Lake Erie College ranks high in competition

Lake Erie College students gained a lot during Entrepreneurship Immersion Week, including second place in the finals.

Team Lake Erie College consisted of Samantha Austin, Danielle Corbin, Austin Jones, Gwendolyn Grace Holbook and Desmond Stanley who represented various areas of study from biology to equine management studies. They were advised by Jeff Eakin and Peter Apicella of the Center for Entrepreneurship at Lake Erie College.

The annual week-long event presented by the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium was held at the University of Mount Union from July 31 through Aug. 5.

The Entrepreneurship Education Consortium mission is to provide practical “experiential” and theoretical education to students in Northeast Ohio to prepare them to become entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs; create new ventures and jobs and build wealth for the region.

Teams of five students from each of the consortium’s 11 schools were responsible for spawning a unique business concept, researching its potential in a targeted marketplace, surveying potential customers online and in person, developing a marketing plan and justifying it with a financial forecast including startup costs, projected revenues and hopeful profits, a news release states.

Other participating schools in the consortium included Ashland University, Baldwin Wallace University, Cleveland State University, Case Western Reserve University, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kent State University, Lorain County Community College, the University of Akron and the University of Mount Union. Team John Carroll came in first place while Team Mount Union came in third.

“Jeff and I are so very proud of each of our students as individuals and, as importantly, their efforts as a team,” Apicella said.