Student Businesses

A couple of student entrepreneurs that we work with here at Belmont have been in the news this past week. I often get asked about what kinds of businesses students get involved with while in school. Here are a couple of examples. One is a venture capital backed start-up and the other is a business supported by our Entrepreneurship Center.
Jim Stefansic, an MBA student, is part of a team that is starting up a medical device company called Pathfinder. This article in the Nashville Business Journal highlights the emergence of biotechnology companies here in middle Tennessee. Jim’s company is one of several that are given as examples.
“Tennessee is a sponsor at next month’s Southeastern BIO Investor Forum in Florida, where early-stage companies Pathfinder Therapeutics and TransCell Therapeutics of Nashville were competitively selected to make presentations.”
Erin Wooters and Kate Miller are two art students (Erin is also an entrepreneurship minor and Kate is getting a minor in business) who are leading the student-run business Boulevard Art and Design, which is part of our program here at Belmont.
“The two women took over Boulevard this summer as part of a program through the school’s Entrepreneurship Center that gives them class credit for running a business….It’s part of a larger project encompassing three other student businesses….What sets the program apart from many across the country is its emphasis on the community, not just the university. Anyone, for example, can buy art from Boulevard or trade in used CDs to Reverb, the student music store two doors down.”
Right now our Center is working with dozens of student entrepreneurs like these.