MANY EXPERTS PREDICT that Generation Y will emerge as the most entrepreneurial generation ever. Academia is responding with more programs to help students learn how to start their own businesses.

According to the Kauffman Foundation, an organization that promotes entrepreneurship, there are more university-based programs for young entrepreneurs than ever before. Some 2,100 U.S. colleges and universities offer courses in entrepreneurship (compared with 400 only 10 years ago).

Also expanding are related organizations that support student entrepreneurs. For example, the Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education ( www.entre-ed.org) promotes education at all levels of learning. The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship ( www.nfte. com) provides programs to young people from low-income communities. Online programs, such as the International School of Entrepreneurship ( www.theISOE.com), offer training for young entrepreneurs on the Web. And the Kauffman Foundation is a main supporter of a popular event for student entrepreneurs, Global Entrepreneurship Week (www. unleashingideas.org).

Another key development is that top academic programs are increasingly attracting leading entrepreneurs as faculty or lecturers. One prime example: Sue Decker, the former Yahoo! president (and member of Costco’s board of directors), recently joined the Harvard Business School as entrepreneur in residence.—DF Education and entrepreneurs

Raw deal

Bethany Herr-Hatfield
Age: 25
Company: Raw Way
Web site: www.rawwaylife.com

 

THE DECISION TO lead an entrepreneurial life often begins with an unmet personal need and then evolves into a viable company. Such was the case for Bethany Herr-Hatfield, a mother of two whose breastfeeding woes led to the creation of an innovative line of raw-food bars made primarily from fruit, vegetables and nuts.

“After I had Leila [now 1], she had so many sensitivities to the things I was eating, particularly dairy,” says Herr-Hatfield, of South Lyon, Michigan. She decided to experiment with a raw diet.

“I started looking around for convenient raw food and snacks, and I just couldn’t find any,” she recalls. “So I started playing around with making them for myself as meal replacements for the week.” Serendipitously, Herr-Hatfield had begun patronizing a raw restaurant in nearby Northville, Michigan. When she told the owner, Carolyn Simon, that she was making her own snack bars, Simon suggested that Herr-Hatfield make and sell her

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products at the deli. Herr-Hatfield pays Simon in bars for use of the space, typically working on weekends so that her husband can watch Leila and Bella, 5.

Herr-Hatfield now produces approximately 600 bars a week. Flavors include Apple Pie, Banana Bread, Berry Sweet, Cinnamon Almond and Lean Green Crunch. For the past six months, the business has generated about $1,000 a month. Her products are sold online through the company’s Web site and are also available in several local stores and through an online grocery store.

Her goal for this year: to hire some employees and do enough volume to drop the price of the bars, which are currently $4 on her Web site, by half. But she’s cautious about growing too fast.

“This business is trying to start itself,” she says. “I just need to balance being a mom and taking only enough business so that I can remain hands-on. I really want to do things the right way.” C

 

MARCH 2010 ;e Costco Connection 25 Costco member Donna Fenn is author of

Upstarts! How Gen Y Entrepreneurs Are Rocking the World of Business (McGraw-Hill, 2009).