Santa Clara University

Business Today

• From Doggie Vitamin Water to Electric Car Garages : 29 Startups Kickoff Entrepreneurship Training This Weekend

  Wednesday, Jul. 13, 2011 5:23 PM

  Armed with the zeal of the startup and the drive to create jobs in California, some 29 entrepreneurs from around the state will kick off the second fully subsidized California Program for Entrepreneurs (CAPE) this weekend at Santa Clara University.

  Class members of 2011 are trying to build businesses in everything from allergy alerts to fashionable grocery totes, cancer treatment systems to wind-farm power storage. The cohort arrives on campus Friday, July 15, for orientation and the first of four weekends of on-site classes.

  Through November the group will participate free of charge in a series of classes, workshops, mentorships and networking led by Santa Clara business faculty and augmented by the unique Silicon Valley connections of the University's Leavey School of Business.

  Later in the summer they will be on campus for an intensive week of workshops and training, followed by a $5,000 business “pitch” competition in November.

  “With our faculty equipping these new business leaders with marketing, finance, operations, and strategic management expertise, these innovations will soon be in the marketplace and adding to California’s economic well-being,” said Daniel Aguiar, co-founder of CAPE and executive director of the business school's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, which puts on the program.

  “Consumers are looking for products and services which help them improve health, reduce energy consumption, and manage increasingly complex technology,” he added. “Our participants have innovative ideas to meet these needs.”

  The success of the 2010 CAPE pilot inspired the growth of its second group.

  “Members of our first class have gone on to place their products with major retailers and move into national networks,” said Drew Starbird, business school dean and co-founder of the program, “This program helps lead the way to prosperity for communities around California."

  The program’s expansion was supported by members of the Leavey School of Business Advisory Board, who provided scholarships for the 2011 participants. The school’s Executive Development Center also has continued its generous subsidy of the course.

  Media Contact:
  
  Deborah Lohse | SCU Media Relations | 408-554-5121 | dlohse@scu.edu
  
   
   

  
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• Agrawal Named Associate Dean for Faculty

  Tuesday, Jun. 22, 2010 12:11 PM

  Narendra Agrawal, chair of the OMIS department, will become Associate Dean of the Faculty for the Leavey School of Business (LSB) on July 1. In the new role, he will assist Dean Drew Starbird with faculty development and strategic planning issues.

  "Naren was nominated by at least a dozen of our colleagues," said Dean Starbird, making the announcement to LSB faculty last week. "His selection was heartily supported by the other department chairs, and he will serve the School and University well."

  Professor Agrawal joined the LSB faculty in 1992 after completing his Ph.D. in operations management at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School. He also holds an MA in decision sciences from the Wharton School, an MS in management science from the University of Texas at Dallas, and B.Tech. from the Institute of Technology, Banaras Hindu University in India.  Professor Agrawal has nearly 30 refereed publications or technical reports and has made well over sixty academic presentations in the US and abroad.  He has served as associate editor for Management Science and for Manufacturing and Service Operations Management and as an editorial review board member for Production and Operations Management.  Professor Agrawal's research focuses on supply chain management, service supply chains, retail management and assortment planning, and channel dynamics.
   
  For the last two years, Professor Agrawal has served as Chair of the OMIS department, overseeing curriculum, scheduling, hiring, and faculty evaluation.  He has served the University and School in a variety of roles including chair of the MSIS review committee, member of the MBA leadership team, member of the EMBA design committee, and a member of the LSB rank and tenure committee. 
   
  In his spare time, he is a trustee of Give2Asia, a non-profit organization focused on promoting and facilitating philanthropy in Asia.
   

  
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