Mark Mahan knows plenty about business.
For more information: WSUV’s next Business MAP class will be held in spring semester, beginning in January. To learn more about the program and how to become a mentor, go to business.vancouver.wsu.edu/bgmap or call 360-546-9533.
He is, after all, a business consultant in his day job. Being an owner of Burnt Bridge Cellars in downtown Vancouver is a side project, although one that consumes much of his time and energy. But Mahan signed up to get help last spring from Washington State University Vancouver students through an innovative assistance program called the Business Growth Mentor & Assistance Program, or Business MAP for short.
The four WSUV business students, working with a skilled business mentor, gave Mahan and his partners a plan for expanding online sales of Burnt Bridge’s wines and specific suggestions on how to complete essential tasks that had long been given short shrift.
Mahan, who’d initially hesitated to commit to up to 40 hours of consultation with the students, is now glad that he did.
“The hallmark of the program is that students don’t come up with a grand idea,” said Mahan, 60. “They focus on things that you probably knew but didn’t get to.”
Now in its third year, WSUV’s Business MAP program is winning widespread praise for its utility and for the interactions it fosters between students and their professors, business-savvy mentors and businesses looking for a boost. Students earn class credit just before heading into the workforce. Business owners gain tools to help their mostly small companies succeed.
The program’s 2013-2014 annual report, released in July, notes that the program served 41 clients using 188 student mentors during the school year. It noted that 96 percent of clients rated the student analysis and recommendations as “good” or “excellent.”
“Time and time again we hear (from businesses) that it helps to have fresh eyes on our business,” said Mistie Josephson, the Business MAP manager. And, she added, “It’s fun when a business gets excited about what the student team uncovers.”
This year, two student teams won special recognition for their work. Students Dilshan Mendis, Shelby Deaton, Shyanna Reyes and Ericka Ziegler developed recommendations to Vancouver’s Bleu Door Bakery for improving marketing and operational efficiency. Students Amanda Finnegan, Isaac Warren, Andrea Studt and Steven Kinlock advised Trellis Growth Partners on streamlining its focus, services, pricing and policies.
The Business MAP program is patterned after a similar program at the University of Washington, and is also used by WSU at its main campus in Pullman.
Josephson said the Vancouver campus’ location in a metropolitan region greatly expands the pool of businesses that can use the program’s services. While most businesses using the program are based in Clark County, some are in other parts of the Portland metropolitan area.
Al Schauer, retired chairman and CEO of the MacKay Sposito engineering consulting firm, said he knew little about the program until attending a leadership function at WSUV. He signed up as a mentor and worked with students who were assisting a marketing company that serves the wine and hospitality industries.
The company president asked for a business plan because she was busy but not making any profit, Schauer said.
“She was very talented on how wineries should market themselves, but she wasn’t taking care of her own business,” he said. “There was just some business acumen she lacked.” Students gave her direction on managing contracts and collections, and on delegating more work to her staff, he said.
Schauer said the students in his group were diverse in age, ethnicity and background but that they formed a solid team.
“At the end this was a tight-knit group that worked well,” said Schauer, who now operates a business consulting businesses. “It gave me new hope for a new generation.” He plans to continue working with the program.
Jack Bothwell, a Ridgefield resident and retired Wells Fargo vice president, has worked with six student projects so far. He generally meets with students once a week during the semester before their evening class. He find that students, while helping businesses manage their finances, brush up on accounting and recognize that good financial management is the foundation for business success — an important lesson as they head into their professional fields. Both Schauer and Bothwell praised WSUV business professors for their work with the students in the MAP program classes.
Josephson said the program now has 40 to 50 mentors and that she hopes to double that number. She looks for CPAs, marketing professionals, small business managers or consultants who are familiar with the problems of small businesses and who are “great communicators.” She also works to build a network of financial supporters. The MAP program has financial support and sponsorships from JP Morgan Chase & Co., Foster Wealth Advisors and US Bank among others.
Josephson, a WSU grad with a professional background in business communications and marketing, sees plenty of upside for the growing program.
“This is helping the community and helping our students,” she said.
