ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – A way to host entrepreneurship and expect cultural knowledge: the University of New Mexico’s Anderson School of Management is bringing students to study business in the United States.
“It’s like we’re experiencing it again for the first time,” said Professor Rob Del Campo, Senior Executive Director of the UNM Innovation Academy.
UNM’s Innovation Academy is back again for its third year, partnering with other universities across the globe giving students a chance to see the United States while also trying to expand their skills in business and the confidence to conduct business pitches in English.
“I want them to feel like the family is not only your own family,” Kunio Kono, an associate Professor from the Yamanashi Gakuin University in Japan.
“This is similar to what we do with our students here at UNM, but to bring in students from somewhere else and have a different perspective and have them doing the same sort of thing and work so hard on these ideas and get exposure to what might be different in these businesses in the United States versus Japan,” said Del Campo.
A total of 12 students from the Yamanashi Gakuin University and Osaka Metropolitan University are here.
“They have a week to work on their business plan and their pitch, and then, at the end of the week, they’ve got to pitch it in English, and they’re not necessarily fluent, but they really do some tremendously hard work and really come up with some great ideas that could really be big things in the future,” said Del Campo.
Students are happy to be a part of something that will help them in the future.
“The reason why I joined this research class is I want to start up a company overseas in the future. I will study hard and improve my knowledge and also improve my English skills,” said one of the students.
Students spend the week also learning about New Mexico culture and explore the area when not in class.