How UB is Changing Baltimore, One Entrepreneur at a Time

Walking or driving up Charles Street from Mount Vernon, Baltimore's urban tapestry is in full view. To the right, the magnificent Beaux Arts Penn Station proudly stakes its claim as Baltimore's primary rail transportation hub, with the controversial Male/Female sculpture welcoming or offending visitors and natives alike. One block to the south, the foundation is being laid for the University of Baltimore's new twelve-story Law Center, designed to be a signature building for UB and Baltimore's Midtown area.

Across the street, on the southwest corner of Charles & Mt. Royal, a less noticeable structure houses a resource that has quietly left its imprint on our city and region since 2004. The resource is the University of Baltimore's Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center (EOC), housed on the first floor of the William H. Thummel, Sr. Business Center.

"Entrepreneurship has always been part of UB's mission," says Jim Kucher, President and CEO of Kittery Social Ventures, Inc., who presided over the EOC's growth from its creation in 2004 until his departure at the end of last year.

"UB has been a place where people come to get things done; we've always grown entrepreneurs."

Building on this proud history, UB birthed the Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center in 2004. Kucher provided the blueprint when he developed the business plan, and then Merrick School of Business Dean Anne McCarthy worked to make it happen. "The Center's creation was a great example of weaving together existing programs and assets," adds Kucher.

Since its creation, over 2,500 professionals throughout the Baltimore region have been touched by the Center's events and outreach activities. The EOC has worked one-on-one with more than 100 student entrepreneurs and sixty volunteers, including UB alumni and other professionals, have been actively engaged in the Center's work. As the result of a successful fundraising campaign, the Center now occupies 3,000 square feet of space in the Thummel Business Center.

However, the real impact lies beyond the numbers. "We help people find the courage to innovate," declares Kucher. "Students have a vision or a dream; businesses want to grow or expand. We help them figure it all out."

One of those the EOC helped figure it out is Joshua Marshall, President of Marshall Financial Services in Baltimore. Marshall received his BS in accounting at UB in 2007 and is currently working towards an MS. "I met Jim Kucher in 2006; it was my first month in business, and I became a guinea pig for the EOC's coaching program," says Marshall.

"I would not have been able to build my company's infrastructure without the EOC's guidance and coaching. They helped with everything from hiring, structuring service delivery, choosing software, and more. They provided the guidance I needed when I needed it and were a great sounding board."

The private sector has not been the only beneficiary of UB's commitment to growing entrepreneurship in Baltimore. Baltimore's nonprofit organizations likewise have a unique resource and partner in the Merrick School of Business.

That resource and partner is UB's Social Enterprise course taught by J.C. Weiss. Originally offered for a year in 2004 by Community Wealth Ventures, the Merrick School decided to make the course its own and has offered it every year since. In addition, the Merrick School partners with UB's School of Communications Design to offer the Design/Business Link course where students have helped remake the visual images and messaging of numerous nonprofits throughout Baltimore. Weiss and UB Professor Edwin Gold co-teach the course.

"I'm so proud of the two courses," says Weiss. "They provide a new dimension for business schools. UB is a pioneer�the only school in the region doing this. They're a great example of the town-gown relationship between UB and Baltimore."

"The Social Enterprise course has made all the difference in the world," says Phil Holmes, Vice President for Public Policy and Development at Goodwill of the Chesapeake. "Another Goodwill staff member and I took the first course at UB in 2004."

Holmes signed up because of concerns about Goodwill Staffing Services. "We were thinking about ending the service because it wasn't making money for us. Since taking the course, we've met or exceeded our goal each year. We'll net $100,000 this year."

"Moreover," continues Holmes "the course taught us how to add staff and reorganize personnel. We learned to take a sales and marketing approach to our work and developed the awareness needed to reconfigure Goodwill Staffing Services so it could be successful."

In 2006, Deborah Bedwell, executive director of Baltimore Clayworks, enrolled in UB's Social Enterprise course. "Our mission is to support ceramic artists and their work," she says. "I took the course to be more intentional about selling the artists' work so they and our organization would benefit."

As a result, Bedwell and Clayworks created its first social enterprise business as a corporate gift service in 2008. It has since been retooled as e-Ceramica, an on-line gallery and sales site with revenues used to support the livelihood of local ceramic artists and provide access to ceramic artmaking for children and senior adults in underserved communities of Baltimore City.

In addition, Clayworks was selected as a recipient of assistance from students in the Design/Business Link course. "After two years, we're making a profit. Revenue is exceeding expenses," reports Bedwell.  

Beyond the bottom line of revenue and income, Bedwell cites benefits that have helped Clayworks in multiple ways. "We've learned how to run a business and scale our work. UB helped impose discipline and see the importance of milestones we've had to meet along the way. It's been a great hand-on learning experience."

Goodwill's Holmes has also recommended the Social Enterprise course to colleagues throughout Baltimore's nonprofit sector. "Even if you don't start a business, you'll improve your nonprofit," he says with confidence from Goodwill's experience over the past seven years.

"Teaching the Social Enterprise course enables me to use 35 years of experience in the private sector and contribute it to nonprofits," says J.C. Weiss. Citing this course and the Design/Business Link course, Weiss adds that "students learn and grow from the pressure of having to produce real deliverables. It's hands-on experience that opens up new perspectives and relationships."

So next time you find yourself making your way up Charles Street as Mt. Vernon becomes Midtown, know that inside the unpretentious looking building at the southwest corner of Charles and Mt. Royal, the University of Baltimore's Merrick School of Business and Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center are indeed helping to change Baltimore � one entrepreneur, one business, and one nonprofit at a time. 


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Photos:

- HOMEPAGE IMAGE - The Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center at the University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business - UB courtesy photo
- Deborah Bedwell and J.C. Weiss at Baltimore Clayworks - Photo by Arianne Teeple
- Pottery by Michael Kline in the Baltimore Clayworks gallery - Photo by Arianne Teeple
- Deborah Bedwell at Baltimore Clayworks - Photo by Arianne Teeple
- The Baltimore Clayworks - Photo by Arianne Teeple
- J.C. Weiss of the University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business - Photo by Arianne Teeple
- The University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business - UB courtesy photo
- The Enterprise Hatchery at the Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center - Photo by Arianne Teeple
- Students in the Enterprise Hatchery at the Entrepreneurial Opportunity Center - UB courtesty photo
- The University of Baltimore Merrick School of Business - UB courtesy photo