Dingman Center Gets into International Exchange
and Hosts Dutch MBA Interns

MBA students Joost Brouwer (left) and Mark Moman traveled back to the University of Groningen, Netherlands, in December 2005, after working for two months in the Dingman Center as interns with Zernike USA, Inc.

The Smith Schools Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship recently hosted two MBA interns from the University of Groningen, Netherlands an experience that helped the Dutch students gain U.S. insight, as well as further promote international understanding for the U.S. students at the center.

Joost Brouwer and Mark Moman, MBA students at the University of Groningen, spent two months at the Dingman Center preparing a feasibility report focused on starting a private equity fund in the United States for small family businesses which cannot find successors. Brouwer and Moman are both interns with Zernike USA, Inc., which is headed by Dan Goodman, the technology commercialization fellow at the Dingman Center.

The students also had the opportunity to support an additional ongoing project at the Dingman Center focusing on developing biodiesel fuel refineries. Brouwer and Moman participated in background research and strategy development.

Besides doing great work on the fund research, Mark and Joost also made important contributions to our biodiesel project, said Goodman.

Both Brouwer and Moman agreed that the internship in the states was a highly rewarding experience. I highly recommend it to anyone, says Moman enthusiastically.

They said that one of the key differences between the U.S. university experience and the Dutch university experience is that business schools in the U.S. work very closely with the business community. In the Netherlands, they said, businesses and universities tend to operate in rather separate environments without much interaction. They also felt that the Smith School provided useful opportunities for its students to gain hands-on experience. The Dingman Center, in particular the Pitch Dingman competition as well as the seasoned entrepreneurs-in-residence who work closely with MBA students on several projects, was extremely beneficial for MBA students, they felt.

With regards to their particular feasibility study, they said that the Smith School provided them not only first-rate infrastructure but also intellectual support. Especially helpful were the entrepreneurs at the Dingman Center, their doors were always open to us and they helped enormously, said Brouwer. Moman explained that private equity funds to invest in small family businesses without successors already exist in the Netherlands. They were studying the U.S. market to see whether the potential for such a fund exists here, and if it does, then what would be the ideal format to set up such a fund in the U.S. They also researched the regulatory and cultural environment to see what modifications would be necessary to the existing format of the Dutch fund, to make it to compatible to the U.S. business environment.

Both Brouwer and Moman felt that this internship was an extremely valuable learning experience and a great opportunity. They said that it gave them a chance to learn about American culture that is not available to tourists on short-trips. They said that while doing their research, the most challenging part was conducting numerous interviews in a foreign language. But yet they successfully coped with language and cultural barriers, and are leaving the United States with the satisfaction of having overcome a tough challenge.

We are proud of our work, said Brouwer while Moman nodded approvingly.

▓ Smith Media Group, Sachin Agarwal, MBA Candidate 2007