Attracting Successful Business Ventures to Camden

CAMDEN — A successful business can set off a chain reaction for revitalizing a city by bringing in revenue, creating jobs, and meeting the needs of the community.

Students at the Rutgers School of Business–Camden are conducting research to identify successful inner city business ventures around the world, discover what makes them successful, and encourage similar ventures in Camden.

There are 49 Rutgers MBA students and doctoral students in public affairs conducting research this semester as part of a “Strategic Management” course offered by the Rutgers School of Business–Camden.

Last fall, 34 undergraduate students did the same for their class, “Entrepreneurship: New Venture Creation.”

“There are various resources available in inner cities that would support ventures and it is important to uncover what they are,” says Briance Mascarenhas, a professor of management at the Rutgers School of Business–Camden who teaches both courses. “The businesses which are successful in inner cities around the world identify and utilize these resources. If they work in other cities, why can’t they work here? They can serve as a role model for businesses here. Camden can be revitalized by attracting and developing similar businesses.”

Examples of business ventures the students are researching that could be successful in Camden include parking service and security, organic food services, urban gardens and ecological design, urban restoration, renewable energy systems, and home health care.

Ashley Nickels, a Ph.D. student in public affairs at Rutgers–Camden, is taking a look at what makes Avalon Bakery successful in Detroit. The company has successfully integrated itself into the regional economy by selling wholesale to more than 40 restaurants and markets in Michigan.

“Like Detroit, Camden has a need for access to healthy food and for a business committed to the people of the city,” Nickels says. “Camden also offers some important opportunities that would reduce risk and costs if someone were to launch a business venture of this type. For example, Respond Inc.’s vocational training for culinary arts offers an opportunity for hiring a skilled, local workforce.”

Kate Mills, an MBA student from Haddonfield, is researching Park, Inc., a parking, shuttle, and security service in Charlotte. N.C.

“A similar business could work in Camden by forming a partnership with the local organizations like Cooper University Hospital, Rutgers–Camden and the Susquehanna Bank Center to ensure business,” Mills says. “New businesses may not want to come to Camden due to the many issues plaguing the city, however, a business similar to Park, Inc. could lead to growth.”

Beginning with the undergraduate course last fall and continuing with the MBA course this spring, Mascarenhas asked students to research one venture that is successful in another city. The students identify the company’s business model, how it is utilizing the resources of its host city, and how the business model could be introduced to Camden.

Using companies listed in Bloomberg’s “Inner City 100,” and Fortune’s “Fastest Growing Companies,” as a starting point, the students examine the context of the inner cities in which the businesses operate, common problems encountered, and possible solutions.

Ethan Rhinehart, a junior management major from Glassboro, took the undergraduate “Entrepreneurship: New Venture Creation” course during the fall semester and researched the business model of Trenton-based TerraCycle, an innovative recycling company that takes used products and turns them into products people can use every day. 

“New business ventures are extremely important to cities like Camden,” Rhinehart says. “The benefits are pretty straightforward, in my opinion: job creation, paying taxes, and spending money at local restaurants and stores are just a few examples.”

Mascarenhas says entrepreneurship plays an important role in revitalizing inner cities through employment, job training, and revenue generation.

“Being a research university, we can combine our research capability, intellectual power, student energy, and creativity to engage in open innovation,” Mascarenhas says. “This open innovation model is what companies are increasingly practicing instead of developing new ventures internally from scratch.”

Introducing proven ideas from somewhere else is a quicker, less risky, and lower-cost approach, he explains.

“It builds on the existing approach of developing ground-up ventures that has been developed at Rutgers and extended to the Camden youth through high schools with the support of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation,” Mascarenhas says. “If we identify the business models that work, we can bring them to the attention of students and aspiring entrepreneurs. They might adopt the model to establish a business in Camden and that would benefit our community.”

Other universities are increasingly utilizing their resources to improve inner city communities. Research suggests that inner cities have unique contexts that can potentially provide firms with competitive advantages.  The research at Rutgers–Camden seeks to clarify what unique advantages are being capitalized on by successful inner city firms. Students have been contacting these successful firms and inviting them to introduce their successful business models to Camden. 

The successful inner city ventures uncovered by the student-faculty joint research will be posted on a website for public access for would-be community entrepreneurs, local governments, and financiers to encourage similar ventures in Camden.

For more information on this initiative, contact Mascarenhas at mascaren@camden.rutgers.edu.

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