MSU business professor facilitates workshops focused on entrepreneurship

From MSU News Service

BOZEMAN - A Montana State University business professor recently facilitated workshops at an event in the Baltics that was aimed at raising the profile of entrepreneurship, building partnerships and developing the basic skills necessary for starting a business.

Kregg Aytes, management professor in the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, facilitated two workshops on entrepreneurship, one focused on design thinking and another focused on the lean startup process, in Vilnius, Lithuania, on June 27.

The workshops were sponsored by the U.S.-Lithuania Alumni Association, a group in Lithuania that brings together people who have spent time in the U.S., usually through programs sponsored by the U.S. State Department. Participating in each of the workshops were approximately 40 individuals who are part of the association.

Aytes was invited to lead the workshops after a Fulbright Scholar from Lithuania who is part of the association, Auste Kiskiene, visited the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship several years ago to conduct research on entrepreneurship.

While Kiskiene was at MSU, she and Aytes spoke often about the relative merits of the entrepreneurial ecosystems in Bozeman and Vilnius, Aytes said. And he has found there is wide appeal for learning entrepreneurial principles.

"There is a universal desire to learn how to successfully start new ventures so that entrepreneurs can take new ideas to the market," Aytes said. "It's amazing to see how those living in a previously Communist country have embraced a market economy."

Mark Ranalli, dean of the Jake Jabs College of Business and Entrepreneurship, said Aytes' work in Lithuania demonstrates that the education students receive at the MSU business college applies globally.

"Having our faculty share their expertise and impact communities far and wide helps elevate our university and our college's reputation internationally," Ranalli said.