An MBA class at Bellarmine University is spending the summer developing a business/strategic plan for Edge Outreach, the Louisville-based non-profit that has been providing potable drinking water in Haiti since the devastating Jan. 12 earthquake.
The need for pure water is still great in Haiti. Edge Outreach plans a three-year water-development program there and hopes to expand its mission to include more first-response disaster aid and training of other groups. But as the disaster has moved out of the media spotlight, donations have dropped off. Edge Outreach needs a solid business plan in order to continue its vital work in Haiti and elsewhere.
Under the direction of Dr. Robert Brown, the MBA class, Social Entrepreneurship, is evaluating ways that Edge Outreach can market its programs for testing water, implementing community health education and sanitation programs, building mini water-treatment plants and using electric pumps. The class will deliver its consultative report, written business and strategic plans, along with a formal presentation, to Edge Outreach by late August.
“This class will provide MBA students a hands-on experience in systematically analyzing a social entrepreneurship related enterprise and developing a business plan to use for grant writing/fundraising and subsequent capability build out,” says Dr. Brown.
To find out more about Edge Outreach, visit: http://edgeoutreach.com/
About Bellarmine University
Bellarmine University is an independent Catholic university offering more than 50 majors, as well as graduate degree programs, a doctor of nursing practice and a doctor of physical therapy. Forbes magazine and the Princeton Review rank Bellarmine among America’s best colleges, and U.S. News and World Report consistently ranks Bellarmine as a top tier university.