Huntsman school wins national entrepreneurship award

Utah State University’s Jon M. Huntsman School of Business was a recipient of a national award for its SEED, or Small Enterprise Education and Development program.

Awarding USU with a first-place prize for Excellence in Co-Curricular Innovation, The United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship, or USABE is a national academic organization dedicated to entrepreneurship education. The Huntsman School’s Center for Entrepreneurship is the largest organization of its kind in the world, said Michael Glauser, executive director of the center.

“It helps us to raise our credibility as a Huntsman School of Business, and a center for entrepreneurship,” said Glauser, regarding the award. “It’s going to be really valuable for us.”

Glauser said the SEED program offers students the opportunity to practice entrepreneurial skills first hand, as well as make an impact as they are sent to various developing nations around the world.

“It’s like an old-fashioned apprenticeship,” Glauser said. “We take students from every major, and for one semester we teach them the skills of entrepreneurship and small business consulting skills, and the second semester they go live somewhere in the world and teach those skills to individuals and families living in poverty.”

In the program, students teach and give mentorship to individuals and families to help them create a small business.

Marissa Barlow, a student who participated in the program, visited the Philippines last summer as part of the program. Each week students would visit local high schools to practice teaching principles of entrepreneurship.

“We were doing a lot of teaching, but I feel like I was learning a lot as well through teaching these basic skills,” Barlow said.

Those who attend classes offered by SEED and develop business ideas are given the opportunity to accept small loans offered by the program.

“The payback rate for all the loans that we’ve been involved with across all the countries is 98 percent,” Glauser said. “The success rate is a lot higher than business here, but it’s like a one-person business or a three-person business.”

The program also allows for partnership opportunities between USU and a variety of programs local to regions, including local schools, the Catholic church and other groups local to the areas.

Glauser said he also envisions greater involvement with students from other schools, as the program continues to grow and experience greater levels of media attention.

“I would guess within a few years it will be half USU students and half non-USU students,” he said.

The program also offers a stipend to students to help pay for the costs of participating.

Andy Thunell, a program coordinator for the Center for Entrepreneurship, said that students pay between $500 and $1000 out of pocket for a three-month semester abroad.

Thunell said other international programs cost significantly more, around the market of $7500 per semester.

“It’s very affordable and it’s a transformative experience for the students,” he said.

Barlow said he sees the experience as a transformative opportunity.

“The Philippines and the work I was able to do there changed my life. It was very eye-opening,” Barlow said. “I have never found any other opportunity like that. It was very impactful.”