Project Title: Self Employment Assistance Program (SEAP)
Dr. Prashanth N. Bharadwaj
Professor, Eberly College of Business and Information Technology
Dr. Thomas Falcone
Professor, Eberly College of Business and Information Technology
Dr. Stephen W. Osborne
Professor, Eberly College of Business and Information Technology
SEAP provides classes through the Tri-County Workforce Development grant which was awarded $125,000 to teach five modules. The program is designed to benefit unemployed individuals who have a business idea and desire to enter into self-employment and start their own business. SEAP provides entrepreneurial training and counseling. The module contains 30 hours of customized training, 20 hours of individual counseling, a completed business plan ready to take to a bank to obtain financing; and a marketing package promoting the business. Since 1998 SEAP has provided more than 300 unemployed persons the opportunity to own and operate their own businesses.
All three faculty working on this project have been bestowed with numerous national and regional awards, such as those for SBI Consulting Case of the Year. Their combined awards and accomplishments are far too extensive to list.
Dr. Bharadwaj is Professor of Management, Chair of the Department of Management and Assistant Director of the IUP Small Business Institute. His professional experience includes production, capacity and inventory control in the manufacturing sector and grant work in entrepreneurship curriculum development, e-commerce infrastructure for small rural businesses.
Dr. Falcone is Professor of Management and the Co-director of IUP Management Services Group. He has 8 years of experience in production planning and new product development with BF Goodrich and has served on numerous boards of directors in the public and private sector.
Dr. Osborne is Professor of Management and Director of the IUP Small Business Institute. He has 14 years of experience in a Fortune Top 100 firm in operations, planning and economics, corporate planning, sales and trading and is a consultant to both large and small businesses.