Applied economics and management students who put their small business skills to the test last semester have received awards for outstanding work in their Small Business Management Workshop class (AEM 425).

A 15-year-old program, the Small Business Management Workshop allows students to serve as consultants for local and non-local small business clients, performing such tasks as feasibility studies, marketing studies and branding projects. Each team has regular meetings with a business mentor from the course staff and the owner of the client business.

Thomas Stone '07 and Lorena Alvarez '07 received the Dorman Family Business Counseling Award for their work with bksimages LLC. The students worked with artist/photographer Barbara K. Suomi, who maintains a "wearable art" collection based on deconstructed graffiti images.

Stone and Alvarez, mentored by senior lecturer Marge Hubbert, explored the youth market and examined issues such as product, pricing, promotion and placement. They also surveyed current boutique owners featuring bksimages' shirts to better understand what motivates buyers to purchase the product. In addition, the team did in-depth interviews with experts in the design and apparel businesses.

Lisa Yun '07 and Hugh Whalan '07, mentored by course instructor Deborah Streeter, received the Dr. and Mrs. Paul Felton Business Counseling Award for their work with a frozen organic baby food company, Happy Baby.

For their project, Yun and Whalan analyzed marketing approaches for the Brooklyn-based startup. They benchmarked the competition, administered online surveys of current customers, and did research on organic production and the organic food market.

Becky Graves '07 and Wesley Card '07 received the Howard and Maxine Abner Business Counseling Award for working with an early stages startup, The Three Chocolatierés.

Mentored by Nina Piccoli, the students worked with the company, which has three owners, focusing on premium truffle and cookie sales. In particular, the students investigated the feasibility of selling the product to wineries. They also met with experts in the field and conducted several focus groups.