From IWU Magazine, Summer 2017 edition
Student Businesses Take Off, Thanks to Fellowships and Alumni Support
Sidebar Story by KIM HILL
Three students have launched businesses, thanks to the IWU Entrepreneurial Fellowship funded initially by Marc Talluto ’94. The fellowship awards a $5,000 grant to a student to take his or her idea from concept to market, with the help of faculty members and alumni entrepreneurs as mentors.
Tim Leiser ’16 planned to build an app to help universities and nonprofits track volunteer hours, but in his market research, he recognized small businesses and nonprofits needed affordable technology help. A computer science and sociology double major, Leiser started Do Good, a company offering marketing and technology services to small organizations. “It was interesting to watch Tim’s project morph along the way, which is what most businesses do anyway,” said Tara Gerstner ’01, coordinator of entrepreneurial activities and one of Leiser’s faculty advisors.
Other fellowship recipients include Cameron Loyet ’18, who co-owns honey-based chocolate maker Honey Moon Chocolates with Haley Lower ’16, and Claudia Richman ’19, who launched 1890 Lacrosse to provide casual lacrosse-themed apparel for youth girls through college female lacrosse players. “What was originally a ‘some day’ dream is about to become a reality now because of the IWU Entrepreneurial Fellowship and all the opportunity it affords,” says Loyet.