Nascent Entrepreneurs Help Drive Experiential Learning Program at The FoundryUtah
Tuesday, February 22, 2011 at 12:57PM Courtesy of Businesswire.com and the David Eccles School of Business
- First Class of Student Entrepreneurs Quickly Demonstrates Strong Performance
- Innovative Peer-Driven Program a Unique Take on the Small Business Incubator
- Second FoundryUtah Cohort Launched in Q1 2011, Still Recruiting Participants
SALT LAKE CITY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The FoundryUtah, an innovative new take on the classic start-up incubator, created by the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah, has concluded 2010 with a significant spate of victories achieved by its student participants.
Since The FoundryUtah was launched in May 2010, its first cohort of 85 participants created a total of 22 startup companies, of which 18 are still operating. Between May 1 and December 31, 2010, these nascent companies created 19 full-time jobs and 25 part-time positions, and generated more than $730,000 in revenue. 11 FoundryUtah companies are already profitable, and eight have established their own offices, expanding beyond the incubation space provided by The FoundryUtah program.
“While we are very proud of the jobs FoundryUtah companies have created and the fact that many of our companies have significant growth potential, the focus of this program is the entrepreneur, not the company,” said Rob Wuebker, faculty advisor to The FoundryUtah. “We use the company as the learning vehicle. When participants are actually executing on an idea that is theirs, one they care deeply about, spending their own time and sweat, then they are truly ‘at risk to learn.’ We have found this approach to be a great complement to a traditional classroom environment.”
