First-ever college affiliation with Babson College helps train next generation of distributors<\/p>\n
TREVOSE, PA – October 24, 2013 – <\/strong>An inaugural education initiative between the Advertising Specialty Institute\u00ae<\/sup> (ASI) and Babson College helped business students and budding entrepreneurs gain work experience in the promotional products industry.<\/p>\n \u201cASI provided incredible resources,\u201d said Scott Moore, dean of Babson\u2019s undergraduate school. \u201cIt made an immediate impact on the program and was definitely a tool we appreciated.\u201d<\/p>\n Under Babson\u2019s Foundations of Management and Entrepreneurship course (FME), a seven-credit immersion into the world of business, 21 instructor-led groups of about 20 students each received approximately $3,000 in seed money, which some groups used to buy, imprint and sell promotional products.<\/p>\n ASI, the largest media, marketing and education organization in the $19.4 billion promotional products industry, complemented Babson\u2019s top-ranked business education coursework with real-world applications by granting participating students access to ASI\u2019s ESP\u00ae<\/sup>, an online shopping mall where they could source and order every promotional product in the industry from 3,200 suppliers.<\/p>\n During the 2013-2014 school year, ASI and Babson will expand the program to enable up to 40 student businesses show and sell their products through an ESP Websites\u2122 e-commerce company store.<\/p>\n \u201cWe hope this is just the start of a long and happy relationship with Babson and the superstars of tomorrow,\u201d said Timothy M. Andrews, president and chief executive officer of ASI. \u201cIt would be great if these future business leaders look to their positive experiences with our suppliers and our industry when embarking on their careers. We plan to continue outreach to other colleges and universities to convince other business, marketing, advertising and new media students to join this exciting, creative industry.\u201d<\/p>\n This year, branded promotional products found on ESP and sold by Babson students included eco-friendly, American-made bracelets whose sale benefited children in need, iPhone accessories, fashionable USB bracelets that double as smartphone chargers, self-stirring mugs and glow-in-the-dark apparel. By using ESP and reputable ASI member companies, students said they felt confident they were selling quality products.<\/p>\n Surveyed students described positive experiences and said they would recommend future use of ASI as a business and educational resource. Comments included:<\/p>\n One group of budding entrepreneurs who turned to ASI after start-up issues impacted their timeline described the process as \u201cvery helpful\u201d and said, \u201cWe as a company decided to only look for ASI-sourced suppliers since we knew that they would be reputable companies we could immediately work with\u2026 ASI was a great tool that allowed everyone to search for possible suppliers even as our business changed from streetlamps to silicon wristbands. They have everything.\u201d<\/p>\n After Babson\u2019s student-run 2013 businesses closed, $16,445 in profits were donated to 13 different community service organizations. To date, Babson has donated over $400,000 to charities.<\/p>\n\n