A&M students’ Shark Tank-style pitches pay off with funding from Aggieland Credit Union

Fifty master’s-level students from the Texas A&M Mays Business School pitched their entrepreneurial business projects to financial professionals from Aggieland Credit Union as part of a unique class called the Integrated Business Experience.

The IBE is a hands-on learning experience that puts post-graduate students to the test of developing and managing a real business. During the program, students work to identify a unique product or service, then form companies to bring their concepts to market. They are required to conduct market research to determine market viability for their idea, create business and marketing plans, establish manufacturing arrangements if needed, and pitch their ideas to a panel of judges to secure funding.

Ten companies pitched financial and marketing leaders at Aggieland Credit Union to secure funding for their businesses.

Each of the 10 companies was successful, convincing the Aggieland judges to approve business loans ranging from $1,100 to $3,000 based on the business pitches.

The judges cited Wehner Woodworks as a standout company for its creative outsourcing arrangement with the Kerens ISD’s Future Farmers of America (FFA) Chapter to refurbish rustic wooden farm spools into practical, useful, and stylish tables for the home or office.

The IBE companies manufacture and sell their goods throughout the fall semester.  At the end of the semester, each company will donate its profits to a designated charity. Wehner Woodworks proceeds will fund scholarships for the Kerens FFA members who helped build the tables. 

“The IBE program gives students a real-life experience of being an entrepreneur,” said Jason Goodman, COO of Aggieland Credit Union and Texas A&M Class of 2000. “Aggieland’s role, beyond funding to get them started, is also to help mentor and offer financial and marketing counsel to help them succeed.”

Aggieland’s funding came in at $18,350 this year, bringing its total funding over the seven years of the program to $100,000.

“IBE is one of the most unique classes on campus, forcing students to apply principles and concepts they have learned in other courses into the formation, operation, and close-out of real businesses with real outcomes,” said Blake Petty, executive director of McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship at Texas A&M University and instructor for the IBE course. “The experience allows them to put what they have learned into practice and exposes them to the nuances of business, where their actions and decisions will determine how successful they are.”

In December each business will make a final presentation to Aggieland Credit Union to showcase their performance, and then they will celebrate the donation of their profits with their chosen charity.