Supported by Silicon Valley CEO Ray Zinn, the first ZinnStarter Pitch Competition, hosted by the LaunchLab, gave aspiring collegiate entrepreneurs an opportunity to win cash to build their ideas into the next groundbreaking product or business. Winners included: First place ($2,500): Emma Adams, WVU animal and nutritional sciences major, and her business idea PetRecord, which provides universal medical records for pets in emergency situations; second place ($1,500): Cameron Keefe, global supply chain management major, and her idea ThermoRoller, which combines physical massage with temperature control to relieve sore muscle pain; and third place ($1,000) to the team of Austin Davis, Anne Byer and Emily Thomas, from the University of Charleston, and their idea Second Chance, a program that helps give active control back to people with quadriplegia and paraplegia.
Chambers' Campus Cameo
Our business students were energized by College namesake and proud West Virginia native John Chambers, who visited campus with his wife, Elaine earlier this semester. He inspired our Entrepreneurship classes and student fellows by sharing his lessons learned from 20 years of leading Cisco Systems as CEO.
Brick Immortal
Reynolds Hall may be the future of business, but the Entrepreneurship Club saw opportunity even before construction began. The new building stands on what was once the site of Stansbury Hall, which served as WVU’s beloved Field House, as well as home to a variety of academic departments.
Feminine Appeal
After graduating magna cum laude in finance and economics in 2008, Nesha Sanghavi launched UG Apparel, collegiate sports fashions for women. As a varsity cheerleader for the WVU football and basketball teams, Sanghavi noticed the lack of feminine appeal in WVU clothing. So she did something about it. How successful has she been? Enough to donate $100,000 to establish an endowed scholarship and student enrichment fund in her name. She was named to the Roll of Distinguished Alumni in 2019.
Dressing the Part
For some, getting a new job means splurging on a new wardrobe. For us here at the Chambers College, our new building came with a new closet – the Career Closet.
I Scream, You Scream
Move over cones and milkshakes, there is a new way to enjoy ice cream – rolled! Marketing student and Morgantown native Tyler Lalka is bringing rolled ice cream to the hills of Morgantown and nearby cities with his business Rolling Hills Ice Cream. Lalka originally saw the concept being done in larger cities and thought to himself, “Mountaineers need this,” and opened his ice cream truck in April 2021. Not only is the ice cream mixed with toppings on top of a negative-five degree plate and rolled into pieces, but his truck also allows him to roll to birthday parties, weddings, farmer’s markets, fairs, office gatherings and more. “It was a dream of mine to bring this to Morgantown and I decided to go mobile because it would give me the opportunity to meet my customers where they are,” he said. The signature menu (which ice cream lovers can get any time) includes salted caramel pretzel, Oreo, peanut butter cup, s'mores and Nutella banana. On top of those flavors, individuals can add other sweet or savory ingredients. Lalka will graduate with a degree in marketing in December 2022.