YSPILANTI, Mich. (WXYZ) — Eastern Michigan University has come up with a unique eight-week, in-person and online hybrid program for wannabe entrepreneurs.
The program was launched in January of 2022 and it helps aspiring entrepreneurs jump-start their business ideas.
Hospitals are hotbeds for germs. With so many people entering one space with illnesses including COVID-19 and viruses much worse, it's no wonder Infections can spread like wildfire. That’s why Sarah Beatty wanted to launch a business where she can pinpoint where germs hide in hospitals and health care facilities.
“They're going in for a knee replacement surgery, but they end up getting an infection because maybe a surgical tool was dirty, someone didn't wash their hands,” Beatty said.
Her business is called CultureWell.
“We are providing those health care administrators with the data they need to implement best practices in their facilities to clean better, more effectively to evaluate their environmental services providers and to evaluate effectiveness of cleaning programs,” Beatty said.
Beatty was invited to participate in Eastern Michigan University's entrepreneurial program, where aspiring business owners can pitch their ideas and compete to win a grand prize of $25,000 and gain valuable experience at the same time.
“We wanted to do something for Michigan entrepreneurs that are aspiring entrepreneurs, do not have a business yet. Those kind of entrepreneurs, they are having a tough time getting any kind of funds,” Sanjib Chowehuroi with the EMU Center for Entrepreneurship said.
EMU reached out to local community leaders and generated funds from donors and started the program. Beatty was one of 60 applicants who made the cut to 16 aspiring entrepreneurs in the program. But only one can win $25,000.
The money can be used to help start their business, Chowehuroi says.
“They can use it hiring a lawyer, marketing it, buying a machine, buying a computer renting a lab,” he said.
Thirty community leaders got involved and acted as instructors, coaches and judges.
“They can ask questions too, rather than just lecturing. You can go anywhere and watch lectures like on YouTube or something like that. This program gives you that interaction with these actual industry experts,” Chloe Desselles, the coordinator for the EMU Center for Entrepreneurship, said.
If this sounds like something you would like to do, you have until Aug. 15 to sign up. Anyone can sign up.
“Anyone who has a business idea that is scalable, anyone. You do not have to have a degree, you don't have to have anything but an idea,” Chowehuroi said.
For Beatty, who received the grand prize, she had only been in business for herself a short while and she says this program helped her tremendously.
“(The money) actually kept my business afloat,” she said. “Being a start-up founder is really lonely, so it was really nice to have a group of people going through the same thing that I was.”
“Everyone there is so caring, and everyone there genuinely wants you to succeed,” she continued.
Beatty was part of the first round and already has a contract with a hospital in Southeast Michigan. Now, the second round is underway.
More information on the Center for Entrepreneurship at Eastern Michigan can be found on its website.
