Students in the Johnson Graduate School of Management have been instrumental in developing a non-profit fly-fishing outlet, the Community Fly Fisher (CFF). Clockwise from left are: Jim Mirenda, MBA '99, and Mark Burns, MBA '99, members of the CFF business committee; Jesse Sandvik, an Ithaca High School junior and participant in the county's fly-fishing program; and Phil Genova, fly-fishing instructor and program manager for Cornell Cooperative Extension of Tompkins County. Charles Harrington/University Photography
When they weren't studying spread sheets or profit margins, Brett Keller and Neil Kallmeyer, MBA students at Cornell's Johnson Graduate School of Management, were knee-deep in Fall Creek and other Central New York waterways practicing the art of fly-fishing. So when the opportunity presented itself to combine their management studies with their favorite recreational activity, there was no stopping the duo.
Keller and Kallmeyer, along with MBA students Bob Koontz and Scott Gray, prepared a business plan and feasibility study for the Community Fly Fisher, a combination retail store/community education center, for an assignment in their entrepreneur class last year.
The plan, written in the fall of 1996, was included in the city of Ithaca's application made to the New York State Canal Corridor Initiative, which enabled the Community Fly Fisher to secure a $95,000 federal grant.
"It was a great opportunity to do something in our class that would actually benefit the local area," said Keller, who earned his MBA in May and is now an online marketing manager for CUC International of Stamford, Conn. "Knowing our work would have an impact on a real-life project, made the assignment that much more important to us."
The MBA student help was much appreciated, said Tompkins County Cornell Cooperative Extension program manager Phil Genova, who has been planning the Community Fly Fisher for the past two years. "They came into this project and undertook a great deal of the research on what was needed to make this business venture work," he said. Genova, who teaches freshwater and saltwater fly-fishing for Cornell's Department of Physical Education and Athletics, has played a major role in designing and writing most of the fly-fishing curriculum for the nationwide 4-H Youth Fishing Project.
Currently, plans call for the Community Fly Fisher to open in late spring in the Ithaca Boating Center on Inlet Island in the Cayuga Lake inlet. The Community Fly Fisher will rent space from the boat yard. Employing high school students, under the guidance of a salaried manager, the store will sell everything the angler needs, from outerwear to custom-made fly rods.
Proceeds from the retail operation will go to support the store's educational programming, which will include environmental and fly-fishing workshops and classes.
"We've found the sport of fly-fishing to be the ideal tool to attract youngsters to our program," Genova said. "As they become more skilled, they begin working with others as our fly-tying and casting instructors. These young anglers are then well on their way to becoming productive citizens and lifelong stewards of our resources."
Young people will play a major role in the operations of the store, Genova said. "In addition to working in the store, the area youth will be invited to participate in several committees that will develop programming and monitor the store's operations. I also expect more Cornell students to be involved in the project as we move forward," he said.
The Johnson School students analyzed and examined all aspects of starting a business, including site location, inventory, capital equipment needs, estimates of overhead, fixed costs and participation in the sport.
Keller and his colleagues estimate the resident fly-fishing market to be about 1,700 anglers. And Keller noted that an enthusiastic market for the sport can be found at the colleges on East and South hills. "Ithaca's population of students represents a unique marketing opportunity" for the Community Fly Fisher, Keller wrote in the report.
The business plan was drafted for the course Entrepreneurship and Enterprise, which is taught by David BenDaniel, the Don and Margi Berens Professor of Entrepreneurship. BenDaniel bent the rules for these fly-fishing aficionados. The original assignment required students to develop a business plan for a for-profit venture that they could own and operate. However, the Community Fly Fisher is a not-for-profit business in which these students would have no management responsibility.
"They were extremely ecstatic about the idea of working on this business venture, so I let them tackle it; they did a great job," BenDaniel said.
"We wanted to ensure that all the effort we put into this assignment could benefit a particular organization or effort," said Kallmeyer, who is an associate in First Union Capital Markets Investment Division in Charlotte, N.C. "Not only did we learn a great deal, but we gave something back to the community. That's a good feeling."
Kallmeyer, who earned his MBA in May, noted that the assignment also introduced him to another side of his hobby. "I learned a great deal about the business of fly-fishing. We took field trips to other fly-fishing stores and learned firsthand about product mix and peaks and lows in the business."
While Kallmeyer may not be the Community Fly Fisher's first customer, he does expect to patronize the establishment when he returns to the Ithaca to attend Cornell's Commencement in May.
"I'll definitely come back to check on operations and see how things are going," he said.
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