On December 3rd as 160 first-year students from the Busch School's Vocation of Business class presented their projects at the “Business As A Vocation” Trade Show. The event, hosted by the Ciocca Center for Principled Entrepreneurship, celebrated the creativity, business acumen, and faith-driven principles of Catholic University’s student entrepreneurs.
Challenged in September to start simple but real businesses, students showcased a diverse array of start-ups ranging from on-campus services, to an athleisure clothing brand, to marketing a family truffle farm in Argentina. These projects reflect months of business ideation, content planning, creative problem-solving, and the integration of best practices in business with the principles of Catholic Social Thought and free enterprise taught in class.
The business launch exemplifies the hands-on approach to learning favored by the Ciocca Center. Jayla Smith '28 expressed her artistic talent into “Designed to Inspire”, a hand-crafted stationery business. “I was happy to know my hard work served to add some beauty and delight in the world” Smith said. “It really brought home the idea of the class that business can be a calling, where you give of yourself to meet a need or solve a problem.”
Professors Rebecca Teti, Andreas Widmer and Anthony Cannizzaro, evaluated the students' pitches for their creativity, “hustle,” consistency, and application of class principles.
“We teach students that each of them is unrepeatable, and their work is a participation in the creative work of God the Father. You can see that in the creativity, variety, and entrepreneurial spirit embodied in the businesses on display here today,” said Teti, one of the course instructors and Executive Director of the Ciocca Center. “They show how business begins with the question, ‘How may I help you?’."