Three alumni of Missouri Western State University have been awarded the opportunity to own and operate their own businesses through an applied entrepreneurship class in Missouri Western’s Craig School of Business. Two of the alumni – LaTricia Adkins and Leslie Patton – will operate Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory stores through an existing partnership with the Durango, Colo., based company. A third – Scott Lassen – will operate a Fresca’s Mexican Grill currently owned by Steve Craig, founder and president of Craig Realty Group and benefactor of the Craig School of Business.
Adkins, Patton and Lassen were among the students in a senior-level applied entrepreneurship course this spring. Finalists from the class created business plans for a store and presented their plans to an interview panel made up of Craig, Missouri Western graduates who won franchises in previous years, Missouri Western faculty members, other business leaders and representatives from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, including company founder Frank Crail.
President Robert Vartabedian talks to LaTricia Adkins about her Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Store in Fresno, Calif. Dr. Vartabedian, a Fresno native, recently visited the store and passed on his written report to Adkins.Adkins, from Kansas City, Mo., is the daughter of LaMonica Adkins and a graduate of Belton High School. She received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degree from Missouri Western in 2011. She is currently a production control administrative assistant at Cryovac Sealed Air Corp. She will own a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store in Fresno, Calif.
Leslie Patton of Grain Valley, Mo., is the daughter of Perry Patton and Dana Patton. She received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Finance from Missouri Western in 2008. She currently lives in Kansas City and is a client operations administrative associate for State Street. She and her boyfriend Rian Freidhof, also a Grain Valley native, will own a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store in Tustin, Calif.
Scott Lassen of Atchison, Kan., is the son of Donald and Cynthia Lassen. He received a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration from Missouri Western in 2010 and a Master of Business Administration from California State University-Long Beach in 2011. He is currently a department manager at Petco in southern California. Lassen will own the Fresca’s Mexican Grill in Woodburn, Ore. This is the first time that a franchise other than Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory or Aspen Leaf Yogurt has been awarded.
The program to present Missouri Western graduates with this unique opportunity was founded in 2009 by Craig, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Missouri Western. The goal is to speed up the training and development of entrepreneurs at the university.
In 2012, the program partners announced a significant expansion. Previously, the class and competition was only offered in the spring to graduating seniors in the Craig School of Business. Now, the program is offered in both the fall and spring semesters, and is open to any alumni of the Craig School of Business, no matter when they graduated.
Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory provides initial capital for the stores, which the alumni pay back over five years. The young entrepreneurs receive ongoing support from faculty members, the Craig School of Business Advisory Council and Craig. They are expected to donate a portion of their store’s proceeds back to the school.
The latest winners join 12 other Missouri Western alumni operating stores in 10 states. The first winner, Seth Lyons and his wife Kelsey, made the final payment on their loan in 2012, less than three years after their store in Silverthorne, Colo., opened. Two other winners won Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory’s “Rookie of the Year” awards in 2010 and 2011.
Missouri Western State University is a comprehensive regional university providing a blend of traditional liberal arts and professional degree programs. The university offers student-centered, high quality instruction that focuses on experience-based learning, community service, and state-of-the-art technology. Missouri Western is located in St. Joseph, Mo., and is committed to the educational, economic, cultural and social development of the region it serves. Visit www.missouriwestern.edu.