Friday, May 25, 2012

SCORE Mentors Business Students

The Orange County Chapter of SCORE has established a strong collaboration with the CSUF Myhalo Entrepreneurship over the past 7--10 years. During the most recent semester, 5 of our members serve as 'Student Coaches', assisting student teams both in class and directly with their respective clients. Other SCORE members have contributed offering advice in specific areas of expertise when SCORE was utilized as a potential solution for those student teams and their clients.

We are proud to build a base for future business owners and leaders by supporting the students at the Myhalo Entrepreneur Center.

Two teams from Cal State Fullerton’s Mihaylo College of Business and Economics earned first and third place honors at the Student Consulting Project of the Year Competition, a national contest sponsored by the Small Business Institute.

The competition combines student teams with companies through the student consulting program to match the companies’ needs. CSUF’s undergraduate team earned first place for their project for the Irvine staffing firm FORTIS Resource Partners.

The six business students enrolled in the “Marketing for Entrepreneurs” course taught by John Jackson, director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, worked with Fullerton alumna Kira Bruno, CEO of FORTIS, to develop a business plan.

“We met with the client as a group and listened to her story. After we identified the business challenges, the group divvied up the elements so we could each focus on specific sections,” said Crystal Gosselin, the student team leader. “Each of us then fed our respective section to make one complete, consistent consulting report.”

The graduate student team earned third place in their division.

The group of graduates enrolled in “Business Strategy Capstone” course taught by Dmitry Khanin, assistant professor of management, worked with Connection III Entertainment Corp. to create a 24-hour TV network.

“Their work was very professional and I appreciated the effort that the students put into the study, the amount of detail, and extensive resources, research and concepts they brought together,” said Cleveland O’Neal III, with Connection III Entertainment’s CEO.