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Vol. 38, No. 18 |
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11-19-2008 Weaving an international partnershipFisher MBA students forge friendships and open doors for Bolivian entrepreneursBen VanBuskirk knew he’d learn a lot on his trip to Bolivia last April with his fellow Fisher College of Business students. He was looking forward to applying what he’d learned in his class on alleviating poverty through entrepreneurship.
The idea was to create a product that would connect the villages to an international market and substantially improve their quality of life. The challenge, of course, is that these villages derive their livelihoods through the same three industries — dairy farming, agriculture and textiles — practiced throughout much of rural Bolivia. “What they needed was a competitive advantage, and a relationship with Fisher College could provide that through our access to a unique market of Ohio State football fans,” said Jay Barney, one of the professors who accompanied the students to Bolivia. VanBuskirk, who with a group of like-minded students spent time talking a fiercely motivated band of women weavers in Muruamaya, saw how that competitive advantage could be put to work. “We figured if we could get a license to use the Ohio State logo, that would give them a product that would be different and unique,” he said. From that initial brainstorm came the International Development Collaborative, a non-profit group devoted to helping small villages in developing countries create their own small businesses. IDC helps rural communities sell their products on an international scale, with the overall goal of raising the standard of living for those in poverty. “Basically, our main role is to be the hub that connects the women in these different villages with marketing opportunities here,” said Amy Chin, director of IDC and a recent Fisher graduate. Working with Ohio State’s Trademark and Licensing Services, VanBuskirk, who is IDC’s CEO and chairman, spearheaded the creation and approval of a bright red Block “O” to be embroidered on handmade alpaca wool scarves by Bolivian weavers. Each weaver can make one scarf per day, a production rate VanBiskirk would like to see accelerate so they can build up a critical mass. “Right now we’ve gotten about 300, with roughly half of those sold up front,” he said. Each scarf sells for $49.99. Even after deducting operating costs and a percentage of money for a community development fund for the villages, the financial benefit of selling each scarf is immense: The communities in rural Bolivia typically subsist on less than $2 a day per individual. Long-term goals for IDC are fairly lofty. Chin and VanBuskirk would like to see the group’s development model implemented in other villages around Bolivia and other countries. They have plans to create products tailored to other universities — the University of Michigan is the next target, given its built-in market and the appeal of a perceived “competition” between Ohio State and Michigan. They also are contemplating other products like hats, gloves or blankets. Still a new venture, IDC has a few obstacles to overcome before it can count on serious growth. One is the unstable political climate in Bolivia, which recently saw its trade benefits with the United States cut by the State Department. The language barrier — the villagers speak Spanish and the native Aymaran dialect — makes communication difficult, particularly given the international nature of the dialogue. Another limiting factor is the fact that all principals at IDC are volunteers. “We’re all working for free right now, but we’d like it to grow to include more products, more villages and more schools,” said Chin, who works as an associate with Nationwide Investments. “As we grow we’re going to have to evaluate on a personal level what our time commitments can be.”
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