Food Innovation Center business incubator opens new facility with an assist from Rutgers Business School’s MBA Team Consulting Program
November 10, 2008
The Rutgers University Food Innovation Center business incubator cut the ribbon on a new, 23,000-square-foot food processing facility in Bridgeton, New Jersey, last month. The Food Innovation Center, which has been helping new and existing food-based businesses to become success stories since it opened seven years ago, is also a Rutgers Business School success story: it is among the many enterprises that have benefited from the business school’s MBA Team Consulting Program, a unique, university-based resource that provides clients with professional, fee-based consulting services delivered by a team of seasoned MBA students.This collaboration is only one example of Rutgers Business School’s emphasis on providing students with real-world work experience that enables them to put business theory into practice; the school’s strong industry partnerships, which are central to the school’s student experience; and its “Business, Science, and Technology” focus on multidisciplinary business programs that help propel scientific endeavors and advancements. To date, Rutgers students have completed more than 1,500 projects for a wide range of clients including Fortune 50 companies, privately held firms, not-for-profits, state agencies, municipalities, and entrepreneurs.During the business incubator’s infancy, the Food Innovation Center (FIC) engaged a team of MBA students from the program to conduct a national benchmarking study enabling the Center’s leadership to learn about best practices, explore programs and services to offer its clients, and gain insight into the ways in which the Food Innovation Center could ultimately become financially self-sustaining. The project, which earned the MBA team the school’s Dr. George S. Walters Award for Consulting Excellence in 2005, was so beneficial that the Food Innovation Center engaged the Team Consulting Program for a second project, and the FIC’s director, Lou Cooperhouse, is now one of the faculty advisors for the Team Consulting Program.The MBA Team Consulting Program illustrates the kind of multidisciplinary learning that can only be found at Rutgers University. It is also an example of how Rutgers Business School maintains close ties to businesses to ensure cutting-edge programming that continuously remains industry-relevant while providing students with the advantage of innovative knowledge and experiences.Said Food Innovation Center director Lou Cooperhouse, "The Team Consulting Program provided some excellent benchmarking information that enabled the Rutgers Food Innovation Center to better capitalize on our objectives and demonstrate best practices in business incubation within a very short period of time.” He continued, “In 2007, we were pleased that the FIC was internationally recognized for excellence, and chosen 'Incubator of the Year' in the services and manufacturing category by the National Business Incubation Association, which represents an estimated 7,000 business incubators worldwide.”The new, state-of-the-art facility was inaugurated on October 17 during a ceremony over which Rutgers University President Richard McCormick presided. The unique business incubation and economic development accelerator program, which is part of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station (NJAES) at Rutgers, will assist farmers, startups, and established food companies with every aspect of the business process, from concept to commercialization. According to Paul Belliveau, director of Rutgers Business School’s Team Consulting Program, the MBA Team Consulting Program at Rutgers Business School–Newark and New Brunswick is particularly proud of the role it played in the Food Innovation Center’s success and the Food Innovation Center was a project particularly well-suited to the Team Consulting program’s programmatic and educational goals. Explained Belliveau, “Our students were able to assist in establishing a business that assists other businesses in becoming successful.” # # #
