Student entrepreneurs plant business at farmers market

GCSU’s Entrepreneurship Residential Learning Community is all about embracing innovation, which was shown during its newest endeavor of selling plants at the Milledgeville Marketplace Downtown Farmers Market.

The plants are being grown in volunteering faculty’s backyards, including the yard of Dr. Renee Fontenot. Fontenot is the faculty advisor for the Entrepreneurship RLC and an associate professor of the marketing department of information technology and marketing.

“They’re organic, rainwater fed and no pesticides,” Fontenot said about the plants to a potential customer.

Monkey grass, cut herbs and hot peppers were only a few of the plants sold by the Entrepreneurship RLC. It hopes to have a bigger variety of plants, including fresh radishes and fall starter plants, in future weeks.

“We hope to have enough to last until the farmers market closes in November,” Fontenot said.

The Entrepreneurship RLC first began selling plants at the farmers market Oct. 6. The herbs up for sale were cut that morning for ultimate freshness.

While Fontenot thought up the idea of selling at the market, all members of the entrepreneurship were a part of the business venture.

Ken Nielsen, the president of the Entrepreneurship RLC and a senior general business administration major, was a part of the experience at Milledgeville Marketplace.

“Not necessarily everyone was involved in the selling,” Nielsen said, “but up to this point everybody was involved.”

Rebecca Riley, a member of the Entrepreneurship RLC and a senior management information systems major, said the group decided to start selling at the market for “mainly experience.”

The seeds grown were bought from Lowe’s. Everything was purchased, planted and grown in Milledgeville.

The original money used to buy the seeds and supplies came from RLC funds. Plans call for the money earned to go toward replacing those funds and building a foundation for the future.

The Entrepreneurship RLC is the first GCSU organization to use Milledgeville Marketplace to its advantage, including the market’s ties to the community and close proximity to campus.

Nielsen knows that there is more to the Entrepreneurship RLC than its new venture.

“We take time for fun,” Nielsen said.

The Entrepreneurship RLC has had group outings in the past.

“Recently, several of us went rafting,” Fontenot said. “We had a movie night at my house.”

There are also more educational experiences that the members take part in. Speakers have come to network with the students, recently including Lucy Hollifield. These lectures are open to all GCSU students that are interested in learning more about the business world.

The Entrepreneurship RLC meets every Monday at 12:15 p.m. in the Bobcat Dining Room.

“Even though we’re an RLC, we’re open to students that live off campus,” Fontenot said. “Also because we’re considered a two year RLC, we’re open to students of all years.”

Posted by Colonnade Archives on Oct 23 2009. Filed under Features. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry