C. Toney, instructor in the Department of Management, said
he hopes students will gain not only an understanding of what entrepreneurship
is about but job opportunities as well.
“The purpose is to learn what it’s like to own your own
business,” Toney said.
The highlight of the summit will be a “Sell Your Idea in 90
Seconds” contest. Students will be given the chance to present
an original business idea in front of a panel of successful entrepreneurs.
The panel will select six finalists who will attend a dinner with
the entrepreneurs later in the evening. The finalist will then present
their ideas again and a winner will be chosen to receive $200.
“It’s a good chance to test out your ideas,” Toney
said.
Each business involved averages 45 full-time employees in industries
ranging from manufacturing to real estate to software development,
Toney said. Some visiting entrepreneurs will be speaking to classes
while others will be involved in the contest panel.
Charles Travis, president of Old World Galleries in Blowing Rock,
said his participation as an entrepreneur for the summit allows
him to “give something back” to his alma mater as well
as pass along some useful information to aspiring entrepreneurs.
“I grew up here in Blowing Rock and graduated from Appalachian
State University. I started my business the same time I started
college,” Travis said. “My business is now 23 years old
and very successful.”
Travis described a good entrepreneurial idea as one that you personally
love and is economically feasible.
“It has to be something you really believe in,” Travis
said.
“I think students going out into the world need to know what
the real world is about,” said Appalachian alumni Shannon Russing,
owner of Shannon’s Curtain Bed and Bath. Russing’s business
has been open for 17 years, experiencing steady growth and serving
a wide customer base. Russing will speak to classes during the one-day
summit. Not all entrepreneurs begin dot com businesses,” Russing
said. “Entrepreneurship has many different faces.”
Burton B. Buffaloe, a senior management, marketing and international
business major and president and creator of the Association of Entrepreneurs,
said he feels the contest will be a good opportunity for entrepreneurship
students.
“This is one of the best opportunities you can get to figure
out if your idea is worthwhile.” Buffaloe said he plans to
participate in the contest and hopes other students will see it
as worthwhile as well.
Buffaloe said the prize money is not the most valuable asset of
the contest to him. “It doesn’t matter whether I win or
not. It’s just great to have the opportunity to show people
of what I’m capable.”
Applications for the contest must be submitted by Thursday to Bryan
Toney. Times for 90-second presentations are 9:30 a.m. and 12:30
p.m. For further information contact toneybc@appstate.edu. |
