Mercer Innovation Center Inspires Young Entrepreneurs at Stetson

At the Mercer University – Eugene W. Stetson School of Business & Economics and Mercer Innovation Center, efforts to retain and foster local talent has meant creating innovative leaders that give back to the community which helped shape them.

Through the “Seminar in Entrepreneurship” course offered last fall at Stetson, up-and-coming business leaders like Fabunde Mamey have been inspired to stay in Macon—rather than relocate to Atlanta, as Mamey had decided—to pursue their career.

The course was led by Stewart Vernon, whose vast credits include Stetson’s entrepreneur-in-residence, former chair of the Mercer Innovation Center (MIC) advisory board and CEO and founder of America’s Swimming Pool Company (ASP). The class was intended to create an environment where entrepreneurial creativity and confidence could be encouraged by connecting students with influential local business leaders.

At the end of the semester, each student would construct a proposal for an original business idea to present before a panel of business people. Mamey, who proposed a real estate business model for his home country of Liberia, was awarded “Entrepreneur of the Class” for his work. But it didn’t stop there—Mamey, who had also impressed Vernon as an intern at ASP, was offered a full-time position within the company.

For Mamey, the “Seminary in Entrepreneurship” was not just a chance to stretch his entrepreneurial muscles, but a life changing opportunity. “My professors at Mercer have tremendously impacted my life,” he said. “Mr. Vernon, along with the entrepreneurs he invited to speak in our class, has brightened the path of my business journey. Because of that course, I have built great relationships that I am sure will help me in the future.”

regions: Atlanta

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