THE CFE
CONNECTION
CSUC' S CENTER FOR ENTREPRENEURSHIP
MONTHLY NEWSLETTER
December 2020 | ISSUE 3
DECEMBER
EVENTS
Seed Innovation
Challenge,
Business Plan
Competition|
12/10 - 12/17
CFE NEWS
AnalyzeTHIS! Competition
The Center for Entrepreneurship held the first annual
AnalyzeTHIS! Business Plan Analysis Competition, where
participants were given 24 hours to analyze a business plan
and turn in their results in a standard SWOT (Strengths
Weaknesses Opportunities and Threats) analysis model,
followed by their recommendations to invest or not invest and
why. The students had a chance to win $500 for first place and
$250 for second place, as well as the opportunity to be
introduced to venture capitalists and angel investors.
The Center for
Excellence in
Finance and the
Investor’s Club
will host our
annual Young
Finance Alumni
Panel on Zoom
|Friday, 12/11, 5
-6 pm PST
FOLLOW US ON
@chicostatecfe
ChicoStateCFE
December| PAGE 2
CONTINUED
CFE NEWS
PHILD!
It's December, and that means the Design Expo is right
around the corner! If you remember back to our October
Newsletter, we spoke to Kyle Byker, founder of the
company PHILD! His idea is to design a dispenser,
similar to a soda machine, for shower products. By
providing reusable containers at these dispensers, Kyle
hopes to remove single-use plastic bottles from people's
homes, tremendously reducing the amount of plastic
waste being put into our environment.
Working closely with the Engineering department to
design his product, PHILD has made strides in producing
a prototype!
Kyle Byker,
Founder of PHILD
Statement from the Engineering Team:
It’s an honor working with Kyle, who is a local entrepreneur
and Chico State Alumni. We are
very grateful for this opportunity and are thankful Kyle is
so understanding while we build this
machine through the COVID-19 pandemic. We are so
excited and passionate about PHILD, as
the vision is to hopefully see this machine in the Chico
State Dorms, locker rooms, and local
stores. This machine will reduce the packaging cost for
hygiene products, but most importantly,
reduce the usage of single use plastics.
December| PAGE 3
CONTINUED
CFE NEWS
Many of the components necessary for the
function of the prototype have been completed.
We're looking forward to seeing it in action!
Make sure to tune in to the Design Expo taking
place on Friday, December 11th from 10am to
12pm!
Bottle Dispenser
Rendering of Nozzle Carosel
Above: Electrical Wiring
Final Nozzle Carosel & Pumps
December| PAGE 4
December| PAGE 5
CONTINUED
CFE NEWS
.
Annual Seed Innovation Challenge is back!!!
Calling all entrepreneurs, the semi-annual Seed
Innovation Challenge is here!
December| PAGE 6
CONTINUED
CFE NEWS
For those of you who want to take your business to new heights,
here is your opportunity. On these days, there will be a number
of businesses pitching their ideas to judges in front of a live
virtual audience. This competition will take place over the course
of several days, starting with Round 1 on 12/10 and the Finals on
12/15.
Affirmatively, this competition is created for students from ALL
colleges and disciplines. The competitors will need to sign up
and register by sending an email to the CFE Director, Eva
Shepherd-Nicoll at elshepherd-nicoll@csuchico.edu, submitting
their business plan and slide deck by 12/10; attending Round 1
of the competition and if they make it thru that, to Round 2 of the
competition. Each business will be responsible for pitching for at
least the minimum amount of 8 minutes and will have up to
another 8 minutes for Q&A. Here are the prize offers:
1st Place - $5,000 prize
2nd Place - $2,500 prize
3rd Place - $1,000 prize
Be here, you don't want to miss this!! Thursday, December
10, 20206:30-8:00 p.m. Free Live on Zoom!
December | PAGE 7
ALUMNI/ENTREPRENEUR
SPOTLIGHT
EMILY PARISI, FOUNDER OF PARISI
TECH
Emily Parisi,
Founder of Parisi Tech
Recently, we interviewed Emily Parisi - CSU
Alumni Class of 16’ / Founder of Parisi Tech, about
her experience developing a groundbreaking
composite material that is in the process of
becoming the most highly sought after component
on the market for industries like Defense,
Aerospace, and Transportation.
After taking a year off from her degree to study
under one of the world's top chemical engineering
firms in Australia, Emily discovered that her
interest in developing composite materials goes
beyond the engineering aspect. She thoroughly
enjoys the challenges that accompany wearing
multiple hats.
December | PAGE 8
ALUMNI/ENTREPRENEUR
SPOTLIGHT (CONT'D)
EMILY PARISI, FOUNDER OF PARISI
TECH
Emily has always been interested in how materials
interact with each other and has wanted to develop
her own. She started experimenting on her composite
AVAX in her college apartment laundry room, despite
complaints from her roommates.
Key Takeaway's from this interview:
- When venturing into a unique industry it's
important to find mentors that can help you
through challenges that can be very different from
problems faced by entrepreneurs in other
industries
- Surrounding yourself with peers that have similar
interests to you can help you find solutions to
problems
- Emily is proud to announce that Parisi Tech has
officially received their SBIR Grant from the
National Science Foundation!
December| PAGE 9
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
EMILY HUANG, DIRECTOR OF THE
CENTER FOR EXCELLENCE IN FINANCE
(CEF)
In this month’s CFE Podcast, we interviewed Emily Huang, a
Chico State Finance Professor and the Director of the Center for
Excellence in Finance!
Emily pursued her Undergraduate Degree in Finance because of
the security and opportunities it offered after graduation. Her
passion for the subject grew, returning to school for a Masters
Degree in Economics in order to develop a deeper
understanding of the theoretical side of finance that drives
policy changes, as well as a PhD in Finance. She says finance can
be fun, exciting and engaging and believes it's incredibly
important that students are well educated in finance to prepare
them for the constantly changing economy.
She has made valuable contributions to the Finance Department
here at Chico State. She was influential in not only bringing
Finance 487 to Chico State, but developing the course from the
ground up. Finance 487 is an exam preparation course for
financial service industry certification tests that students
typically would take after graduation. This makes Chico State
the only University on the west coast to offer this course!
December| PAGE 10
FACULTY SPOTLIGHT
EMILY HUANG, DIRECTOR OF THE CENTER FOR
EXCELLENCE IN FINANCE (CEF)
The Center for Excellence in Finance hosts several events such as the Annual
Stock Pitch Competition, as well as the Regional Stock Pitch competition which
involves other Northern California universities in the area. The Center also
organizes annual field trips for students, such as a trip to San Francisco’s Federal
Reserve Bank. The goal of the Center is to create a connection between
classroom material and real life application.
Along with these services for Finance students, the CEF also offers services to
students outside the department and local community members by hosting
annual financial planning days. Local financial professionals provide free
professional financial advice to people experiencing financial stress. This
program aims to help improve the financial health of students, faculty members
and local community members.
Unfortunately, many of these services have been postponed due to Covid-19,
but there are many services still available! There are still information meetings
being held over zoom as well as confidential peer advising from finance students
December | PAGE 11
BLUE TECH VALLEY
EVENTS
Renewable Gas 360
Photo
Blending Renewable Hydrogen into the Natural
Gas Pipeline
December 10 @ 10:00 AM
Learn about the steps that European utilities are
taking to integrate renewable hydrogen into their
energy systems, Gain insight into the policies that
can accelerate the use of renewable hydrogen, and
more!
Event Registration
Wet Center Webinar Series
STRATEGICALLY LEVERAGING
THE REGION'S RESOURCES
AND ASSETS TO CREATE A
FERTILE ENVIRONMENT FOR
ENTREPRENEURS TO TURN
VISION INTO REAL WORLD
SOLUTIONS.
Blue Tech Valley
Finding the Right Type of Capital- Venture Capital
+"Alterative Venture Capital"
December 11 @ 10:00 AM
Are you a startup that is looking for an alternative
approach to the traditional venture capital
"treadmill?" Topics discussed by Jamie Finney of
Greater Colorado Venture Fund include investing in
different startups with varying growth outcomes
and a company's way of justifying lowering dilution
alternatives.
.Event Registration
Photo
December | PAGE 12
EVENTS
EVENTS
Cybersecurity Essentials for 2021 - What You
Need to Know
The Last 1 Million Cups Event!!
The Last 1 Million Cups Event of 2020 will be taking
place on December 16th!
Big Bang Workshop
UC Davis is hosting their Big Bang Business
Workshop on Dec. 10th!
Young Finance Alumni Panel!
The Center for Excellence in Finance and the
Investor’s Club will host our annual Young Finance
Alumni Panel! Six recent Chico State finance
graduates have been invited to share their
experiences with our current students. This panel
discussion is open to all COB students on
December 11th, 5 - 6pm PST!
Photo
December| PAGE 13
FALL SPEAKER SERIES RECAP
Fall Speaker Series #7 David Fisch CEO of Shopkick: a Chico State alumni, who
joined the company Shopkick in 2019, a leading shopping rewards app in the U.S.
Fisch is an experienced founder, entrepreneur and business leader with a strong
record of achievement in leading Ad-tech, marketing technology and consumer
companies. He has also served in key leadership and management roles at
Yahoo!, Miller Brewing Company, and Gallo Sales Company.
NOVEMBER | PAGE 14
HAPPY HOLIDAYS
Support Local Small Businesses
Shop Downtown Chico
This year has been a tough one, leaving many small businesses struggling to stay
afloat. That's why it is important to get out there and shop small businesses.
Saturday, November 28 was Shop Small Saturday.
Downtown Chico Businesses will remain open for holiday shopping. It is also
important to note that the Downtown Chico Business Association states that for
every dollar spent, 67 cents spent downtown will go back to our local economy.
Source: Action News Now