Tag: St. Louis Regional Business Council

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership highlighted the Center for Experiential Learning’s community work in a recent feature on Olin’s Small Business Initiative.

The St. Louis Economic Development Partnership and the Regional Business Council have partnered with the CEL to identify small businesses in the recovery areas—also referred to as the Promise Zone—of Ferguson, Dellwood, and Jennings and assist with business development.

Olin’s Small Business Initiative connects WashU students to small business owners in the St. Louis community. Through a 12-week, team-based management consulting project, students provide actionable recommendations in areas including market research, branding, financial assessment, and operations. The projects help students build their consulting competencies and apply classroom learning to real-world issues facing small businesses.

“We have an immense resource in our students who have passion, raw intelligence, and incredibly quickly developing leadership skills, and the question was, ‘What are the best ways to leverage that for the greater good in the community?’” Program Director Daniel Bentle told the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership. “In the end, this initiative is simply focused on supporting our small business leaders in the local economy, which we have a responsibility to do.”

To date, more than 50 students and 13 small businesses have participated in the program.

Check out the full story on STLPartnership, and learn more about the Small Business Initiative on the CEL’s website.

At the St. Louis Regional Business Council’s (RBC) Spring Reception for the Mentor Network Program, a panel of RBC Mentors shared sage advice with students.

Kathy Osborn, Executive Director of the RBC, advised the audience to “find a company with a mission you can get behind.”

Debbie Rub, Vice President & General Manager at Boeing, shared Boeing’s vision for the future as the company celebrates its 100th year. “Human flight is the future,” Rub declared.

The panel moderator was John Stupp, President of Stupp Bros. He kicked off the discussion by asking, “What lessons have you learned along the way?” Below are a few of the candid insights panelists provided:

Tom Manenti, Chairman and CEO, MiTek Industries:

• Show up on time (which Manenti said is actually 15 minutes early).
• Have organization skills.
• Have an open mind.

Wendy Henry, Managing Partner, BKD:

• Love what you do. Be passionate.
• Nurture and develop relationships.
• Learn your business, not just your job. Understand how it operates.

Tony Thompson, Chairman and CEO, Kwame Building Group:

• Don’t accumulate too many enemies at one time.
• Empathy in a leader is important.
• Inspect what you expect if you want respect.

Dan Gillian, Vice President, F/A-18 & EA-18 Programs, Boeing Military Aircraft

• Know your business and do your job first.
• Believe in the power of yes. Take risks.
• Manage your luck. Put yourself in the right positions.
• Be intentional and not prescriptive.

Additional insight and advice from panelists to come!

About the RBC Mentor Network. Every academic year, each of the 14 schools of business and engineering in the Collaboration recommends students, based on academic performance and interest in the St. Louis business community, to participate in the RBC Mentor Network. These students are then individually paired with a CEO or top executive of an RBC company to receive practical, “real world” knowledge and post-graduate opportunities.