Entrepreneurship in Action: California Baptist University Empowers Students to Pursue Their Dreams

By: Sharjeel Sohaib

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Mar 11, 2023

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  • California Baptist University offers an entrepreneurship program that encourages students to pursue their business ideas early and provides practical resources to help them launch their ventures successfully.
  • The program is led by experienced faculty members who are also business owners. Students from all CBU colleges are invited to participate in the annual Bob Goodrich Business Plan Competition.
  • CBU’s entrepreneurship initiatives benefit its students and contribute to the vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in Riverside, California, where the university is located.

California Baptist University (CBU) empowers its students to pursue entrepreneurship early in their academic careers through its entrepreneurship program. According to Dr. Tim Gramling, dean of the Dr. Robert K. Jabs School of Business at CBU, the program teaches students how to build their business upon personal passion and write a business plan. This initiative is exclusive to entrepreneurship majors and opens to students from all CBU colleges. The program provides students with the necessary resources and tools to launch their ventures in a faith-friendly environment successfully.

Encouraging Entrepreneurship Early

With its Christian Business Incubator, the program supports student teams from the idea stage to investor pitches. The incubator is a platform that offers incredible resources to students, providing them with the necessary tools to launch their ventures in a faith-friendly environment.

Nolan Gouveia, the department lead for the entrepreneurship program, explained that the program’s faculty members are business owners and teach students from practicality. Gouveia, a serial entrepreneur who has launched five successful companies, brings today’s case studies to class, not what happened 20 years ago.

The entrepreneurship program at CBU is unique in that it offers a full-fledged bachelor’s degree program, and students can learn from experienced business owners.

Bob Goodrich Business Plan Competition

The Bob Goodrich Business Plan Competition is an annual competition that allows students from all CBU colleges to compete for $15,000 in prize money. This year, nine teams were selected to present a five-minute business pitch to a panel of judges. The winning team, WaiSmart, received $7,500 toward a mechanical-electrical engineering mechanism that controls shower temperature and water flow. According to Dr. Gramling, the competition is a transparent vehicle to prepare students with a strong business story that will get them funded.

Riverside: A Welcoming City for Startups

Dr. Gramling has lived in 10 states across the U.S., and he considers Riverside the most welcoming city to put a startup dream into reality. According to Dr. Gramling, Riverside is an incredibly vibrant and fast-growing area where students can see a future. Students feel called to contribute to the innovation they see around them daily, and the entrepreneurship program at CBU empowers them to do just that.

Giving Back to the Community

The Jabs School opened a Center for Business Excellence last year to support small and medium-sized business owners. The center offers non-degree business programs and training, such as one-to-one coaching with faculty, and the first University-based Microsoft Office Specialist Expert certification site in Riverside County. According to Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson, City of Riverside, the power of entrepreneurial education is limitless. CBU opens up a world of possibilities for students from all walks of life to turn their brightest ideas and passions into successful companies.

Wrap up

In conclusion, CBU’s entrepreneurship program provides students with an excellent opportunity to learn from experienced business owners and develop entrepreneurial skills.

The program offers a full-fledged bachelor’s degree program in entrepreneurship, and students from all CBU colleges can participate in the annual Bob Goodrich Business Plan Competition. CBU also gives back to the community through its Center for Business Excellence, supporting small and medium-sized business owners. The program empowers students to pursue entrepreneurship early in their academic careers and provides the necessary resources to launch their ventures in a faith-friendly environment.

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