Three dozen students — and half a dozen faculty advisors — are on pins and needles today wondering if they won the JSU Social Entrepreneurship Business Plan Challenge.
The competition, part of the statewide Blueprint Mississippi Social Business Challenge, was held Wednesday at the JSU College of Business.
Winners are to be announced at a reception on Friday at 3:30 p.m. at the Engineering Building Atrium.
The students are “on a profound journey of wealth creation,” said Interim Vice President of Institutional Advancement Dr. Mary White. She confided to an enthusiastic audience of about 120 at the Business Building auditorium that social entrepreneurship — or pursuing innovation solutions to social problems — is “one of my passions.”
The event is part of JSU’s Innovation Month activities, with events each day this week.
Each team will win a $100 cash prize, said Dr. Ramin Maysami, dean of the College of Business. The winner will receive an additional $100 cash prize. But, perhaps more important, the winning team will compete in the statewide Blueprint Mississippi challenge — and will be eligible for internships.
“We have a distinguished panel of judges,” said Maysami, including two alumni who spoke to the students about their business successes.
Marissa Simms, a JSU Mass Communications graduate, opened the first student-owned business on campus three years ago at the age of 21. She is co-CEO and creative director of Royal Bleau Boutique. She is Small Business Administration Mississippi’s 2014 Young Entrepreneur of the Year.
“It all starts with vision,” Simms told the students. “You must envision where you want to be.”
Think big, she said, and “write your vision to make a plan.” In making that plan, she added, make sure you do so step-by-step and include “the end game,” or where you want to be in five years.
She also urged students to keep “a blessing jar.” In it, she urged, on blue slips of paper, write lessons you learn each day that will make you better at your job; on pink slips, write “blessings” that come your way that help you advance your career; on green slips, write financial increases.
“Embrace your journey,” she said, including “lessons, blessings and financial increase.”
Jhai Keeton, CEO of Guapington Enterprise, an entertainment company, is a 2007 JSU grad with a bachelor’s degree in business administration. He said he started selling t-shirts while a student a Moss Point High School.
He outlined the steps in his career to build a successful business. Key to that, is accepting failure. In fact, he added, he invites it because it teaches how to succeed.
“Failure, to me,” he said, “not knowing how to modify your approach. … Failure is not being where you want to be in six months.”
The judges also include: Andrell Harris businessman, investor and philanthropist; Dr. Evelyn J. Leggett, JSU associate vice president for academic and student affairs; Dr. William McHenry, executive director, Mississippi eCenter @JSU; Janet Zito, outreach and development manager, Innovation Mississippi.
Blueprint Mississippi is an independent cooperative of organizations and leaders conducted an objective review of Mississippi’s economic opportunities and recommended actions for putting Mississippi in the place of greatest opportunity.
The Blueprint Mississippi Social Business Challenge, supported by the Mississippi Institutions of Higher Learning, invites teams of students to put their heads together and come up with a creative solution to address one of Mississippi’s most pressing problems. Open to any public university student, the challenge requires students to work in teams of six with at least one faculty adviser.
Maysami introduced the six JSU teams, saying, “I think the students are all good business men and women.” They include:
C3 Capital Creators
Faculty advisor: Dr. Don Causey
Marcus Bennett
Richard Caldwell
Scharlisa Davis
A’Kendra Lewis
Chris Ratliff
F.A.O., LLC (Fighting Against Obesity for a Healthy Lifestyle)
Faculty advisor: Dr. Marinelle Payton
Taylor Bembery
Kenya Gilkey
Clayton Jordan
Kaylin Kinchion
Vangerlena Smith
Yanyu Zhou
J’Arrive
Faculty advisor: Dr. John Calhoun
Jennifer Cotton
Josh McCormick
Jhasmine Odom
Meco Shoulders
Ronald Williams
Chelsey Turner
Mississippi Urban Organics
Faculty advisor: Dr. Kenneth Russ
Business advisor: Mr. Steven Shelt, Garden-to-Table, LLC
Sierra Jackson
Javis Jones
D’Angelo Mitchell
Team C.U.R.E.
Faculty advisors: Dr. Candace N. Carter and Dr. Shonda Lawrence
Terrance Moore
Wessie Sims
Regina Wilcox-Lewis
Alexis Woods
Hali Rose Wszolek
The Non-Profit Profit Makers: Commercial Kitchen Incubator at Lowry House
Faculty advisor: Dr. Kenneth Russ
Nakiya Beaman
Kendetric Bradly
Donna Cotton
Toni Francis
Jose Luque
Here’s the Innovation schedule:
Thursday, November 13, 2014
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
Intellectual Property Primer and Inventors Roundtable Discussion
H.T. Sampson Library, INNOVATE
1:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m.
Computational Thinking and Technology Robotics Demonstration
Engineering Building, Student Lounge
Friday, November 14, 2014
10:00 a.m. – 12:00 noon
Opening Ceremony and Ribbon Cutting of the Trading Room
College of Business Building, Rotunda
11:30 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.
The Innovative Arts in the Creative Economy: Repurposed Art
One University Place, Gallery One
1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
The Innovative Arts in the Creative Economy: The Act of Drawing
Johnson Hall, Art Gallery
3:30 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Reception Recognizing JSU Social Entrepreneurship Business Plan Winners
Engineering Building, Atrium
Monday, November 17 – 19, 2014
Global Entrepreneurship Week (College of Business)
Thursday, November 20, 2014
8:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
NSF HBCU-UP Outreach Workshop
Engineering Building
www.jsums.edu/research/event/innovationmonth