(Story contributed by Renate Callahan)
Chris Kaiser, founder and CEO of Vermont Peanut Butter Company in Stowe, addressed students from three JSC classes -- business, economics and hospitality management -- on Monday, Feb. 1, about what it takes to start and run a new business.
The topics ran the gamut from small business management and all that entails, to finding a niche for one’s product, prudent financial planning, legal aspects, ethics, rules and regulations pertaining to food preparation, and protecting one’s trademarks and copyrights, leaving some students wide-eyed by the sheer complexity of just, well, making peanut butter, right?
He also talked about the importance of having a business plan in place from the start and sticking to it, but also to realizing when it is time to change course and move on to the next level, as he needed to do after only some six months in business.
Vermont Peanut Butter Company has been a huge success from the get-go, and JSC students were eager to find out about every step and aspect of this true Vermont success story, some professing to have plans to start a business of their own for after graduation. Kaiser came well-prepared, and thanks to years of experience in financial management, he was able to get across even the more mundane aspects of what it takes to be a successful business owner.
In wrapping up, he even offered advice and encouragement to any aspiring young business owner in the students group, promising to answer e-mails and phone calls himself, thus helping to nurture a healthy base of small businesses in Vermont.
The combined, three-class event was a success, and the JSC professors involved -- Mary Gallagher Mathieu, Todd Comen and Norman McElvany -- vowed to repeat it next year.
Oh, and did I mention the yummy samples at the beginning of the event? Seven of the 10 available delicious flavors were sampled by the discerning palates of college students and passed the tests with flying colors.
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