Be teachers, too, entrepreneurs told

LEHI — Kent Millington wants Utah's entrepreneurs to be more than entrepreneurs. He wants them to be teachers and mentors.

Millington, himself with a background as an entrepreneur and college professor, urged businesspeople Thursday to get involved in Utah Valley State College's entrepreneurship program as a way to help both students and themselves.

He illustrated the point by using a fresh, crisp dollar bill and a well-worn dollar coin more than 100 years old. Bringing them together polishes the coin.

"When some of us old folks start rubbing against some of the newer folks, what happens? . . . What really happens is that those of us who have been around for a little while, when we begin to share with those who are just starting out, we actually polish up our business skills," Millington said during the annual combined meeting of the Utah Valley Entrepreneurial Forum and the MountainWest Venture Group at Thanksgiving Point.

"These new entrepreneurs are a source of great energy, of enthusiasm and, most significantly, some great ideas. You're in a position to be able to help, invest, nurture or in any other way rub up against, you have an opportunity to knock off some of the accumulated grit and grime from the travails of being in business. We can polish ourselves up and have a beneficial effect on those around us."

Millington, vice president of operations for computer hosting company Verio, said businesspeople can get involved in several ways, including making classroom presentations to students.

"Certainly there's curriculum. We do a lot with the curriculum to teach people some of the ins and outs of entrepreneurship. But you know what? There are some things that can't be taught from a textbook, but that can be taught face to face, and that's where we would like your participation," said Millington, serving as executive-in-residence at UVSC.

The class time could include a short presentation, question-and-answer time and discussions of "what you do and have done and hope to do," he said.

The entrepreneurship program also includes noon Tuesday lectures from various speakers with business experience.

"We would love to know who of you would like to come give one of those lectures. I've never met an entrepreneur yet who didn't have one lecture already written down that they would love to give," he said.

The program also includes a business plan competition, a high school student "boot camp" and incubator. Regarding the incubator, Millington said the goal is to "make it possible for nascent business to have a safe place to nurture."

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