SNHU School of CED to Host 4th Annual Stonyfield Farm Entrepreneurship Institute
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contacts:
Carmelle Druchniak, Stonyfield Farm
603.437.4040, ext. 2203, cdruchniak@stonyfield.com
Gregg Mazzola, Southern New Hampshire University
603.629.4649, g.mazzola@snhu.edu
Stonyfield CE-Yo and Bright Horizons Family Solutions Founder
Highlight Innovative ‘Boot Camp’ for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
SNHU’s School of CED to Host 4th Annual Institute
Aspiring business men and women will be put through a business ‘boot camp’ when the 4th annual Stonyfield Farm Entrepreneurship Institute is presented at Southern New Hampshire University on Thursday, March 27 and Friday, March 28.
The event is in partnership with SNHU’s School of Community Economic Development.
Opening the program will be Gary Hirshberg, Stonyfield Farm President and CE-Yo, who in 25 years turned a struggling local brand into the world’s leading organic yogurt producer.
“Our challenges in making Stonyfield Farm a global brand hopefully will inspire our participants into seeing their own challenges as opportunities,” says Hirshberg. “If you have a great product or service, and enough dedication and motivation, you can almost certainly beat the odds and achieve success – and this event will show you how.”
Hirshberg’s anticipated “Tales from the Trenches” opening night presentation March 27 will include this year’s guest presenter, Linda A. Mason, chairman and founder of Bright Horizons Family Solutions, the largest worldwide provider of worksite early education. The company operates more than 650 child development centers in 40 states and the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada.
Also on hand will be Michael Swack, dean of the SNHU School of Community Economic Development.
“Stonyfield Farm Entrepreneurship Institute, now in its fourth year, is clearly filling a need to help socially minded entrepreneurs solve the challenges of growing and launching their businesses,” said Swack. “Gary Hirshberg of Stonyfield Farm, successful business leaders and educators from the New England region, and the School of Community Economic Development at Southern New Hampshire University are continuing their collaboration to provide a setting for budding entrepreneurs to engage in finding solutions in three critical areas of business development: marketing, financing and organizational management.
The March 30 program will include discussion of topics ranging from business management and organization to raising equity capital to sales and marketing challenges. A few participants will present their business case studies to a panel of expert respondents and fellow participants for feedback.
Contact Veronica Kamerman, School of CED, Southern New Hampshire University, 2500 North River Road, Manchester, NH 03106-1045, or register on-line at http://www.snhu.edu/stonyfield.
About Stonyfield Farm
Stonyfield Farm, celebrating its 25th year, is the world’s leading organic yogurt maker, and produces organic yogurt, smoothies, cultured soy, frozen yogurt, ice cream, and milk. The company advocates that healthy food can only come from a healthy planet. It was the nation’s first dairy processor to pay farmers not to treat cows with the synthetic bovine growth hormone rBST. Stonyfield donates 10 percent of its profits to environmental causes; was America’s first manufacturer to offset 100 percent of its CO2 emissions from its facility energy use; and recently installed the largest solar array in New Hampshire to help power its production plant. President and CE-Yo Gary Hirshberg addresses climate change in his new book, “Stirring it Up: How to Make Money and Save the World” (Hyperion). For more information about Stonyfield Farm, its products and initiatives, visit http://www.stonyfield.com/ .
About Southern New Hampshire University
Southern New Hampshire University trains intellectually and culturally enriched individuals to be successful in their careers and contribute to their communities.
SNHU's educational philosophy challenges students' intellectual potential and prepares them for professional lives in an ever-changing and increasingly interconnected world. It provides a supportive and close-knit learning community, delivering engaging instruction in a flexible variety of formats. Students develop the knowledge to understand a complex world, the skills to act effectively within that world and the wisdom to make good choices. They do so within a community of teachers, staff and peers that is encouraged to add its scholarly, creative and pedagogical contributions to the larger social good.
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