Kay Molkentin, president of the Entrepreneurship Education
Consortium, presents the top prize at the Entrepreneurship
Immersion Week to Kent State University students Julia
Kelly, Oleg Lougheed and Carleton Whitmore.

The team from Kent State University took the first-place prize at the 2015 Entrepreneurship Immersion Week, which took place Aug. 3–7, and was hosted by Lake Erie College. The Kent State team won the top prize for its business concept “Medivation,” a sleep assistance device.

The team consisted of students Oleg Lougheed, a senior Russian translation major; Julia Kelley, a junior public relations and entrepreneurship major; and Carleton Whitmore, a junior entrepreneurship and international business major.

“Entrepreneurship Immersion Week allowed me to better understand what goes into forming a team and perfecting a pitch," Kelley says. “The loss of sleep was worth the experience gained!"

This loss of sleep was due to the intensive, “entrepreneurial bootcamp” atmosphere. Students participated in classes, networking events, brainstorming, business planning, and all aspects of starting an entrepreneurial venture. At the end of the weeklong program, they presented new business concepts to a panel of judges made up of seasoned entrepreneurs and service providers.

Michael George, a junior environmental and conservation biology major at Kent State, participated and presented with the University of Akron team. He had high praise for the faculty advisors who stayed with the teams all week.

"They [advisors] were very helpful!” George says. “They all took time out of their week to stay with us and assist with the whole process. I really appreciated the support we were offered!"

Kent State University students Michael
George, Oleg Lougheed, Carleton
Whitmore and Julia Kelly pose for a
photo at the Entrepreneurship Immersion
Week competition.

The John Carroll University team took second place, and Mount Union’s team placed third in the finale of the weeklong competition.

“It was great meeting entrepreneurial students from other universities,” Whitmore says. “It was very inspiring to get to talk to them. Hard work and dedication really pays off”

Entrepreneurship Immersion Week provides an intensive experience in building a team and creating a viable business idea for undergraduate students from 11 area colleges and universities who make up the regional Entrepreneurship Education Consortium. After learning about various aspects of entrepreneurship and business planning, each team presents the business idea that they developed during the week to a panel of judges who choose the winners based on the viability of the concept and planning.

The purpose of the Entrepreneurship Education Consortium is to provide practical "experiential" and theoretical education to students in Northeast Ohio to prepare them to become entrepreneurs or intrapreneurs; create new ventures and jobs and build wealth for the region. The EEC members include representatives from the University of Akron, Ashland University, Baldwin Wallace University, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland State University, Hiram College, John Carroll University, Kent State, Lake Erie College, Lorain County Community College and the University of Mount Union.