From MSU News Service Teams of Montana State University business students turned $25 each into more than $5,200 in just three weeks, and the students then donated those funds to three local non-profit organizations of their choice this fall. The students were participating in the “Entreprentice Challenge,” part of an upper-division class on entrepreneurship in the MSU Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship.
As part of the course—taught by management professor Brent Rosso—student teams were given $25 in start-up capital and asked to launch real businesses that were as profitable and impactful as possible in just three weeks. Rosso challenged the students to think beyond their perceived constraints and act entrepreneurially to maximize their impact. Representatives from Habitat for Humanity of Gallatin Valley, the MSU VOICE Center, and Special Olympics Montana listened to presentations demonstrating the different entrepreneurial ventures the students built to raise money. At the end of each class period, the students gave representatives of those organizations checks. Students launched a variety of creative ventures this year, including instant pumpkin spice lattes, apparel, handmade goods, equestrian training, professional portraits, and a number of other unique products and services. The representatives from the local non-profits expressed gratitude for the students’ ingenuity, resourcefulness, and impact. David Magistrelli of Habitat for Humanity Gallatin Valley said that the funds will allow the organization to put another roof over a family in need.
Alanna Sherstad from the MSU VOICE Center said the funds will allow the center to help rebuild its Survivor Fund, which assists domestic abuse survivors in crisis situations. And Mandy Patriarche of Special Olympics Montana said the students’ contributions will provide new athletic opportunities for intellectually disabled children and adults in the Gallatin Valley. “A benefit of this project is that students have an opportunity to put their classroom learning into practice right from the start of the semester,” Rosso said. “But I think it is equally important that students experience how their entrepreneurialism can impact their communities in tangible ways. This gives us the opportunity to discuss how entrepreneurs can do good while doing well, and vice versa.”
The combined total the students raised this year for the three non-profits was $5,265.80, Rosso said. He added that it brings the total amount students participating in the Entreprentice Challenge have raised over the past six years to more than $25,000. •
