May 4, 2005
Student entrepreneur among business-minded class
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Mark Shortz had a business, but no business plan. The Purdue University senior remedied that by doing his course work.
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On the first day of his horticulture business class last fall, he and the other students filled out a survey on how much they knew about managing a business. They were asked if any of them would like to start a business of their own once they graduated.
Jennifer Dennis, assistant professor in horticulture and agricultural economics, was the instructor. She learned that many of the students had firsthand business experience.
"I found out that several of the students currently had a business," Dennis said. "Some students grew and sold flowers for wholesale, started farm markets or worked in family-owned greenhouses."
Of the 49 students in the class, 27 responded that they would like to start a business and six already had a business. As part of the course, students develop a business plan and complete an executive summary for an Indiana business.
Shortz, a senior in landscape horticulture and design from Zionsville, Ind., applied course concepts, such as financial balance sheets, target marketing and advertising, to his landscape business in Zionsville that started as a summer job and grew to a full-scale landscape enterprise.
"I started out mowing lawns for neighbors as a kid," said Shortz, president of Mark Shortz Inc. "I eventually had more and more clients and expanded to a full landscape design, construction and maintenance business."
Shortz' business provides landscaping for upscale residential and commercial properties, as well as snow removal. In business for five years, he employs up to eight seasonal workers. After he graduates from Purdue's College of Agriculture on May 15, Shortz plans on working full time at his business, where he hopes to hire more employees and increase the number of clients.
Shortz advises any student considering starting a new business to enroll in several finance and management courses.
"I already had a lot of firsthand experience, which really reinforced what I learned in class," he said.
Writers: Beth Forbes, (765) 494-2722, forbes@purdue.edu; Molly Brock
Sources: Mark Shortz, (765) 743-2946, mshortz@purdue.edu
Jennifer Dennis, (765) 494-1352, jhdennis@purdue.edu
Ag Communications: (765) 494-2722;
Beth Forbes, forbes@purdue.edu
Agriculture News Page
PHOTO CAPTION:
What started five years ago as a lawn mowing business for Zionsville's Mark Shortz has blossomed into a full-time landscaping business. Shortz graduates this month from Purdue University's College of Agriculture. (Purdue Agricultural Communication photo/Tom Campbell)
A publication-quality photo is available at http://news.uns.purdue.edu/images/+2005/shortz-grad.jpg
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