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CONNECTIONSTargeting the Innovative WorkforceMcGuire Center spearheads rural entrepreneurship component of region-wide grant.Kevin Romo-Leon photoIn 2007, the U.S. Department ofLabor funded a comprehensive initiative— Innovation Frontier Arizona(IFA) — proposed by partners acrossSouthern Arizona and endorsed byGovernor Janet Napolitano. The grantunites 40+ partners around the goalof aligning education, workforcedevelopment, and economic developmentin Southern Arizona. TheMcGuire Center for Entrepreneurshipis administering the entrepreneurshiptrack, which aims to build entrepreneurialcapacity through communityand education programs to serveentrepreneurs and K-16 education.“The broader grant focused on thetalent supply chain, entrepreneurialculture, and regional knowledge-sharingas the three key spires,” explainsGuillermo (Bill) Quiroga, the newlynamed director of rural entrepreneurshipinitiatives at the McGuire Center.Quiroga will oversee regional entrepreneurshipactivities. “We want tobuild a competitive workforce, as wellas significant entrepreneurial mindsetand capability, which will enable anew type of competitive edge for ourregion,” he says. “Specific industry targetsinclude homeland security, bordermanagement, and defense —issues ofequal relevance across the region.”The McGuire Center will fulfill itsIFA goals through its RuralEntrepreneurship Initiative. Theinitiative takes a four-prongedapproach, targeting K-12 studentswith an Idea Fair, collegiatestudents with regional entrepreneurshipcurriculum standards,emerging entrepreneurs with amentoring network, and matureentrepreneurs through recognitionof best practices and identificationof regional goals.Quiroga, who joined the McGuireCenter in June, understandsSouthern Arizona’s entrepreneurialcommunity well. In addition tobeing an alumnus of the McGuireEntrepreneurship Program, he alsolaunched and continues to operateNative American Botanics, thecompany he developed while hewas a student.He is currently focused onlaunching the K-12 Idea Fair. “TheIdea Fair is the outcome,” he says,“but the goal is really to buildstudents’ problem-solving skills.” A2007 pilot of the Idea Fair conceptat Tucson’s Pistor Middle Schoolprovided a valuable starting pointin teaching entrepreneurial principlesthrough a problem-solvingmethodology similar to the scientificmethod. “It’s tough to find anew and fun way to teach thematerial that also fits into teachers’lesson plans and meets staterequirements,” he says. Over theBill Quiroga photoGuillermo (Bill) Quiroganext several months, he will convene asubcommittee of educators to develop akit that packages everything teachers willneed to bring the curriculum into theclassroom. The goal is to have the materialsready for a spring startup phase, andthen expand the program in its secondand third years.“This is a three-year grant, but theMcGuire Center is invested in buildingentrepreneurial capacity in our region forthe long term,” says Quiroga. He is workingclosely with partners to reach eachpopulation targeted in the grant, includingsmall business development centersand community colleges. “I’m basicallythe quarterback of the team,” he explains.“Innovation is key here, both because thisis not an established program, andbecause it’s ambitious in its scope. Nowit’s a matter of putting it all together.”Hot TopicMarketing class project turns into a lucrative contract.In Hope Jensen Schau’s Integrated MarketingCommunications course, teams of students select a companyand create an integrated campaign that includeseverything from packaging and distribution to pressreleases and advertising. The campaign doesn’t typicallyinclude a signed contract with the company, but for fourEller students, that’s exactly what happened.The students — Charney Marks, Kevin Romo-Leon,Audrey Sibley, and Jenn Schmitt — chose to build acampaign around Toasti Toes. The product is producedby HeatMax, Inc., a manufacturer of air-activated heatpacks used by skiers, snowboarders, and hunters —a predominantly male market.“One of our group members was an actual consumerof the product,” says Romo-Leon, a marketing senior.“Because she had already been using the product for adifferent purpose, we immediately saw the opportunity toexpand it to the female market.” Their idea? Change thepackaging to appeal to female consumers and targetprofessional women who need to keep their feet warmin inclement weather — so a woman attending a swankyevent in January in New York could wear strappy sandalsor open-toe shoes and still be comfortable. The teamdubbed their reinvented product Toasti-Toezies, and createda hip repackaging plan plus a detailed distributionL-R: Charney Marks, AudreySibley, Jenn Schmitt andKevin Romo-Leon.strategy. “Along with the change in packaging, we introducednew distribution channels — two of which HeatMaxhad never considered,” says Romo-Leon.“They were asking all the right questions and they reallydid the research,” says Schau. “After the final presentation,we told them they had to take it back to HeatMax.” Romo-Leon contacted the company, which agreed to fly two ofthe students to company headquarters in Dalton, Ga., tomeet with executives in research and development, as wellas the company’s CEO. The Eller College marketing departmentfunded the other two airline tickets, and the teamtraveled to Georgia and delivered its presentation.“The students ended up signing a contract with HeatMaxthat will allow them to stay involved in every aspect of thenew product launch,” Schau says. The team will alsoreceive a percentage of sales, have the opportunity to travelwith HeatMax sales reps to call on prospective buyers,and contribute to future marketing campaigns.“Presenting our idea to HeatMax was an incredibleopportunity for us,” Romo-Leon says. “It's the ideal resumebuilder — we created a business relationship with HeatMaxand are now considered marketing representatives for thecompany. The future looks very bright for our idea, and weare just so excited to think that we came up with a projectthat we were literally able to take from the classroom tothe real world.”10 ELLER PROGRESS THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONAWWW.ELLER.ARIZONA.EDUFALL 2008 11