Mitch Webb, executive director of the City Mission, reached out to the College of Business earlier this year to develop a new social business venture in a commercial space currently owned by the mission. The students involved were asked to design a business that would allow the City Mission to increase its revenues while providing residents of the City Mission an opportunity to obtain job training and experience.
“I’m excited to partner with the City Mission because it gives so much back to our community,” said Dr. Jonathan Butler, assistant professor of entrepreneurship at Marshall. “This is one small way that our entrepreneurship students can apply skills learned in the classroom to benefit the Tri-State area. The students have spent several weeks working on their ideas and I’m thrilled with the options that we’ll be able to present to Mitch and the mission’s board.”
The panel of judges will select the top three student pitches and those students will work with the College of Business faculty to develop a comprehensive business plan that will be presented to the mission at a later date. Based on the results of those more comprehensive plans, Webb and the mission’s board of directors will be able to make an informed decision about the potential viability of implementing the proposed social ventures.
The pitch competition and partnership is part of a new effort within Marshall University’s Lewis College of Business to expand entrepreneurship in West Virginia and the Tri-State area.
Further information is available by contacting Webb at 304-523-0293, ext. 312 or Theresa Cashion, public relations coordinator for the mission, at 304-523-0293, ext. 320, or by e-mail to Butler at butlerjo@marshall.edu.