Berry’s Entrepreneurial Program Offers Business Experience to Students.

By Matthew Davis

ROME, Ga.-Berry College was founded on the principle of students working for their education. Now, students have the opportunity to operate their own businesses as a part of their college experiences.

The Entrepreneurship Program is a series of five classes in the business major, and it allows students to start their own businesses under the guidance and support of Berry College. The program is open to students of all majors, and students can end their businesses after one semester, or continue the business for years after the classes they take.

In 1999, Dr. Paula Englis joined Berry’s staff, and began the Entrepreneurial Program. She taught students the logistics of starting businesses, but there was no requirement to start businesses. That changed in 2005 with the Todd Nelson Seed Fund.

Dr. Englis is the head of the Entrepreneurial Program. She helps students get their businesses off the ground and offers advice along the way.

“I realized that we were missing what Berry’s all about, and that’s the firsthand experience,” Englis said.

Todd Nelson gave $2,500 to the Entrepreneurial Program, $100 for every student in the class to start their business. Students in the classes always pay back the $100 they receive from the seed fund, as well as 10% of their profit while they are in the intro class, but they keep the remaining profit for themselves.

This seed fund continues to be used today, and it has generated $89,000 in total revenue. This year, students are projected to break $100,000.

The program is a series of classes, but it is also a support system for the small business owners. The students also are paired up with business owners and friends of Berry who have knowledge about their specific business fields. Students also have access to extra funds from the Venture Fund, a pool of money students can apply to use. The students meet with a Board of Advisors once a semester. The board is made up of successful business owners from around the community who offer guidance.

Students have many different experiences with the Entrepreneurial Program. Olivia Mund, a junior at Berry, is taking her first entrepreneurship class this semester, Introduction to Entrepreneurship. Her business, “Liv” Organized, helps people organize their lives, either by helping organize physical spaces or by helping with time management. Her business is catered toward college students.

 “They’ve done a good job with helping people that are not necessarily business majors to get their own business started and to understand some of the things that are involved with that,” Mund said.

Mund stressed the involvement of Englis in the program, both with her help starting businesses and supporting the businesses.

While Mund is not sure whether she will continue her business after the semester, it is not uncommon for students to run their businesses for many years. Holden Wilbanks, a Berry senior and a business major, has been with the Entrepreneurship Program since his freshman year. He started an enterprise (as opposed to a business) late in his sophomore year. He has greatly enjoyed the program over the past three years.

“It’s been really open,” Wilbanks said. “They give us a lot of room for interpretation, a lot of freedom, and a lot of ownership in our individual jobs.”

Wilbanks’ business is Berry Bees, which utilizes the bees on Berry’s campus.

“We provide honey and beeswax product to Berry’s community as well as the Rome and the Floyd County Area,” Wilbanks said. “Our main goal has been to try to bring awareness to the problem with bees-that there’s just a massive decline in the population.”

Wilbanks also enjoys offering a superior product with the Berry name on it. After this year, he will appoint a new head of the business, and Wilbanks will start new projects outside the realm of Berry. The Berry Entrepreneurship Program inspired not just his love for business, but a desire to help others with their businesses. He wishes to be a part of a business incubator, a place where people bring business ideas, and people help them start up their businesses. Wilbanks will not be sad to leave behind his bee business in the hands of another student.

“I think I’ll be proud of the legacy,” he said.

Berry’s Entrepreneurial Program offers real life experience in the business world to all who are interested in a safe environment. If you have ever had a desire to be a business owner, look into Berry’s Entrepreneurial Program.