MCLA Adds New Minor in Entrepreneurship

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NORTH ADAMS, MASS. — Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts recently approved a new minor in entrepreneurship within the Department of Business Administration and Economics. Although many of the classes required for this new minor already are offered at the college, new courses will be added when the program is officially offered in January 2018.

According to Dr. Thomas Whalen, associate professor of business, the entrepreneurship minor may be added to most – if not all – of the majors MCLA offers.

"I cannot think of a single major that cannot be brought into some sort of entrepreneurial endeavor," Whalen said. "For example, someone in education might develop a tutoring center. A chemist, biologist or a physicist might start up a testing lab to develop a new product. One area where you see a lot of innovation is in computer science. They are constantly coming up with new apps and new devices.

"Our thought is that every discipline in the liberal arts can be coupled with an entrepreneurship minor to make that degree more effective," he said.
 
The minor is closely tied to MCLA's design thinking curriculum. Design thinking, a new process for problem-solving that uses methods from traditional science and the humanities, will be part of the new "Principles of Entrepreneurship" course, according to Zachary Feury, project coordinator of the Feigenbaum Leads Initiative at MCLA.



Whalen anticipates that many of those who enroll in the entrepreneurship minor will compete in MCLA’s annual "Innovation and Entrepreneurship Challenge," which first was held in April, thanks to a gift to support entrepreneurship education from Jack and Susy Wadsworth. At this inaugural competition, students competed for a $10,000 prize, as well as mentoring and networking opportunities to assist them in pushing their idea closer to realization.

Courses for this new minor include "Introduction to Leadership," "Principles of Entrepreneurship," "Marketing," "Accounting for Entrepreneurs," "Small Business Entrepreneurship" and a "Entrepreneurial Studies Seminar" capstone course.


For more information, go to www.mcla.edu.

 


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Berkshire County Homes Celebrating Holiday Cheer

By Breanna SteeleiBerkshires Staff

There's holiday cheer throughout the Berkshires this winter.

Many homeowners are showing their holiday spirit by decorating their houses. We asked for submissions so those in the community can check out these fanciful lights and decor when they're out.

We asked the homeowners questions on their decorations and why they like to light up their houses.

In Great Barrington, Matt Pevzner has decorated his house with many lights and even has a Facebook page dedicated to making sure others can see the holiday joy.

Located at 93 Brush Hill Road, there's more than 61,000 lights strewn across the yard decorating trees and reindeer and even a polar bear. 

The Pevzner family started decorating in September by testing their hundreds of boxes of lights. He builds all of his own decorations like the star 10-foot star that shines done from 80-feet up, 10 10-foot trees, nine 5-foot trees, and even the sleigh, and more that he also uses a lift to make sure are perfect each year.

"I always decorated but I went big during COVID. I felt that people needed something positive and to bring joy and happiness to everyone," he wrote. "I strive to bring as much joy and happiness as I can during the holidays. I love it when I get a message about how much people enjoy it. I've received cards thanking me how much they enjoyed it and made them smile. That means a lot."

Pevzner starts thinking about next year's display immediately after they take it down after New Year's. He gets his ideas by asking on his Facebook page for people's favorite decorations. The Pevzner family encourages you to take a drive and see their decorations, which are lighted every night from 5 to 10.

In North Adams, the Wilson family decorates their house with fun inflatables and even a big Santa waving to those who pass by.

The Wilsons start decorating before Thanksgiving and started decorating once their daughter was born and have grown their decorations each year as she has grown. They love to decorate as they used to drive around to look at decorations when they were younger and hope to spread the same joy.

"I have always loved driving around looking at Christmas lights and decorations. It's incredible what people can achieve these days with their displays," they wrote.

They are hoping their display carries on the tradition of the Arnold Family Christmas Lights Display that retired in 2022.

The Wilsons' invite you to come and look at their display at 432 Church St. that's lit from 4:30 to 10:30 every night, though if it's really windy, the inflatables might not be up as the weather will be too harsh.

In Pittsfield, Travis and Shannon Dozier decorated their house for the first time this Christmas as they recently purchased their home on Faucett Lane. The two started decorating in November, and hope to bring joy to the community.

"If we put a smile on one child's face driving by, then our mission was accomplished," they said. 

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