The Experience Continues

Fronana visits!

The Entrepreneurs Academy picked up again on Tuesday with branding and marketing. Students heard from people like Daved Levitan and Casey Telger of Creative Fuse and learned about messaging, image, and how to design and build websites.

Casey Telger talks about the steps students should take before putting together their websites.

Before beginning work on their websites, students had a visit from Scott, from Fronana, who talked about the history of Fronana and how its founder, Bobby Walker, took his passion of making a banana based ice cream in his kitchen at home all the way to selling ice cream in other states! They also heard about how he "pivoted" after the business wasn't working out as he initially intended, but now greater success is possible because of that. The "ice cream for everyone" (that's not really ice cream) was delicious, and the students got a great idea of what entrepreneurship looks like for a great local business right here in Dayton.

Fronana was a hit!

Scott shares the story of Fronana and talks about the branding, messaging, and future growth potential for this awesome local business!

After class, it was time to explore Dayton a bit more! We went over to the Oregon District again to do some Dayton-themed shopping, then went to Chipotle so Nikola could cross eating there off his bucket list.

Shopping at Heart of Ohio

We found some things there!

Gloria and Bri found a friend again at Clash...

Chipotle! Definitely a hit...

After Chipotle, we traveled across the river to meet Commissioner Matt Joseph and see the Richard Holbrooke Plaza, dedicated to Ambassador Holbrooke, the man who negotiated an end to the Bosnian War and oversaw the Dayton Peace Accords negotiations. Matt played a big role in getting the monument funded and dedicated, but also in getting the stones from three cities in BiH to be included in the plaza.

The students met Matt and explored the plaza a bit on their own first.

Edna and Rijad in front of the plaque dedicating the plaza back in November of 2015.

A great quote from Amb. Holbrooke.

A piece of the Sarajevo City Hall, one of three stones embedded into the plaza from buildings destroyed during the war, but now rebuilt.

A piece of the original Stari Most, or "Old Bridge," from Mostar.

A hidden tribute to Mostar in the steps leading down to the plaza.

A great picture of (almost) all of our BiH/American exchange students.

After the plaza, it was off to more fun around Dayton. Some went to Wright State's Student Union, while others went over to hear Bridget Flaherty at the Dayton Story Slamm. It was cool seeing her tell her story (in the style of "The Moth" on NPR). It was even cooler that she won!

Pool time.

Way to go Bridget!

The following day (Wednesday, May 24) was also a lot of fun. Students learned all about business financing in the AM. This includes venture capital, angel investing, and international financing. The Rotary Club of Kettering also came to The Entrepreneurs Center to have their weekly meeting and greet our DRSS students and guests from Bosnia and Herzegovina. We are grateful for their partnership and grant earlier this school year, which helped make this exchange possible!

Marilynne Saliwanchik, President of the Kettering Rotary (and homestay mother to Rijad!) talks to the students about Rotary International and shares a bit about her background in business as an owner of a payroll company.

We are grateful to the Kettering Rotary for providing us with lunches today too! We are glad the members could join us for lunch with the students as well.

The students also heard from Roger Edwards of the Dayton Development Coalition, who is the VP of the Accelerant Venture Capital Fund. He spoke to the students about venture capital and how his fund invests in local businesses right here in our community.

Roger Edwards talks to the class and Rotary members about his fund, Accelerant Venture Capital Fund, which invests in the Dayton region.

After class, we spent a little more time together at Wright State, after which we went to Woodman Lanes to do some laser tag!

Before that, Rijad and Nikola had to try some authentic Mexican food at Tacqueria Mixteca... and so did I.

Pool time again...

And trying a "new" sport - racquetball!

Rijad fulfills his dream of trying Starbucks... he estimated it was about "nine espressos," so he put in the corresponding number of sugars he would use per espresso... which is nine.

Finally it was time for laser tag... but arcade games were necessary as we waited for everyone to arrive from their multiple drive-thru stops.

Venturing into the arena.... Red vs. Blue.

In the end, try as we might (and we even played a second game to try...) Blue Team just couldn't win. The Red Team was too good! We had a blast though (pun intended).

We turned in early for the night before the students venture back to class tomorrow and work on putting together their business plans!