Scribe: Joyce Krech Conveners:
Carol Hamilton, Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE), College of Business at JMU
Joyce Krech, Assistant Director, Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
Cally’s – A 11:45 a.m. Chuck Boles
Attendees: Dereck Criner, Alan Finks, Steve Stein, Noah McBrayer Jones, David Walters, Mitch Ball, Matt Robertson, Frank Tamberrino
• Need for more awareness and connectivity between university and businesses.
• Lack of general knowledge about what resources/partnerships are possible.
• Community does not know enough about Center for Entrepreneurship and Small Business Development Center.
• JMU has an impressive caliber of students available to local businesses and non-profits.
• Past experience with students has proven beneficial.
• There is great potential for more synergy between business community and student/faculty community.
• Local business owners/managers could become mentors to students.
• Local business owners/managers are also interested in connecting to the university on Executive Advisory Boards, as speakers, or as collaborators in the classroom.
• There is a general lack of knowledge among local businesses about how to connect and find interns or part-time workers. Want to know the general requirements for internships. Are there any liability issues? Define intern types.
• There is a need and desire to integrate academic knowledge from faculty and students into local businesses.
• Can university and local business collaborate on joint ventures? Can they collaborate on long-term projects?
• Business concerns: seasonality of needs, wide variety of job descriptions, range of pay options. Could university act as a “temp” agency?
• How can JMU use business resources to support student business launches?
• Businesses are seeking a long-term relationship with JMU.
In addition to employment options and internships, we identified some University Resources that are not currently being fully accessed by local businesses:
1. Faculty members who are experts in their fields and open to consulting opportunities.
2. Graduate and undergraduate students seeking experience in their majors.
3. Students/Professors needing class projects to fulfill specific course objectives.
Contact: Carol Hamilton, Center for Entrepreneurship (CFE), College of Business at JMU
hamil1cw@jmu.edu
Joyce Krech, Assistant Director, Small Business Development Center (SBDC)
krechjh@jmu.edu
Action Items
- CFE & SBDC will develop an online database to connect businesses and students/ faculty.
- The database would allow businesses to post brief descriptions of projects for which they seek assistance.
- Faculty can review the postings and make direct contact.
- Faculty can also post their expertise or project needs for businesses to review and make contact.
- A bulletin board feature that allows a reply and response would be helpful.
- The site could also advertise internships and jobs fairs on campus, and provide links to Recruit-A-Duke, Career and Academic Advising, and Community Service Learning.
- Explore ways to collaborate with other online services.
- CFE & SBDC will continue discussion of how to implement, with a goal of online accessibility by Fall 2010.
