business
September 10, 2014
Java Junction Teaches Management
The Java Junction management class, taught by Michelle Horning, a business professor, runs the coffee shop located in the Kratz, Miller and Yoder connector. Java Junction is an epicenter for student life—a space constantly filled with meetings, student homework, and the smell of freshly brewed espresso. Although Java is well used, most students are unaware that their fellow students run the entire business. The class meets three times a week, just like any other class, but these class times are used as management meetings and chances to resolve any issues. Essentially, these students are responsible for managing all conflicts that come...
April 17, 2014
Unveiling the MBA
This August, Goshen College will begin collaborating with Eastern Mennonite University and Bluffton University to offer an online Masters’ of business administration degree, an MBA. The program is organized to take 18 students at a time, in cohorts. “It’s been a few years in the making,” said Michelle Horning, professor of accounting. According to Horning, the business departments from the three colleges first discussed collaborating to offer a master’s degree about four years ago. From there, the plan morphed into what it is today: an online, 36-hour program for students who want to earn an MBA from any of the...
February 12, 2014
Sweet Life: Graduate of Milton Hershey School Opens Shop in Goshen
After a series of twists and turns on the road, the Old Bag Factory came into my view near the outskirts of Goshen. I took my first steps on the mismatched red brick path and turned left to enter the old factory building. Multiple signs with arrows guided my way to my destination; at the end of the hallway, the Olde Country Confections Chocolate Factory greeted me with a sweet smell. Stepping in, my senses were in heaven. With a brown Hershey’s cap on his head, Daniel Robert Spence, the owner of the Olde Country Confection Chocolate Factory, gave me...
February 5, 2014
Micah Miller-Eshleman Starts Business
Micah Miller-Eshleman, a Goshen College senior and Alan Smith, a previous Goshen College student, are in the beginning stages of creating and running PixelDance, a website development studio with potential in software development down the road. Miller-Eshleman and Smith’s small business startup success is thanks to several factors: the city of Goshen’s LaunchPad business incubator, Goshen College’s entrepreneurship grant and, most importantly, plenty of personal ambition. Said Miller-Eshleman, “I’ve wanted to start a business ever since I was a wee little kid, and right out of college seemed like a good time.” When Miller-Eshleman and Smith’s paths intertwined at Goshen,...
November 14, 2013
Students take first at MEDA
Last Saturday, the Goshen College business department sent a team of four students, Josh Stiffney, Niles Graber Miller, Karli Graybill and Luis Lopez, to compete at the annual Mennonite Economic Development Associates competition (MEDA). The results were not unexpected: Goshen College won the competition for the second year consecutively, and was named a finalist for the third year in a row. Previous competitions showed similar trends of success, and Goshen has both placed in and won the competition several times in the past. Prairie Harvest, a local health foods store in Newton, Kansas, hosted the competition and challenged teams from...
November 4, 2013
Honey’s scoops up sweet business
Two years ago, Kelly Huffman and her husband traveled down to Columbus, Miss. for a family vacation. While in the city, the couple stopped by Smackers, a local frozen yogurt shop. The atmosphere was like nothing the Huffmans had ever experienced. “The yogurt itself was tasty, made with real fruit, peanut butter and cookies,” Huffman said. The toppings – M&M’s, gum drops, gummy worms, kiwi, mangos and countless other options – were displayed in such a way that allowed children to have fun while looking through the different kinds of goodies. The adults were able to appreciate the aesthetic beauty...
November 4, 2013
PRSSA lecture series: not just for PR majors
The Goshen College chapter of the Public Relations Student Society of America hosted the first event of its lecture series Wednesday evening. The key speaker was Melissa Kinsey, owner of Kiva Group and environmental educator at Camp Friedenswald. Kinsey has also taught business at Goshen College. The focus of Kinsey’s speech was the value of combining your passions with your career. Christina Hofer, PRSSA co-president, hopes to provide members with diverse and hands-on experience in the field. “This includes event-planning, poster design, writing for the media and photography opportunities,” said Hofer. “I also hope to plan some fun events as...
September 25, 2013
Enactus club rolls with service
The Goshen College business club Enactus is stepping into their second year of activity and focusing on local community. “We focus on the local community because at first it seemed more simple and realistic,” said Corine Alvarez, a senior accounting major. “We had connection with the business, so it is easier to build trust than with some other companies from somewhere else.” Goshen College Enactus’s current project is helping with Meals on Wheels, a national organization that distributes hot meals to homebound individuals in local communities. Its branch in Goshen is based at The Window, a local non-profit homeless shelter....
April 18, 2013
Faculty to discuss business master’s program
Goshen College faculty will meet Thursday to discuss the feasibility of a new collaborative Masters of Business Administration program to be offered in August 2014. If approved by faculty, the program will be reviewed by the Higher Learning Commission. “We’ve been working on it for the last two and a half years,” said Michelle Horning, accounting department chair. As one of the major organizers for this collaborative MBA program, Horning says she is anxious to see how the students will respond. The MBA degree program will be facilitated between Goshen College, Bluffton University and Eastern Mennonite University, which Horning thinks...
January 17, 2013
Student entrepreneurs receive business grants
On Dec. 14, the Goshen College business department announced that four student businesses would be awarded entrepreneurship grants totaling $15,500. Students have been working with the business department for a whole year to receive these grants and will continue to work with the business department as they expand their businesses. The four businesses and five students that received grant money include Niles Graber Miller, a junior, and Hans Weaver, a senior, who own Cultural Ventures LLC, the company that produces Menno Tea; Caleb Hochstetler, a senior, who is starting up a business that will focus on developing mobile applications; Emma...
December 6, 2012
Student entrepreneurs pitch for business grants
While many are finishing projects and finals this week, five groups of students are working to develop their own businesses. Billy Frisbie, Emma Gerig, Niles Graber Miller, Caleb Hochstetler, Jesse Ramer, Hans Weaver, and Jordan L. Weaver, are participants in this year’s entrepreneurship grant process. In October, the students pitched ideas to the business department for the formation of their own companies. After weeks of developing their ideas with professors and local business owners, the applicants presented their final pitches this week. Whereas in past years, grant money was awarded to selected winners, this year’s process will divide the money...
November 15, 2012
Goshen students win bi-national business competition
Two weekends ago, eight Goshen College students traveled to Canada for a business convention organized by the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA). A team of three of these Goshen students—Hans Weaver, Kristina Lopienski and Clayton Miller, all seniors —won a case competition between students from Mennonite colleges and universities in North America. The challenge of the competition was to create a business plan for Winterfeld Greenbau Construction Co. in Waterloo, Ontario. Winterfeld is a local business that provides construction and renovations towards more sustainable and energy efficient buildings. Seven student groups presented business models for the company in front of...
November 15, 2012
Toilets for entrepreneurship: Global Entrepreneur Week
This week, the business department is hosting Global Entrepreneurship Week. The week intends to offer education about entrepreneurship while also providing fun events for students. On Monday, a brainstorming event gathered ideas to change problems perceived on campus. On Tuesday, Half the Sky, a PBS documentary, was played to show examples of entrepreneurial individuals helping women and children across the world. On Wednesday, entrepreneurs from Springer Designs and Menno Tea shared their tips for staying successful in the business world. On Thursday, students are invited to paint a toilet to represent the creative side of entrepreneurship. The toilets are also in...
November 8, 2012
Business class to host Global Entrepreneurship Week
Want to paint a toilet for the upcoming musical Urinetown? What about brainstorming to think of creative ways to solve problems around campus? How about learn about how Hans Weaver and Niles Graber-Miller started Menno Tea? All of this can be done and more during the upcoming Global Entrepreneurship Week, which takes place November 12th to the 16th. The business department will be hosting a variety of activities around campus in order to provide education about entrepreneurship, teach valuable skills, and most of all, to have fun. There are many different activities to participate in next week. The first event...
November 16, 2011
Working for women in Uganda, bit by bit
With a smile, she unzips her brown khaki bag and pulls out color. String after string, she floods the table with beads that gently clink as they fall on the wood. Yellow, pink, blue, purple, circular, oval, long and short—from one bag she’s unearthed every color and shape. “I don’t usually buy jewelry,” she explains, “but once I found beautiful jewelry made by women in Uganda—that could turn their lives around—that’s initially what attracted me to it.” As she talks, the first snow of a new winter swirls outside the front windows of the coffee shop, chilling Goshen’s sleepy Main Street. Just...