Under Bryan Halpin:
Business Brews Networking Event
The Entrepreneur Society teamed up with Tenacity Brewing company to throw two networking events this past semester. Titled Business Brews, both events invited students of all ages to meet up at Tenacity’s taproom to check out a local business while meeting fellow students and other business minded individuals. Each event included a raffle with door prizes donated by Tenacity. These prizes included T-Shirts, glassware, and un-filled growlers.
At the second Business Brews, Tenacity owner Jason Caya spoke on what it takes to start an entrepreneurial venture and why he chose Flint as the place to start a brewery. After the speech, he took us on a tour of the facility and spoke on the various ways they make quality beer and cider. Water being a main component of the process, he spoke on how they were able to overcome the obstacle of Flint’s water by purchasing state of the art filters and altering their brewing processes. Both events had over 25 students in attendance, and Tenacity has invited us for future events, where other local business owners will speak on their entrepreneurial successes and failures. We look forward to future Business Brews and thank Jason and everyone at Tenacity Brewing for their donations and participation with Entrepreneur Society.
2017 Business Pitch Competition, Northbank Center
This year’s annual Business Pitch Competition took place in Flint’s Northbank Center Grand Ballroom. Out of 40 submissions, four finalists competed for prizes of up to $15,000, of which included Entrepreneurs Society President Bryan Halpin and Marketing Director Noah DeVoe. Judges included Dr. Scott Johnson, School of Management Dean, Dr. Brian Blume of the School of Management, Bryce Moe of Skypoint Ventures, and Winfield Cooper of Cooper Commercial Real Estate. Teams included UM-Flint students and alumni; Flint Rock Cycles pitched a Flint-based bicycle frame manufacturer; Cookie Night pitched a Flint-based cookie retail store and delivery service; Momma’s Gotta Have A Life Too pitched a non-profit, Flint-based child care service for mothers pursuing their Bachelor’s degree; and PrepView pitched an online, affordable interview preparatory service for college students applying for graduate school. Besides the finalist teams, there were special categories including Best Non-Profit, Highest Profit Potential, Greatest Positive Impact on Flint, as well as Most Creative Venture. After judge’s deliberation, Brittney Thomas of Momma’s Gotta Have A Life Too walked away with $8,000; Ruoxi Fu of Prepview walked away with $4,000; Bryan Halpin and Noah DeVoe walked away with $2,000; and Nolan Moore of Cookie Night walked away with $1,000. The School of Management and The Hagerman Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation are looking forward to next year’s Business Pitch Competition.
2017 Case Competition, University of Michigan-Flint
We had a team compete in the interdisciplinary business case competition sponsored by Webasto. ES members Bryan Halpin, Mark Brown, Michael Engle, Ray Kusch, and Jenifer Nieman competed as a team. Their submission helped develop strategies for increasing employee satisfaction for Al Serra Automotive. We met with the Executive Manager Matt Serra and conducted a survey of the employees. Research was conducted in the area of employee satisfaction. This lead to a comprehensive understanding of determinants of employee satisfaction and how employee satisfaction can positively impact business’s bottom line. We presented a strategy and deliverable product to implement at Al Serra as well as any business in need of developing a satisfied employee base. A case study of Al Serra’s employee satisfaction strategies and opportunities war included in the deliverables. The competition resulted in interviews for three members and to date one job, maybe two!
SB929 Legislation, President Bryan Halpin
Bryan Halpin worked with the CEO of Beacon and Bridge gas stations to develop a marketing campaign to stop State legislation that would harm a medium sized Michigan Owned and Operated Business. Bryan designed a billboard that was visible from I-75, developed a grassroots electronic petition, utilized social media marketing, and wrote press releases that were picked up by a number of local news organizations. Bryan Halpin built a coalition of concerned special interest groups and local business owners and lead the group to Lansing to testify in front of a House of Representatives Committee. The work was completed when Bryan recommended an amendment that was introduced in committee and adopted by the Regulation Reform Committee.
CEO Conference October 27-29, 2016
The University of Michigan – Flint Entrepreneurs Society attended the Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization’s National Conference in Tampa Florida, from October 27th to October 29th, 2016. While at the conference, members from the Entrepreneurs Society participated in many events such as business pitch competitions, social and network development, and a wide array of business related seminars that allowed each member to grow their knowledge and confidence of real-world business activities. Keynote speakers that the members from the Entrepreneurs Society were able to learn from included the owner of the Tampa Bay Lighting and the founder of Chuck E. Cheeses. It is rare that a learning opportunity and conference can also be described as fun, relaxing, and rewarding, but that is just what this conference achieved.
Research Paper submitted for publication review to Oxford Bibliographies
Nick Vandeberg and Bryan Halpin Co-authored a paper for Oxford Bibliographies that is currently under review for publication. The paper focused on a literary review of globalization and development trends of Small and Medium Enterprises. Over 280 Journal articles were reviewed and parsed down to a relevant 78 articles. These articles were sorted and categorized for ease of research in the future.
Gala Affinity Dinner
The event was a huge success. Our goal was to have 50 students, 50 alumni, and 50 businesses. We had 152 people attend. The mix was almost on point with our goal. We had fewer businesses, but about 50 representatives from businesses, government entities, and non-profits. We also had some amazing participation. Many of the non-students that attended signed up to support students from the the school of management. Overall our vision was executed perfectly and we walked away with a foundation to really make an impact in providing real world experience and networking opportunities for our students. We also opened a new avenue for local businesses to recruit without having to go through more cumbersome channels.
The Entrepreneurs Society will continue to do what it has done for years, which is fulfill its mission, “We exist to foster creativity and innovation by and between the university’s faculty, staff, students, and the community in which we live. This is accomplished through discussion sessions, invited lectureship, practical business-oriented experiences, and research efforts.” ES is an an outlet for students that want to apply what they are learning in the School of Management to the real world. We seem to attract a diverse group of talented individuals. We are a rag-tag group of students that combine ambition, natural talent and outside of the box thinking to affect change in the community as well as develop the natural and learned talent of our students. ESA (Entrepreneurs Society Affinity) is in its infancy stages, but the hope is that ESA will expand on the mission of ES to provide more developed networks for School of Management and ES students to tap into as they look for projects while they attend UMFlint and when they look for jobs after they graduate.
