Minnesota Business Venture Week 1 2025 – Entrepreneurship Day

Publish on July 1, 2025 Categories -

We made it to Day 3 here at Minnesota Business Venture! Today’s theme is Entrepreneur Day! A special thanks to our sponsor, Cargill, for making today possible!

Students started with mock interviews and our very own Career Expo; designed to enhance collaboration and career readiness while putting their skills to the test. The expo provided students with an option to attend three out of seven amazing company presentations about product development and the process of generating ideas; 3M, Blaze Credit Union, Boulay Group, Ecolab, Securian Financial, Shapco Printing, Tennant Company and Xcel Energy. This would not be made possible without our amazing volunteers!

[Representative of 3M presenting to campers at Career Expo.]

The entrepreneurship theme carried throughout the day as students heard from Nadia Owens, a current student at The University of St. Thomas – Schulze School of Entrepreneurship, on her keynote, “Starting a Business.” She had the campers engage in “5 Easy Steps to Planning a Business” which included brainstorming original ideas and pitching those ideas to their peers to make a successful business plan. She also shared her previous experience with Green Threads Africa and how she helped combat fast fashion waste.

[Nadia Owens presenting her keynote “Starting a Business”.]

After her presentation, students made their way to their prospective breakout sessions to prepare their week ahead. Hint – it all has to do with starting a business! The sessions focused on three components that are necessary to run a business; finance, marketing and operations; which will help them build a strong foundation for their business plan. They also learned about the responsibilities they will take on in their own companies.

[Neil Manthe speaking for the Finance Breakout Session.]

Day 3 came to an end after a fun night of bowling, playing volleyball in the gym, and conversing with new lifelong friends.