Entrepreneurs hungry to get a business off the ground, and those seeking to learn how to use data to fuel business growth, will find expert solutions at the FIU booth (D1) at eMerge Americas, April 18-19 at the Miami Beach Convention Center.
Two College of Business organizations will showcase the hands-on solutions they offer to the business community.
SBDC at FIU’s consultants, who work with owners of small- and medium-sized firms, will be available to engage with business owners. SBDC offers no-cost services to help companies develop growth plans and clear goals for success.
“The assistance entrepreneurs need changes as the business develops,” said Regional Director Jacqueline Sousa. “Our consulting team is ready to assist businesses throughout their growth cycles.”
Established in 2014, the SBDC at FIU has helped more than 1,000 entrepreneurs. In its first year, the organization helped create 43 new businesses, securing $6.2 million in investment capital and contributing $182.8 million in sales to Florida’s economy. The team’s expertise includes government contracting and procurement, international business development, social media, access to capital and business operations, marketing, branding, and communications.
Also showcasing their consulting services for businesses: ATOM, which stands for Analytics, Technology Consulting and Operations Management. Launched in September 2015, ATOM is FIU’s first faculty technology consulting service. The program, which resides in the Information Systems and Business Analytics Department, is overseen by Associate Professor Karlene Cousins.
In addition to its client services, ATOM also provides learning opportunities for students in the Master of Science in Information Systems program, of which Cousins is the director.
Cousins wanted to give students additional experience that dealt with real-world problems and events, so the department created the first ATOM Business Analytics Challenge. The challenge asked students to use readily accessible data to create an interactive visual dashboard that addressed one of two challenges: ways to help mitigate the Zika virus; or customer sentiment about shared economy businesses (Uber, Airbnb, Instacart, etc.).
Winners of the contest will showcase their solutions at eMerge.
“What we want to do is show the business community how we can provide insight and add value through analytics,” she said.
