“I think Dayton’s on the rise,” said James Wolf, a Cleveland native and one of seven founders of the nation’s first entrepreneurship fraternity. This story from the Dayton Daily News highlights another first for the University of Dayton’s first-rate entrepreneurship program, and it also shows the University’s and the students’ commitment to Dayton.
UD’s entrepreneurship fraternity nation’s first
DAYTON — Seven entrepreneurship majors at the University of Dayton “made it happen,” as they like to say, when they started the nation’s first entrepreneurship fraternity last fall.
Epsilon Nu Tau, a coed, professional organization, is aimed at educating members about professionalism and promoting ethical business practices, said founder and senior James Wolf. During the organization’s creation, members cheered each other on with a phrase popular among UD’s entrepreneurship students.
“We ask, ‘Where would you be in life without making it happen?’ ” Wolf said.
Wolf is the fraternity president and the entrepreneur behind GreenShield Solutions, a business that supplies eco-friendly services for homes and businesses in Dayton. The idea for GreenShield came from one of his 40 fraternity brothers.
“Anybody can start their own business, anyone can act as an entrepreneur on the job,” Wolf, a Cleveland native, said.
Besides starting more fraternity chapters at universities next fall, the organization’s current focus is creating a living-learning center on UD’s campus that will have living quarters and be a business incubator for student-run projects. UD President Dan Curran heard a proposal for the center and said the administration is “enthusiastic about the concept of doing this.”
“Ideally, the company would remain in the Dayton area, thus spurring jobs,” said Wolf, who plans to stay in Dayton after graduation. “I think (Dayton’s) on the rise. It’s just going through a little bit of an economic transition.”
To move forward, members of the fraternity are brainstorming with other UD entrepreneurs and trying to show their peers the city’s worth.
“It’s one thing for Dayton students to see an article in Forbes and think, ‘Dayton’s crappy. It’s one of the dying cities,’ but there’s a lot of good business going on,” Wolf said. “We’re looking at the big picture here and we’re looking at how to make the community a better place, and the Dayton area.”
Filed under: University of Dayton, ideas for Dayton Ohio, leadership , business fraternity, Episolon Nu Tau, University of Dayton Entrepreneurship Program
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