Almost 100 Ball State faculty and students are playing a role in helping to transform Indiana's economy, bringing their expertise to assist communities and organizations across the state as part of the university's Business Fellows program.

Students are working to create a not-for-profit professional dinner theatre company to assist with the revitalization of downtown Muncie. In Marion, students are helping create a special supplement for the newspaper's examination of the area's changing economy. In Indianapolis, one team is developing strategic planning for an expanding business while another group is at the airport, developing a cluster computer system.

The purpose of the Business Fellows initiative is to turn academic knowledge into business solutions through an innovative program putting Ball State faculty and student expertise into action to benefit Indiana organizations and communities. 

Funded by a $1.5 million grant from the Lilly Endowment, the Business Fellows program consists of teams of students led by faculty mentors who work directly with Indiana businesses or organizations to engage in on-site, problem-based projects.

The work of the Ball State students and faculty involved in each of the projects will be featured at the Business Fellows Showcase at 4 p.m. April 17 in Ball State's L.A. Pittenger Student Center, Cardinal Hall. The building is at the southwest corner of McKinley and University avenues. Parking is available in the garage behind the Student Center.

A sampling of this year's projects includes:

The Creation of a News Package on the State of Grant County: A group of Ball State students is working with the Marion Chronicle-Tribune daily newspaper in Grant County to create a special section for the paper that will examine whether the area is turning the corner after several years of economic setbacks. The Chronicle-Tribune plans to distribute the special section in May.

David Penticuff, the Chronicle-Tribune's assistant managing editor and a Ball State graduate, believes that through this special section the newspaper's readers will discover more about their community and where it's headed.

"Since we have very accomplished students across various disciplines, we have the flexibility to go where we might otherwise not be able to go in order to cull information, such as a community attitude phone survey being completed by the students," he said. "Such an effort would otherwise be difficult for our newsroom to accomplish."

BAA Indianapolis Cluster Computing Project: Through the Miller College of Business, seven Ball State students are studying the use of cluster and grid computing techniques at the Indianapolis International Airport.

The students are under the direction of Fred Kitchens, an information systems and operations management professor. The group is working directly with BAA-Indianapolis, the world's largest airport management company, which operates the Indianapolis airport.

"In addition to superior processing capabilities and lower costs, a cluster computer can be distributed throughout a facility and then networked together," Kitchens said. "If there is a terrorist attack or natural disaster like a major storm that wipes out part of a complex containing a portion of the network, the system can still function with the remaining components of the grid still in existence."

The Whale Hunters Business Development:  Students are working to identify new clients to help The Whale Hunters, LLC, an Indianapolis firm, reach its potential. The firm is a sales and business-process development company focused on helping fast-growth companies become more effective in identifying, tracking, closing, serving and retaining larger accounts.

Led by Ray Montagno, associate dean for research and outreach for the Miller College of Business, students are gaining valuable experience in learning how to grow an existing business.

"We wanted the students to help us accelerate our growth by examining the market and providing us with a list of firms who are a good fit with our products," said Barbara Weaver Smith, cofounder of The Whale Hunters. "We put a lot of responsibility on the students in asking them not only to find the clients, but to tell us why they're good prospects for us. We want to know why particular firms will want what we offer."

About Business Fellows and Building Better Communities

Business Fellows, coordinated by Ball State's Career Center and funded by a $1.5 million grant from Lilly Endowment Inc., gives Ball State students the opportunity to turn academic knowledge into business solutions through intense, semester-long applied work experiences that will benefit an Indiana business, industry or organization. The program works in concert with Ball State's Building Better Communities initiative.

Building Better Communities is a university-wide initiative designed to spur economic development and quality-of-life advancement in Indiana by extending Ball State's strengths in applied research and hands-on learning to community projects across the state. Building Better Communities works to match the university's expertise and resources to the varied needs of Indiana communities.

(Note to editors: For more information, contact Jennifer Warrner, assistant director of the Career Center, at jawarrner@bsu.edu or (765) 285-2430.)