Though the Olin School of Business’ emphasis in much of its course work relies on marketing and management, a new program established from a $3 million donation will emphasize entrepreneurial studies, expanding on Olin’s existing entrepreneurial programs.

The Skandalaris entrepreneurship program was made possible by a $3 million dollar pledge by Bob and Julie Skandalaris, parents of senior Kristin Marie Skandalaris. Bob Skandalaris is chairman and CEO of Noble International Ltd., a manufacturing holding company based in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan that specializes in the automotive industry.

“We previously had an entrepreneurial program, but this generous gift allows us to expand, enrich, and fully articulate the program that we already had,” said Business School Dean Stuart Greenbaum.

Kenneth Harrington, formally an entrepreneurship adjunct professor in Olin’s executive MBA program, will join Olin full-time as director of the Skandalaris entrepreneurship program.

Harrington has worked with Greenbaum and other Olin faculty in developing a curriculum that will walk students through Harrington’s three-step process for evaluating entrepreneurial success, a program geared mostly towards the MBA students.

“First of all, you look at the industry environment to see if it has the right characteristics,” said Harrington. “Secondly you look at the team that you can put together to pursue that opportunity. Third you look [at] how much capital do I need to have an impact.”

There will be four courses offered this fall and six courses in the spring. The majority of these courses are open to non-business students. Olin hopes to attract engineering, pre-med, medical, and law students in particular.

“We want to invite in other folks to add to our start-up ideas.and learn from their experiences, because that enriches the experience for everyone,” said Harrington.

The MBA concentration track begins with Start-Up Game, Idea and Team Formation and continues through to the Hatchery, where student ideas are launched. There will also be a host of full-time MBA extracurricular activities, which include a $1 million dollar fund for investment in student businesses. To be eligible, students must have graduated from Olin within the past five years, either with an MBA or BSBA. Though he can’t discuss details, Harrington said that four possible investments are currently being evaluated.

There will also be two classes offered to BSBA students, which include Intro to Entrepreneurship and Hatchery.

Harrington said the goal of the program is to provide three student constituents with entrepreneurial experiences. Those three constituents consist of the small number of students who want to start a business; the larger number of students who want to be on the buying side of the entrepreneurial relationship; and the people who are planning on working for larger service companies who do businesses with the entrepreneurial start-ups.

The entrepreneurial program was formed because of increased student demand, particularly from the MBA students.

“The availability of employment and job security in large corporations, relative to compensation, has changed and made entrepreneurship more appealing to young people,” said Greenbaum. “Large corporations have not been able to offer the same job security that they once did. I think that if students can’t have job security, they’d rather take the big risk and own the business themselves.”

Greenbaum does believe, however, that the cooling economy will shift some interest back to large corporations.

“I think that if you look at it in a very, very short run, there will be a move back to traditional employers,” said Greenbaum. “The economy is in phase of slow down, and the capital is not available for these entrepreneurial undertakings in the same way that it was a couple of years ago.”

Harrington, though, has a different view on the current entrepreneur climate.

“Capital is tighter now than it was, but is still available for good opportunities,” said Harrington, who holds an MBA from the University of Pennsylvania and has fifteen years of experience working with start-up businesses.

To contact Brendan Watson, email him at [email protected]

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