By Rick Vacek
GCU News Bureau
The commitment of Grand Canyon University's Colangelo College of Business to link students and entrepreneurs is heading into its next phase, following its naming last week for Phoenix sports mogul and businessman Jerry Colangelo.
On Friday morning, students are invited to an event at Seed Spot, a Phoenix-based business incubator that helps entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground. Students need real-world experience, small business owners need creative ways to get more help and GCU’s Interns for Entrepreneurs program is bringing the two groups together in a new strategic alliance.
A dozen companies will be at Seed Spot to pitch their business plans, and students will have a chance to compete for internships with them. “The whole thing is, if we send a GCU student intern to a Fortune 500 company, it will help the student and maybe one employee. But if we send that student to a startup, that could be the difference between that company making it or not,” CCOB Dean Dr. Randy Gibb said.
Spots are limited, and interested students should RSVP to [email protected] before the close of business Thursday.
Another event coming up is a guest speech Thursday, Oct. 9, by Dr. Suzanne Zentner, co-founder of the Arizona chapter of Conscious Capitalism Inc. She will be speaking to a class of 70 students, and CCOB faculty members also are invited.
Gibb wants all CCOB faculty members and students to read Conscious Capitalism by John Mackey, co-founder and co-CEO of Whole Foods Market, and Raj Sisodia, also a Conscious Capitalism Inc. co-founder. The book promotes four tenets: higher purpose, stakeholder integration, conscious leadership and conscious culture and management.
“We’re going to find a way to incorporate those principles into our curriculum,” Gibb said.
On Thursday, Oct. 16, the college will launch “GCU Shark Tank,” its version of the popular television show, with a monthly meeting designed to give students the chance to present their business ideas. The event, scheduled for 5 p.m. on the second floor of the CAS building next to the IDEA Lab, is scheduled for the third Thursday of each month.
“It’s kind of a wild card,” said Tim Kelley, assistant professor for entrepreneurship and economics in the CCOB. “We’ll just have fun with it and see how it goes.”
Students from all colleges are invited to give a three-minute pitch of their idea to the “Angel Sharks.” The event will be recorded and broadcast on GCU TV, Channel 22.
The first meeting of the CCOB Dean’s Speaker Series, originally scheduled for Sept. 8 but postponed because of record rainfall resulting in the cancellation of classes that day, has been rescheduled for 9:50 a.m. Monday, Oct. 20, in Ethington Theatre. The guest speakers will be from the Camelback Society, a Christian-based entrepreneurial group.
