“I have benefited from the experience because I am meeting new people and getting a feel for what work projects will be like in the future. “I2B has aided my education in many ways,” said Cooper Hazel, who is pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration. The volunteer mentors, consisting of local executives, successful entrepreneurs, and OU faculty, staff, and alumni, oversee the student teams, providing advice and needed expertise. “In the end, both the companies and students benefit.”Īreas of support include, but are not limited to: market research, business planning and development, and patent searches. “A particularly important aspect of I2B is that it teaches students an entrepreneurial mindset: the ability to think creatively about problems in which resources are often limited,” Long said. The I2B program equips these small businesses with targeted assistance from the mentor-led student teams, focusing on specific gaps in the early phases of development. A cohort of six businesses has just completed the program.Īccording to Michael Long, executive director of the MZ, startup companies require a vast amount of resources in the crucial first phase of business development. The program connects a team of students and a mentor to each company in short engagements to help the company along its path to success. The program serves as a next step for startup businesses in the community, some of which are referred to I2B by the Oakland County One Stop Shop for new businesses.
The program is an initiative of the newly-formed Mobilization Zone (MZ), focused on mobilizing university knowledge into the public domain for economic and community development.
Oakland University’s (OU) Research Office and the School of Business Administration (SBA) have recently launched the Ideas 2 Business (I2B) program, a real-world, project-based experience connecting students with local businesses. Meadow Brook Music Festival/Amphitheatre.
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