The Craig School of Business at Missouri Western State University announced that Jorge Belcher and Jacob Blaylock, who graduated with Bachelor of Science in Business Administration degrees last month, have won business opportunities through the school’s franchise program.
Blaylock and Belcher were the two finalists from a senior-level applied entrepreneurship class this spring who prepared business plans and presented them to a panel of judges that included Steve Craig, benefactor of the Craig School of Business, other business leaders, representatives from Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Missouri Western graduates who won franchises in previous years. The plan was to award one store to one winner, but Craig said that proved impossible.
“We had two very qualified individuals today, with some really good skill sets and experience,” Craig said. “I think both of them will thrive in the settings that we are going to help create for them, and we look forward to having them as part of our fraternity of entrepreneurs that we’ve created at Missouri Western. They know what they want, they know where they’re going, they’ve been well schooled, well trained, and both of them are highly intrinsically motivated, so these are two young men that I think are going to go a lot of places.”
Blaylock, who majored in management, was awarded a Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory Store in Petaluma, California. He is a sergeant in the United States Army Reserves and currently works at Dick’s Sporting Goods in St. Joseph. He previously served in management positions at a number of fast food and retail stores. Blaylock is a graduate of St. Joseph Christian.
Belcher, who majored in marketing and management, will be given the program’s first non-franchise opportunity. Support from the program and the Craig School’s Center for Entrepreneurship will help him expand a vehicle sales business he started in 2013. Belcher earned honorable mention all-conference honors as a linebacker for the Griffon football team. He is a graduate of Archbishop O’Hara High School in Kansas City, Missouri.
Blaylock and Belcher join 21 other program alumni who have opened 29 businesses in 10 states, with net sales of over $17,000,000 and 376 employees. The program was founded in 2009 by Craig, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and Missouri Western to offer entrepreneurship opportunities to graduating seniors.
In 2012, the program partners announced a significant expansion, allowing any alumni of the Craig School of Business to take the class and compete for a business, no matter when they graduated. Other franchise companies have joined Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory in the program as well: Aspen Leaf Yogurt; Auntie Anne’s Pretzel Perfect; Billy’s Pizza, Pasta, Po’ Boys; Blaze Pizza; Flip Flop Shops; Fresca’s Mexican Grill; Golden Corral; U-Swirl Frozen Yogurt; Which Wich Superior Sandwiches; and Yogurtini Self-Serve.
The program provides initial capital for the stores, which the alumni pay back over five years. The entrepreneurs also receive ongoing support from faculty members, the Craig School of Business Advisory Council, Craig and each other. Additionally, the owners are expected to donate a portion of their store’s proceeds back to the University. So far, those donations have totaled $182,000.
Previous franchise winners joined Rep. Kevin McCarthy and Steve Craig on stage at the Celebration of Entrepreneurs Dinner June 1.
At a celebration dinner on June 1, the Champion of Entrepreneurs Award was presented to the Bradley family, owners of the News-Press & Gazette Company, in recognition of their support of business growth in the St. Joseph area. The family last year created the Bradley Entrepreneurship Loan Program, which helps Missouri Western students and alumni secure financing to start or acquire a business. The loan program, which has helped alumni acquire two businesses so far, is administered by the Center for Entrepreneurship within the Craig School of Business.
Receiving a special Perseverance Award at the dinner were Rob ’10 and Danelle ’10 Schimming, who have opened a new Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory store in San Clemente, California, after owning a store in Lake Elsinore, California, for five years.
The guest speaker for the Celebration of Entrepreneurs Dinner was Rep. Kevin McCarthy of California, majority leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, who successfully launched a delicatessen at the age of 21 before entering politics.
“Be the first to work, the last to leave work and the last to get paid,” he advised the young business owners. “Do not be afraid of failure. I have learned more from my failures than I ever learned from my successes.”
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, Majority Leader of the U.S. House of Representatives, received a bronze griffon at the Celebration of Entrepreneurs Dinner June 1.
Frank Crail, founder and CEO of Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, said at the dinner that Missouri Western graduates had won their company’s “Rookie of the Year” award each year since the program started in 2009, and Missouri Western alumni-owned franchises now account for more than 10 percent of the company’s sales around the country.
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.