CBU in Riverside offers faith-based entrepreneurship program 

Balancing schoolwork and dreams of entrepreneurial success can indeed be challenging for college students, but the two aren’t necessarily mutually exclusive, according to Tim Gramling, dean of the Dr. Robert K. Jabs School of Business at California Baptist University.

“We encourage young people to pursue entrepreneurship early, as opposed to waiting until they graduate from school when life can be more complicated,” Gramling said in a statement.

To help nurture that spirit of early entrepreneurship, the university initiated an entrepreneurship program a decade ago that eventually morphed into a bachelor’s degree program in 2016. The major, which has 50 enrolled students this fall, instructs on topics such as building entrepreneurship based on personal passion and how to write an effective business plan. 

Students in the program also have access to resources such as the Christian Business Incubator. From the idea stage through to pitching investors, the incubator provides teams of students with information to help successfully launch their business ventures “in a faith-friendly environment,” according to a statement from the city of Riverside. 

Nolan Gouveia, who leads the CBU entrepreneurship program, said a number of student teams have gone on to develop big ideas into real-world businesses.

“Our goal is to get students to launch and help mitigate as much risk along the way,” Gouveia said in a statement.

Jabs School faculty members have deep understanding of the challenges inherent to starting a business. That is because what sets the entrepreneurship program apart, according to Gouveia, is most faculty members are also business owners.

“We teach students from practicality,” said Gouveia, an entrepreneur himself with experience launching five successful companies. “I bring today’s case studies to class, not what happened 20 years ago.”

In addition to entrepreneurship majors, students from all CBU colleges are invited to compete in the annual Bob Goodrich Business Plan Competition sponsored by the Jabs School, according to the city of Riverside. This year, nine teams were selected to present a five-minute business pitch to a panel of judges and compete for $15,000 in prize money.

“The competition is a clear vehicle to prepare students with a strong business story that will get them funded,” Gramling said in a statement.

The winning team this year, WaiSmart, received $7,500 to invest in a mechanical-electrical engineering mechanism that controls shower temperature and water flow, the city reported. Gramling said the innovation and diversity of business ventures that were part of this year’s competition is a reflection of Riverside’s spirit of entrepreneurship. Gramling has lived in 10 states across the U.S. and said he considers Riverside the most welcoming city to put a startup dream into reality.

“Riverside is an incredibly vibrant and fast-growing area where our students can see a future,” Gramling said in a statement. “Students feel called to contribute to the innovation they see around them daily.”

Giving back to the community is another key facet of CBU’s entrepreneurship program. The Jabs School launched a Center for Business Excellence last year to provide assistance to small and medium-sized business owners. The center offers nondegree business programs and training that include one-to-one coaching with faculty as well as the first university-based Microsoft Office Specialist Expert certification site in Riverside County.

“The power of an entrepreneurial education is limitless,” Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said in a statement. “CBU opens up a world of possibilities for students from all walks of life to turn their brightest ideas and passions into successful companies.”

More information about CBU’s entrepreneurship degree program is at www.calbaptist.edu/programs/bachelor-of-science-entrepreneurship.

For information about the university, visit www.calbaptist.edu.

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