SIUE Alum Inspires Students toward Entrepreneurial Endeavors
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A Southern Illinois University Edwardsville alum and entrepreneur shared his recent business successes to a group of students on Wednesday.
Jeffry Harrison, BS Business Administration ’12 and chief operating officer of RoverTown, addressed the Entrepreneurs’ Club of SIUE. Fitting to its tagline, ‘throwin’ you bones,’ RoverTown is an app that sends local coupons to college students’ smart phones when they click on a bone icon. RoverTown partners with universities to provide students one place to find and use discounts at local businesses.
Harrison shared with students his own successful collegiate experience, how he paired up with two SIU Carbondale students to bring RoverTown to SIUE and quickly joined its leadership team. Harrison’s involvement lead to a $50,000 award from Arch Grants of St. Louis in 2013 and $100,000 “follow-on” grant from the same organization the next year, said Patrick McKeehan, faculty advisor for The Entrepreneurs’ Club and director of Illinois Metro East Small Business Development Center.
“Jeffry is extremely passionate about entrepreneurship and did a wonderful job of talking the highs and lows of getting a high-tech startup off the ground,” McKeehan said. “Harrison and RoverTown are true success stories for the SIU system.”
Photo:
Jeffry Harrison
