I n 2017, the Harding University chapter of Sigma Nua, national honors society dedicated to business leadership, chose to create a club on campus for entrepreneurs as a service project. Thus, Christian Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) was brought to life on Harding's campus. CEO was open to all students who had an interest in entrepreneurship. Assistant Professor of Business Administration Dr. David Kee and Associate Professor of Business Administration and Director of Waldron Center for Entrepreneurship and Family Business Dr. Ken Olree played the supporting roles as CEO's first club sponsors. The club started out with only a handful of students who Kee and Olree picked because of their leadership skills. Senior Brandon Gomez served as the 2018-19 president of CEO with senior Blake Smith and junior Tiffany Bishop as co-vice presidents, sophomore Celeste Parker as treasurer, junior Christian Mendez as secretary and sophomore Estela Taylor as activities director. Studententrepreneurs who were a part of the organization were able to get together and assess one another's situations and problemsolve together. According to Kee, the goal of the organization was to team up to help student entrepreneurs succeed and to "give 'em a little boost." Smith echoed the sentiment. "It's surrounding yourself with people that can critique ideas and help jump-start the ones that are good and fueled by passion," Smith said. "We do not want CEO to be another business academic club. Instead, we want to encourage students and faculty from every department to find what they're passionate about and build ideas that make the world a better place." Sophomore and activities director Estela Taylor, hoped to open her own bakery after graduation. Because Taylor was involved in CEO, she was able to get together with other entrepreneurs who were willing to help her build a business plan and find access to funding. Kee's hope was for the organization to become very active on campus for students of all disciplines. "You know there's people on campus in fashion merchandising who want to start their own business --- there's people in all areas, engineers, people in all kinds of sports management, people who want to start their own gym," Kee said. According to Gomez, CEO was the result of over three years of entrepreneurial work from the entire business department. The organization was designed to integrate student entrepreneurs with community entrepreneurs, provide club members with hands-on experience in entrepreneurship, allow for students to be more involved with the community and give back by helping entrepreneurs in the area. CEO provided students with the work experience required for many entry-level positions. "I would like to structure the students to be not only a good entry-level employee, but someone who radically changes a startup or who can go into a startup and wear every single hat successfully," Gomez said. With the launch of the organization, Gomez hoped to see the business students at Harding pour into Searcy more, noting that the small businesses of Searcy could benefit from the student assistance. Along with that, Smith hoped the club would lead to meaningful connections and big ideas. "It is awesome to be able to network with students that own their own businesses and create the things they're passionate about at such a young age," Smith said. "Google, Microsoft, Facebook and Time Magazine all started while their creators were in high school and college. Think about what could come from Harding's campus if such creativity is encouraged and supported." story by Maty Bain President ofthe Christian Entrepreneurs Organization (CEO) senior Brandon Gomez brainstorms plansfor the group during a meeting on Sept. 26, 2018, in the Waldron Centerfor Entrepreneurship and Family Business. The team spent a majority of their time throughout the beginning oftheyear discussingpossible student businesses to incorporate. I photo by Lindsey Webb JuniorTiffany Bishop, sophomore Celeste Parker andjunior Christian Mendez, officers ofCEO, listen while senior Brandon Gomez leads a meeting in the Waldron Centerfor Entrepreneurship and Family Business on Sept. 26, 2018. Thegroup met several times to strategize for the organization's first year. I photo by Lindsey Webb 265 I BUSINESS
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