Loyola MBA students compete in New Orleans Entrepreneur Week competition
Six Loyola University New Orleans MBA students are competing this week against teams representing some of the most prestigious MBA programs in the country at the Idea Village’s IDEAcorps Initiative in downtown New Orleans. The competition, part of the New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, presented by the Idea Village, has Loyola squaring off against teams from Columbia University, Dartmouth University, Yale University, Duke University and Harvard University for the top spot.
Each team, paired with a local start-up business, acts as the entrepreneur’s executive management team for the week and is responsible for producing implementable action plans for their client to use to develop their business.
Loyola’s team, consisting of Joshua Daly ’09, Christine Lazarro ’09, John Myhre, Shasta Phelps, Sarah Zarate and Christopher Zimny ’10, has partnered with NolaCajun.com, an online source for New Orleans and Cajun food specialties. The online grocery store was created in 2008 after its owners, Brett and Lovey Wakefield, realized they couldn’t find the necessary ingredients in their local Houston grocery store that they needed to make their favorite Louisiana-style meals. Team Loyola is responsible for creating the concepts and action plans that can help them grow.
“We are really fortunate to be working with NolaCajun.com,” said Daly, who is also University Ministry assistant director for Service, Justice and Sustainability. “We're excited to be a part of the week and the entrepreneurial energy that is revitalizing New Orleans. We hope to make a significant impact for NolaCajun.com and represent Loyola well.”
At the end of the week, each MBA team will present its plan to a panel of top business executives, including Entergy CAO and Executive Vice President Rod West and Harrah’s Central Division President John Payne, among others, who will select the winner. Loyola’s MBA team won the competition in 2010.
For more information about New Orleans Entrepreneur Week, contact the Idea Village at 504-304-3284
or innovation@ideavillage.org or Matt Lambert in the Loyola Office of Public Affairs at mlambert@loyno.edu or 504-861-5448.
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