Merkin, Kellogg alums, honored as Entrepreneurs of the Year

Professor Barry Merkin

Kellogg professor of management and strategy Barry Merkin was honored with the award of "Supporter of Entrepreneurship" as part of Ernst & Young's 2000 Entrepreneur of the Year Awards, an impressive ceremony held in Palm Springs during November.

Given to those individuals whose perseverance, determination and creativity have built and sustained successful ventures, Merkin provides the foundation for these qualities in the Kellogg Entrepreneurship Program.

The culmination of this program is Merkin's Entrepreneurship and New Venture Formulation class where students write a business plan for a start-up company. At the end of the semester, students present their plans to a panel of venture capitalists. These investors provide an important, though sometimes painful, dose of reality, according to Merkin.

Upon reflecting on receiving his award, Merkin remarked that Kellogg's entrepreneurial curriculum has enjoyed rapid growth. "The number of students participating has increased dramatically and the quality of their work has grown consistently," he said. "Much of this success results from our determination to keep our courses current with real-world trends, a fact that demands we can change rapidly and retain in close contact with the entrepreneurship community."

Also representing Kellogg at the awards ceremony were Subhash Bedi and Parry Singh (both ’99), who received the "Emerging Entrepreneur of the Year" honors for their creation of the Chicago-based EthnicGrocer.com. With 170 employees and excellent sales, EthnicGrocer looks poised to become the world's largest Internet-based supplier of rare and ethnic foods.