Archives
Questions & Answers
Althea Luehrsen is executive director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership in the School of Management.
What is the mission of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership?
The mission of the Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership is to foster economic growth within Western New York by offering programs that provide development and experiential learning. The center graduated and has relationships with approximately 1,000 business owners and leaders, and is an important liaison linking the business community to the university and to the School of Management.
There are several different programs within CEL. Can you describe them?
The center works with business owners and leaders ranging from those with start-ups to multi-generational companies. The center also provides resources for women, minorities, UB students, high school students and not-for-profits. All of the programs within the center involve a mentoring relationship between our participants and the business community at large. The Core Program, our flagship program, was founded in 1987 with just six participants. Today, we host a group of 40 business owners each year, chosen from a group of 60 or more applicants. The 10-month program helps participants overcome business challenges, create new opportunities and develop valuable networking relationships with the local business community. More than 600 businesses have completed the Core Program since 1987. The Allstate Minority and Women Emerging Entrepreneur Program was established in 2004 when we realized there was a sector of the business-owner community that the Core Program was not suited to due to levels of experience. These companies, many of them start-ups or lifestyle companies, were in need of resources to take them to the next level. The Allstate Minority and Women Emerging Entrepreneur Program is a scaled-down version of the Core Program, with its main focus being to provide a pathway for these business owners to become viable businesses. The program is funded by the Allstate Foundation and presented by CEL in conjunction with the UB Center for Urban Studies in the School of Architecture and Planning. This program has graduated almost 100 owners since 2004. That same year, our Core Program grads began asking for more—they missed the confidential atmosphere in which to share and find solutions to their business challenges. Advanced CEL provides a forum to continue the success of the Core Program through an array of learning opportunities. Participants integrate their personal and professional goals into a GAP (goal action plan), which enables them to regenerate their entrepreneurial passion and stay focused. The Panasci Student Technology Entrepreneur Competition was established in 2001 through the generous contribution from the Henry A. Panasci Jr. Endowment. The purpose of this competition is to facilitate and promote the commercialization of UB-generated technologies. It also aims to provide a mechanism to bring graduate students from different disciplines together with MBA students to maximize their business and scientific potential and create viable businesses. Through this competition we have launched several companies, some of which have reached the level of success to enable them to participate in the CEL Core Program. The Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership Alumni Association was formed in the mid-1990s to continue the CEL “experience” for Core Program graduates through a variety of educational, social, networking and advocacy events.
With the traditional manufacturing industries declining in Western New York, are you finding that more people want to start their own business?
Small business is how this country was founded. The last great period when entrepreneurs transformed the American economy was in the late 1800s. In fact, most of the 1997 Fortune 200 companies were already among the largest corporations by 1917. These companies helped shape the U.S. economy. People tend to start their own business when they lose their jobs at large corporations. The shift of the American economy away from manufacturing may have been a factor in the launching of small businesses in the service and retail industries, which often are founded by female entrepreneurs. Women-owned businesses are growing at twice the rate of their male counterparts—and it’s not just in the traditional industries I just mentioned, but rather in such high-growth industries as construction and technology. Over the past decade or so, the emergence of a new entrepreneurial economy all over the U.S. indicates history is repeating itself, and if history is any indicator of success—as when the American economy was transformed in the late 1880s—it represents an economic boost.
What are some of the most common problems that entrepreneurs face?
Many of the problems they face are generic in nature and stem from lack of planning on the part of the organization or the entrepreneur. We encourage all of our companies to develop business plans, strategic plans, succession plans—some type of plan in order to continue to move forward and not remain stagnant. We also commonly hear of the challenges of accessing capital and finding the right people to hire as major hurdles to growth. Entrepreneurs in this area also face the high cost of doing business—whether it’s insurance (both health and business), taxes or utilities. Many often must make a decision to move out of the area or change their organizational structure due to the high cost of doing business here. On a positive note, we do hear from entrepreneurs who are not native Western New Yorkers that this is a great place to own a business and raise a family.
Are there any new initiatives planned for CEL?
CEL recently teamed up with the Meszaros International Center for Entrepreneurship, a not-for-profit foundation, and School of Management faculty member Joe Salamone to present a proposal to the Buffalo Public Schools to create an Academy of Entrepreneurship within the former Riverside High School. CEL also has begun working with several area schools to conduct speaking engagements, shadow days, internships and industry presentations. Through our current strategic planning process, CEL is identifying new ways to partner with UB and the Western New York business community by forming strategic alliances to develop new programs and initiatives to engage students and CEL graduates, which number close to 1,000.
What's your background—did you have a lemonade stand as a kid?
Actually that, and a car wash business, babysitting of course and my sister and I used to produce plays/musicals in our yard and sell tickets! She is a Western New York business owner and a CEL graduate. Seriously, I have a very broad background and resume that is conducive to working with entrepreneurs. I started working full-time at the age of 17 after graduating from high school in 3.5 years. I worked full-time to earn money for college, and have not stopped working since, with the exception of a couple years home raising my two wonderful children. I have founded two companies in Western New York, worked for corporate America for Fortune 500 companies, spent many years in the hotel industry in management positions—you name it. My education includes a master’s degree in business and policy from Empire State College and I’ve been leading CEL for the past six-plus years.