The New College Try: More Central Mass. Schools Embrace Entrepreneurship
Worcester State University sophomore and Shrewsbury resident Derek Canton won his school’s Next Big Idea business competition for his clothing company: G1G, for God is Good. Canton, shown here wearing a G1G t-shirt, said he’s been able to apply what he’s learned in courses to his growing company, whose products include shirts (also seen in top photo), sunglasses, bracelets and hats.
Worcester State University sophomore and Shrewsbury resident Derek Canton said his WSU program’s speakers provided valuable information for his company.
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Derek Canton has an energy that's contagious, is heavily active at his church and has a self-described entrepreneurial mindset.
But when he and his friends started signing off on texts and Facebook posts with G1G — for God is Good — he wasn't expecting it to turn into a business. Eventually, the Worcester State University sophomore said, people started urging him to make T-shirts with the acronym. Just over a year later, Canton has sold more than 1,600 G1G products worldwide and said he's working with an angel investor who may contribute $100,000 to the company to help it expand.
"It's been a humbling experience to see what I've been able to do in just a short amount of time," Canton said. "I'm only in the middle of school and I'm just excited. The thing that really makes it worth it is, this is my passion."
Canton said the choice of what to study in college was between music, ministry and business. After a talk with his pastor, the Shrewsbury resident decided business was the path for him and he said he has loved it from the beginning.
"The things I was learning in the classroom I was able to directly apply with my business," Canton said.
And this month, he won WSU's first Next Big Idea competition, which awarded him $2,000 to put into G1G.
The competition is the latest effort by a Central Massachusetts college or university to promote entrepreneurship at a school where business leaders may not typically expect it.
Canton and the other nine contestants put together business plans and made presentations as part of the WSU competition. They participated in a free, one-credit entrepreneurship course co-taught by four professors who brought in speakers for different topics.
"Being able to have the different perspectives was valuable," Canton said.
The competition was made possible through a gift from Robert K. O'Brien, a 1958 alumnus.
Jay Mahoney, the project's faculty advisor, said the course was important because students learned about aspects of business such as market research, returns on investment and revenue streams.
"I think having this kind of course that directs them, so they're not reinventing the wheel, is very helpful," Mahoney said.
She said that although WSU professors teach classes that focus on various kinds of entrepreneurship, an official concentration under the business administration major is under consideration.
About half of the students participating in the Next Big Idea competition are business majors. And that coincides with what others are finding at colleges and universities in Central Massachusetts.
Growing Program At Clark Draws More Than Management Majors
In 2007, Clark University launched an innovation and entrepreneurship (I&E) minor that Associate Director Amy A. Whitney said has grown since it began.
She said one of the biggest changes has been students studying the I&E minor coming from majors outside of management, with participation split about evenly between management majors and others.
Some students have goals of opening their own businesses, and the school is even home to student-run ventures that are sustained after the founding students graduate. But for others, it's about the skills and experiences they gain.
"It's about teaching students how to be OK with sometimes taking risks and being comfortable dealing with problems or being creative problem solvers," Whitney said. "How to be in a space where you don't always know the answers, but being OK with that. We want you to have the confidence to try things you're interested in and that you're passionate about."
There has been debate about whether entrepreneurs need college, with arguments pointing to people like Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg who dropped out of Harvard to launch Microsoft and Facebook, respectively.. But entrepreneurship education has been on the rise over the last 20 years, with 2,000 schools in the U.S. now offering courses dedicated to it, according to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
"I think young people today want to be more independent," said John Rainey, regional director of the Small Business Development Center at Clark University. "I think that there aren't as many opportunities in the markets that there used to be. I think a lot of them are saying, 'What can I start on my own?' "
He said the positive is that students are young and energetic. The downside is that they don't have a lot of experience, and he thinks it's best for people to gain experience before they start their own business.
At QCC, Students' Goals Help
That's what many of the students participating in Quinsigamond Community College's two-semester entrepreneurship certificate program are doing. Most are non-traditional students who come with a skillset and the goal of opening their own business.
"Many of them (are) coming in knowing exactly what they want to do," Program Coordinator Jean McLean said. "I've had several people who have been through cosmetology school, now have their license and are thinking of opening their own salon and are now coming to get those skills."
She said that while many equate entrepreneurship with high-tech fields, the typical student in QCC's program is looking to gain the practical skills of running a business, including computer applications and financial planning.
Scott Rossiter, a volunteer with the small-business advisory organization SCORE in Worcester, (and chairman of the board at Lampin Corp., of Uxbridge), said the practical experience students get in programs at area colleges now is important to their futures as business owners.
"Schooling does not trump practical experience," he said, "but it certainly helps entrepreneurs do a better job."
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