Champlain College's Bring Your Own Business (BYOBiz) Program held its "Speaking from Experience" Fall/Winter 2008-2009 series of lectures and talks, which featured local business and entreprenieural leaders. All events were free and open to the public.

The 2008-09 series included talks with Alan Newman, founder of Magic hat Brewing Company; Michael Lane, co-founder of Dealer.com; Rich Jr. and Jerry Tarrant, co-founders of mywebgrocer.com; and Rusty Dewees, actor and entertainment entrepreneur.

The Speaking from Experience Series was sponsored by Champlain College's BYOBiz Program, which mentors student entrepreneurs and their businesses. For more information, contact Bob Block, BYOBiz program director at BYOBiz@champlain.edu, call 865-6490, or visit www.champlain.edu/byobiz.html

The Champlain College BYOBiz Speaking From Experience series included:

• Alan Newman, founder of Magic Hat Brewing Company - Conductor of Cosmic Symphonies shared his adventures over the past 21 years in creating three highly successful and innovative companies, each in a market about to explode with mainstream interest. The first, Gardener Supply, caught a boom in mail-order services, the second, Seventh Generation, capitalized on the wave of interest in environmentally friendly products, and the third, Magic Hat, tapped into the soaring demand for fine, regionally brewed beer. Newman is a serial entrepreneur; one of a rare breed of repeat risk-takers who start new companies as often as some people change jobs.
• Michael Lane, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Dealer.com, an innovative Burlington-based company, talked about the company's amazing growth since its creation in 1998. Dealer.com creates web-based marketing campaigns and supports thousands of online marketing solutions across North America for the automotive industry. The company is the recipient of numerous awards including the 2007 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 (growth) award and was listed in the 2007 Inc. 5000's "Fastest Growing Private Companies of America."
• Rich Jr. and Jerry Tarrant, serial entrepreneurs and co-founders of mywebgrocer, a Colchester-based company that provides e-commerce and e-marketing services to more than 80 retail grocery chains, talked about their entrepreneurial experiences in creating several successful businesses. Mywebgrocer was founded in 1999 based on a strong belief in the viability of the online grocery business. The company's core services include: website design, hosting, email, on-line circulars, recipes, personalized offers and, ecommerce. The Tarrants have an impressive record as entrepreneurs in the retail, real estate, and the health care industries.
• Rusty DeWees, Stowe actor and entertainment entrepreneur. DeWees, perhaps best known for his "Logger" character who talks about his life and experiences from the business side of being an actor, comedic artist, producer, writer and "Master of Duct Tape." DeWees is a 1984 graduate of Champlain College. The event is at 7 p.m. in Alumni Auditorium at Champlain College. It is free and open to the public.

And coming in 2009

• Thursday, Feb. 19, 7 p.m. in the Morgan Room in Aiken Hall, (corner of Summit and Maple Streets) at Champlain College: Join Ali Marchildon and Laura Cheney, co-founders of Flashbags. Burlington, to learn how these two former teachers teamed up to create a thriving new business. Starting with one old sewing machine and one big idea, this dynamic duo is on their way to building a powerful niche brand. Learn how they did it and where they are headed with their entrepreneurial adventure. Free. Open to the public. For more information, call 865-6490, or visit www.champlain.edu/byobiz.html

Champlain College, a private baccalaureate institution, was founded in 1878. Champlain has 2,000 undergraduate students and is ranked 12th in the top tier of Best Baccalaureate Colleges in the North by 2009 America's Best Colleges, published by U.S. News & World Report.

Located in Burlington, Champlain College offers Education in Three Dimensions, a unique, multi-faceted approach to professional development, academic excellence and community-based life experience education over four years. Champlain also offers study abroad programs with campuses in Dublin, Ireland and Montreal, Quebec and extensive online and continuing professional education. To learn more about Champlain College, visit www.champlain.edu.