New Business Leaders continued from page 2
Larry Downs was instrumental in giving me that entrepreneurial perspective,” she says. “He not only taught me the tangible aspects of how to write my own proposals and market my own business, but he gave me the confidence I needed to pursue my goals.”
ichols students are practically oriented, much like Nichols programs, so their expectations reflect this, says Duhaime. “We teach them how to get started and where they can go for support once they leave our campus. We also encourage them to keep in touch, so that many of us continue to provide support to them as alumni,” he adds. “Nichols classes not only gave me the background I needed to pass the CPA exam and do the accounting and tax work that I do, they gave me the skills to run a business,” says Brenda Bianculli ’90. “My accounting professors were always talking about real-life scenarios. It wasn’t just textbook information.” In addition to the support of faculty, the Nichols curriculum provides a concentrated focus on business and entrepreneurial business ventures as well. While students can take Entrepreneurial Management as a course, professors also bring the issue to the forefront of many of their other classes and continue to work with students outside of class on their special projects of interest. Having relevant course work and small classes along with the opportunity to interact with professors in an intimate setting has helped him become a more diverse business partner, says Jason Sardilli ’98. “Whether I am dealing with customers, employees, organizational issues or the current business environment, no matter what adversity I am faced with as a business owner, I am able to deal with it because of the preparation that Nichols gave me. It has helped mold me into the person and type of business owner I am today.” continued on page 6 u
4
Nichols College Magazine
Spring 2009
Jason Sardilli ’98: A fresh perspective Jason Sardilli was a senior at Nichols when he and his brother met to ask themselves, “What do we want to do with our lives?” At that point, they knew that they both wanted to work in Sardilli Produce, the family business. However, recognizing the challenges that some family businesses face, they knew they needed to consider their individual roles within the company as well as how to make it work for their family. They decided that Jason would learn the operations side of the business and his brother, Devin, would take over as sales manager, and together they would try to grow the company. The company’s primary business is providing fresh produce and dairy items to independent restaurants, chain restaurants, colleges, and hospitals. Sardilli started working in the family business full time, two days after graduating from Nichols. “I remember when I came into my first day of work. It was very exciting to start working with my family to try to make it into something that we knew could be successful,” he says. And successful they are. The brothers have built the company into a flourishing business which employs 52 people and services 300 customers throughout all of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts and New York’s Westchester County. As director of purchasing, Sardilli controls the quality of the produce coming into the facility along with selecting farmers that grow the highest quality produce. “I am basically like a stock trader,” he explains. “Every day the commodities are changing based on weather and supply. It’s strictly supply and demand economics. I buy products from all over the world. When you sit down and look at how food gets from the farm to the plate and the path it takes to get there, it is pretty interesting.”