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GREEN BAY, Wis. (NBC 26) — The pandemic has changed the way we handle our finances. This includes repaying our student loans.Due to the CARES Act, all interest and payments have been suspended through the end of the year on federal student loans.A financial expert from UW-Green Bay said there are two ways you can handle this scenario.
Source: How to handle student loan repayment during the pandemic
Dorothy McElroy, is an alumnus from the Sheboygan Campus. She and her son Wyatt were recently featured talking about their annual event, Worldwide Dragon Shooting Day. The idea for the event, which now draws participants from across the world, started at UW-Green Bay’s Camp Lloyd, a camp for grieving kids. After the passing of her husband and Wyatt’s father, Dennis, she sent Wyatt to camp. Counselors encouraged him to dream big. And he has.
Dorothy recently launched a related nonprofit and is working on a project with that nonprofit in Sheboygan County. She was also the winner of the Sheboygan Campus’ Student Business Idea contest. Mother and son are also TEDx speakers.
Sampath Kumar, a Professor of Marketing at UW-Green Bay, spoke to MoneyGeek.com about car insurance. Car insurance differs from other types of coverage since it covers damage from theft and third-party accidents. Drivers should balance risk management and what is affordable to them. Professor Kumar recommends that people talk to an insurance agent to better educate themselves on car insurance policies. Also, maintain a clean driving record to keep auto insurance premiums as low as possible.
UW-Green Bay Associate Prof. Amulya Gurtu (Supply Chain Management, Austin E. Cofrin School of Business) and Prof. Sampath Kumar (Marketing Management, Austin E. Cofrin School of Business) co-authored a paper, “Sustainability from Designers to Consumers” in the Journal of Business and Economic Perspectives, XLVII(1), pp 68-90. This paper presents a viewpoint that functions, other than supply chain management, have a bigger role in environmental sustainability. Marketing is used to lure consumers into replacing products as often as possible. Replacing products, which are in good working condition, results in an increase in carbon emissions. It is a waste of precious natural resources. This raises the question whether customers are aware of the environmental impact of their buying behavior and do they consider sustainability when making purchase decisions. Study results suggest that even though students do care about the environment, sustainability in buying decisions has a low priority.
The Sheboygan County Economic Development Corporation has teamed up with the Small Business Development Center (SBDC) at UW-Green Bay to bring the Entrepreneurship Training Program (ETP) virtually, via Zoom, to entrepreneurs of Sheboygan County. To register for the class, call (920)-366-9063 or email sbdc@uwgb.edu.
For more details: https://www.seehafernews.com/2020/08/27/registration-open-for-sbdc-and-uwgb-virtual-business-plan-class/
Congratulations to UW-Green Bay alumna Jodi Gonzales of Jodi Rose Studio for submitting the winning business plan of the 19th annual Door County Entrepreneur Training Program business plan contest.
Gonzales completed the Entrepreneurial Training Program (ETP) class facilitated by Small Business Development Center Director Tara Carr. ETP is an eight-week course for startup ventures or current business owners that want to grow an existing business. SBDC consultant David Stauffacher has consulted Jodi throughout the process.
The Door County Economic Development Corporation and UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center commend Jodi Rose on her exceptionally written business plan, which scored 97/100 points.
“The Entrepreneurial Training Program was a real game-changer,” Gonzales stated. “Alongside a general description of my business, and development of my budget, I was encouraged to closely examine the various staff and management roles I perform as a solo entrepreneur. This informed improvements in time management, work space, job satisfaction, and overall performance. Meanwhile, it helped me define more specific and attainable goals.”
As the 2020 business plan contest winner Jodi Rose Studio receives $1,000 in cash to use on business expenses. The $1,000 award was generously sponsored by Associated Bank, Bank of Luxemburg, and Nicolet National Bank.
“I have reviewed many business plans in my career but Jodi’s was not only detailed and well researched, it was stunning in design,” noted Steve Jenkins, executive director of the Door County Economic Development Corporation. “Jodi not only had a robust, well-crafted plan but she was able to draw you deeply into her vision and story to better understand her business.”
A panel of experienced judges representing the 3 sponsoring banks evaluated the top business plans from the entrepreneurs enrolled in the 2020 class. The entrepreneur students learned the building blocks of a successful business plan, and wrote their plans with the help of Tara Carr and Dave Stauffacher from the UW-Green Bay SBDC and DCEDC. The eight-week course covered such topics as Research, Marketing, Organizational Matters, Financial Planning, Projections and Managing Growth.
Other business plans submitted for consideration represented a variety of different industries:
All students who took the time to finish their business plan is a winner. By putting in the effort to learn the skills of business planning, they have each greatly improved their chances of succeeding in their business ventures. Students that finish and turn in a passing business plan are eligible for a grant from the Small Business Development Center, reducing the cost of the class for each student from $1,000 to $250.
“The Entrepreneurial Training Program (ETP) is a great resource for business owners, at any stage, to create marketing, operational and strategic plans, while preparing financially to meet their goals” added Tara Carr, Director of the Small Business Development Center. “The Small Business Development Center gives ongoing support and consulting expertise to ETP clients and Door County businesses. The Door County Economic Development Corporation and the Small Business Development Center work collaboratively by strengthening entrepreneurial skills and developing strong relationships with the business community.”
A grand pursuit of the American Dream brought Johnny Gomez 5,500 miles from Nicaragua to Sevastopol School, where he graduated in 2015. (And UW-Green Bay a few years later). His journey to graduation was far from ordinary, and his story – which is still being written – is already enormously inspiring.Gomez was born to Nicaraguan parents, Octavio and Vera, and grew up in Managua, Nicaragua. Gomez credits his parents for their dedication to their family and their hard work to provide a quality life for him and his brother and sister.“My surroundings were very, very poor,” Gomez said. “It was pretty much struggling with what you would be eating in the next week. There were some unhealthy neighborhoods and troublemaking, but I saw the examples of my parents, and they were always working very, very hard.”
Source: Alumni Door County Profile: Johnny Gomez – Door County Pulse
Although UW-Green Bay is intending to be open in fall and welcoming faculty, staff and students back on campus, some classes originally scheduled for in-person instruction will be moving online or having online aspects to them for the safety of the UW-Green Bay community. Current UW-Green Bay students who transitioned to online learning in Spring 2020 demonstrated that they are resilient problem-solvers and describe their experiences while providing some advice to future students…
Michael Erb is a Senior Business Administration major at UW-Green Bay.
“I felt that almost all of my professors during the transition were quite helpful and had my best interest in mind. Most notably, there was one out of my five professors who went the extra mile and set up online classes with lectures through zoom.
Compared to in-person classes, I felt online was a bit more difficult to learn and process the information. At UWGB there are always the resources you need to be successful, and I can assure you that the resources on GB’s are just as accessible online as they are in person.”
On Friday, July 31st, the U.S. SBA Administrator Jovita Carranza, along with Wisconsin District Director Eric Ness toured three businesses in the Green Bay area that received Paycheck Protection Program loans. UW-Green Bay Small Business Development Center consultant, David Stauffacher, joined Administrator Carranza for the tour at Reynolds Packing. Stauffacher has been advising Reynold Packaging, a woman-owned business, during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Reynolds Packaging pivoted their business to manufacture personal protective equipment. Reynolds quickly started mass producing two types of PPE: a face mask specifically for those in healthcare and a filter that sticks to reusable masks. The non-woven material has been approved by the U.S Food and Drug Administration under an Emergency Use Authorization. The filtration level is at least 95 percent and helps keep particles from entering or exiting the mask.
While COVID-19 halted the Draper Competition for a few months until a virtual competition could be held, it didn’t stop UWGB’s Marissa Dyess ’20 (Business Administration) from being a semifinalist in the Draper Competition’s product track. The annual Draper Competition for Collegiate Women Entrepreneurs is a prestigious invitation-only pitch and mentoring event for women entrepreneurs. Dyess was the second UWGB student to have been invited after trailblazer Jennifer Nowicki ’19 pitched her Cultivate Taste business at Draper in 2019. Nowicki is also a gBETA Northeast Wisconsin alumna and winner of both the Two Rivers and Sheboygan Pop Up Shop contests. Dyess pitched Hempire, her startup that provides Hempire Style-branded herbal remedies which aid those who suffer from eczema and psoriasis. Hempire Style clientele customize their own hemp-based body butters, lotions, and bathbombs from various aromatherapy scents and add ins. Find more on her Facebook page or email her at HempireStyle21@gmail.com. Dyess was to compete in the Draper Competition on site at Smith College in Massachusetts in spring, her last semester of undergraduate work at UWGB. While she graduated in May, all those who qualified for the student competition were still able to compete after graduating.