ALUMNA KATHLEEN BOND (’11) KNEW SHE WANTED TO OWN HER own business, so she studied entrepreneurship while in the Honors Program at Belmont University. But it was two years later that the then-Turnip Truck manager would return to campus for insight at the Center for Entrepreneurship. With the guidance of her former professors, she and her parents purchased and remodeled a coffee shop in a local Nashville neighborhood. Today Bond employs 17 people and oversees the 1,200-square-foot Bond Coffee Shop that serves paninis and bagels alongside its coffee. Bond returned to campus in September to share her success story and promote her business during the second annual Entrepreneurship Village. Held in the amphitheater surrounding the Bell Tower, 33 student- and alumni-owned businesses convened to showcase their innovation and creativity. “I think by assembling this critical mass, we are able to share the quality, ability and volume of what’s been happening in the program. It is great for alumni to connect with current students, find interns and make contacts,” said Entrepreneurship Professor Jeff Cornwall. Named a national Top 25 Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Program by the Princeton Review for five consecutive years, Belmont’s Center for Entrepreneurship provides students from all majors insight into owning and running a business. Erin Connors, a sophomore studying accounting and finance, began as a sales associate in a student-run business on campus, BLVD Music Shop, and was promoted to manager. “It’s been interesting to see how the numbers work out in a small business. I’m getting hands on experience that makes me look at my major differently and appreciate the opportunity,” Connors said. Alumnus Clark Buckner (’13), owner of ETPcast, a weekly podcast sharing interviews with entrepreneurs, said, “The Center for Entrepreneurship has had a big impact on my life, and the ETP platform is a way I can give back. It is good for me to build contacts and market myself, and it helps students to learn and provides everyone opportunity.” n
Student entrepreneur and art education major Brooke Griffith displays her jewelry line, Glen & Effie, named for her grandparents.
FALL 2013
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