{"id":3824,"date":"2013-01-07T21:47:54","date_gmt":"2013-01-07T21:47:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/lamp1.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/?p=428"},"modified":"2019-06-12T10:22:17","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T15:22:17","slug":"confection-perfection-at-the-craig-school-of-business","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/2013\/01\/07\/confection-perfection-at-the-craig-school-of-business\/","title":{"rendered":"Confection perfection at the Craig School of Business"},"content":{"rendered":"

A chocolate ownership opportunity opens up for all <\/em>Craig School of Business alumni<\/strong><\/p>\n

A few years ago, Steve Craig was trying to figure out how college graduates could become entrepreneurs shortly after they earned their degrees. The CEO of Craig Realty Group in California grew up in the St. Joseph area and was an entrepreneur at an early age, and he was more than willing to share his expertise and experiences with Missouri Western graduates. In May 2008, he donated $5.5 million to Missouri Western to establish the Craig School of Business and help the university expand its entrepreneur focus.<\/p>\n

When a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store in one of his shopping centers closed later that year in Silverthorne, Colo., Steve had an idea. \u201cNew graduates have limited experience and no assets, but I felt, given the opportunity, they could shine,\u201d he said. \u201cI thought, \u2018Why couldn\u2019t we put one of our hardworking recent graduates in that store?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Steve was willing to back a Missouri Western alumnus with loans, and he convinced RMCF to take a chance on the idea.<\/p>\n

In the spring semester of 2009, students who enrolled in an Applied Entrepreneurship class competed to own an RMCF for the first time, and Seth Lyons, who graduated in December 2008, was awarded the store in Silverthorne. The next summer, two more stores were awarded, and in each of the next two years, three graduates took on new stores.<\/p>\n

So just four years after Steve convinced RMCF to give the program a chance on one store, nine graduates were operating stores in seven states.<\/p>\n

Then, this past summer, Greg Pope, senior vice president of franchise development, presented a proposal to Missouri Western. The company wanted to greatly expand the program so that there could be as many as 40 Missouri Western store owners in four years at locations across the country. Owners could be awarded either RMCF stores, Aspen Leaf Yogurt (also owned by RMCF) stores or both.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe expansion is largely due to the success of the nine owners,\u201d Steve said. Two of the stores received the \u201cRookie of the Year\u201d award in 2010 and 2011, and Seth paid back his loan for the Silverthorne store in three years instead of the agreed-upon five.<\/p>\n

\u201cRocky Mountain Chocolate Factory came to Missouri Western with the proposal because of the performance of these graduates, the respect for Steve, and the way the Craig School of Business is managing the program,\u201d said Carol Roever, who coordinates the program for the University.<\/p>\n

To accommodate the expansion, the applied entrepreneurship class will now be offered in both the spring and fall semesters, instead of just the spring only. Steve said they could award up to five stores each semester. \u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

The eligibility criteria for competing also changed. Students with a business minor are now eligible to compete for a store. In addition, the program is now be open to all alumni of the Craig School of Business, no matter when they graduated. Previously, the opportunity was only available to business majors graduating the semester the class was offered or the previous semester. Mike West, who teaches the class, said interested alumni who live away from St. Joseph will be accommodated with Skype and online components.<\/p>\n

Another change is the financing of the stores. In the past, Steve provided operating capital; now, the stores will be financed by RMCF. \u201cWe are discounting the stores significantly because we believe in this program,\u201d Greg said. \u201cWe\u2019re willing to discount the stores to get them in the hands of someone who really wants it.\u201d<\/p>\n

The new store owners will still agree to repay the loan within five years and to contribute money back to the Craig School of Business as their businesses become profitable.<\/p>\n

Steve noted that his commitment and the commitment of the Craig School of Business faculty members, <\/strong>including West and Rick Zimmer, and members of the Craig School Advisory Council to provide mentoring and logistical support to the store owners will remain, as well. CSB professors help the owners with the financial aspect of the business, along with offering their expertise.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe support structure is truly unique,\u201d Greg said. \u201cYou have the family at Missouri Western behind you.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey\u2019re going all-in, committing the resources to make this happen,\u201d Steve said of RMCF. \u201cThe trust that Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory is placing in Missouri Western demonstrates the tremendous value of the preparation and support these students receive through the entrepreneurship program.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isaac Collins \u201911, was awarded a store in Williamsburg, Iowa, in 2012. \u201cFor me, it\u2019s a dream come true,\u201d Isaac said. \u201cIf you want to run your own business, there\u2019s no reason not to do this. It\u2019s something that can change your life.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe future is very bright. We are very thankful to be associated with this,\u201d Greg said. \u201cIt\u2019s a perfect combination of allowing people to express themselves in an entrepreneurial way that Steve had the insight to put together. The potential is outstanding.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A chocolate ownership opportunity opens up for all Craig School of Business alumni A few years ago, Steve Craig was trying to figure out how college graduates could become entrepreneurs shortly after they earned their degrees. The CEO of Craig Realty Group in California grew up in the St. Joseph […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3824"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3824"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3824\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4185,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3824\/revisions\/4185"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3824"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3824"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3824"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}