Rachel Louzon loves digging into a good business plan.
The finance major in Oakland University’s School of Business Administration (SBA) is spending her summer reviewing entrepreneurs’ blueprints for their budding companies and putting her business education to work on their behalf.
She is one of several SBA students who are completing summer internships through OU's Summer Students Campus Corps at OU INC., OU’s SmartZone business incubator. The incubator program supports and grows new technology-based and life science businesses with university resources, counseling and financial/capital acquisition assistance.
Student interns assigned to the OU INC. this summer included Gladjola Xhani, a College of Arts and Sciences student, along with SBA students Saman Waquad, president of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE); Chris Scally; and Louzon, a senior majoring in finance.
Like many of the SBA’s experiential learning opportunities, these internships allow students to gain valuable real-world experiences while bolstering the area business community.
Louzon served as a business analyst for incubator clients and helped with grants. She also saw the incubator’s Investment Review Board in action.
“I enjoy meeting the entrepreneurs,” Louzon says. “I love learning about their business plans, what will make a business a success, how it will get funding. The behind-the-scenes things you wouldn’t normally see.”
Louzon applied for the internship to better prepare for life after college. “I would like to learn more about working in a professional environment,” she says.
OU’s Summer Student Campus Corps, now in its second year, was established to provide students income and marketable work experience in the midst of difficult economic times. Students work on campus from April to August, earning up to $10 an hour or a maximum of $7,200 during 18 weeks.
In addition to OU Inc., the Summer Student Campus Corps assigned students to projects in information technology, grounds and landscaping, recreation and administrative offices on OU's campus.
By: Flori Meeks
Rachel Louzon loves digging into a good business plan.
The finance major in Oakland University’s School of Business Administration (SBA) is spending her summer reviewing entrepreneurs’ blueprints for their budding companies and putting her business education to work on their behalf.
She is one of several SBA students who are completing summer internships through OU's Summer Students Campus Corps at OU INC., OU’s SmartZone business incubator. The incubator program supports and grows new technology-based and life science businesses with university resources, counseling and financial/capital acquisition assistance.