Entrepreneurship@Cornell interns play vital role in small companies

Jason Springs, MBA '09, is turning his summer internship into a full-time job and not at an entry level.

Springs is the new CEO of GeneWeave Biosciences, a company founded by Cornell Ph.D. students Diego Rey and Leo Teixeira to offer quick ways to test for the presence of such bacteria as MRSA or E. coli, much like a home pregnancy test.

Springs was one of 58 summer 2008 interns placed with small- to mid-sized companies as part of the Entrepreneurship@Cornell internship program.

"We placed more interns this summer than ever," said Debra Moesch-Shelley, Entrepreneurship@Cornell program manager and internship program director. "Since our interns come from all of Cornell's schools and colleges, we're able to help companies with tasks ranging from marketing and business strategy to research and product development."

Since they worked with smaller businesses, the interns worked with founders, owners, financiers and inventors, developing marketing campaigns for new products, designing company databases and brainstorming about strategy.

Springs spent the summer working on GeneWeave Biosciences' logo, Web site, licensing agreement with the Cornell Center for Technology, Enterprise and Commercialization, manufacturer quotes for production, contract negotiations and various other duties as needed in an office where there was only one other staff member.

"I worked for Lockheed Martin for four years and saw real scientists working with real technology," Springs said. "I knew I wanted to be involved in venture capital or with a technology start-up. ... This is too exciting," Springs said about his decision to stay with the company.

Jian "Jamber" Bai Li's '09, on the other hand, worked in the lab and on a business project at the Ithaca company Tetragenetics, which creates customized protein products. Trevor Chan '08 worked at Harrick Plasma, using his background in operations research to find the best way for the company to upgrade from vacuum tube technology into the world of transistors. "I wanted the opportunity to work in a small business where you interact directly with the people who make the decisions," Chan said. "I now realize that in a small business, workers wear many hats."

Peter Asiello '08, who earned a degree in biological engineering, worked to update the Harrick Plasma's database of citations, hoping to build a complete list of all of the ways the company's products are used.

Makda Habtegabir '08, an undergraduate business major who had been involved in a mentoring program in Ithaca schools, had a very different kind of internship with the Village at Ithaca, a nonprofit focused on ensuring that youth in the Ithaca City School District -- particularly black, Latino and low income -- consistently meet or exceed district and state standards of achievement.

She helped the organization create a new marketing plan focused on youth. To gain some knowledge of their needs, she held a series of focus groups and offered print and online surveys.

Habtegabir drew on previous class experience as she put together her surveys. As a part of a "Small Business Workshop" class, she helped an Ithaca spa learn more about its target market by conducting surveys around campus.

"The marketing plan that Makda developed will inform our future strategic choices," said Cal Walker, Village executive director, explaining that the survey results will help the Village identify potential gaps in services.

Kathy Hovis is a writer/editor for Entrepreneurship@Cornell.

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