Jim Quest is First Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Cornell Hotel School

Accomplished alumnus returns to campus to stimulate entrepreneurial instincts in students

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. October 14, 2008

ITHACA, NY, March 20, 2007. Jim Quest has been appointed Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Cornell Hotel School's Leland C. and Mary M. Pillsbury Institute for Hospitality Entrepreneurship. Quest is the first to hold this position at the school and is the second appointee in Cornell University's Entrepreneur-in-Residence Program.

The Hotel School's EIR program is designed to give students a unique learning experience through active engagement with successful entrepreneurs. Through conversations, lectures, and informal meetings, students develop the knowledge and skills relevant for starting their own enterprises.

A visiting lecturer since last fall, Quest is teaching the "Introduction to Hospitality Entrepreneurship" course again this spring. The course is designed to help students learn to think like entrepreneurs and prepare to run their own businesses.

"Entrepreneurship is not a career track," Quest said. "I can't teach students to be entrepreneurs. I can stimulate their natural entrepreneurial instincts and offer insight into what it's like to be in business for yourself."

In the course, students work in small teams to conceive an enterprise and prepare a business plan. As the final exam, each team presents its plan to their classmates and a panel of industry leaders made up of entrepreneurs and venture capitalists.

In his second course, to be taught in the spring of '08, called "Turning Your Business Plan into a Selling Document for Capital-Raising," Quest will coach students on how to refine their plans to get them ready for their first real year of operation. Next month, three of Quest's teams from his fall introductory course will present their plans to alumni and industry leaders at the school's annual student-run conference, Hotel Ezra Cornell. Quest said that he hopes one or more of these students will attract investors to fund their ventures upon graduation.

A self-proclaimed "serial entrepreneur," Quest has spent most of his career launching and running new ventures. He nurtured his entrepreneurial talents while first working as a brand manager at Procter & Gamble. He then created and ran a highly successful advertising agency specializing in the consumer products sector. Later, he founded Biocide, Inc., to market his invention of Virofree(R), a pocketsize disinfectant spray for consumer use outside the home. Today Quest also manages a consulting practice that teaches young executives how to excel in business writing.

"As an extraordinarily accomplished entrepreneur and a natural mentor, Jim Quest has the ideal background to serve as the first Entrepreneur-in-Residence at the Cornell Hotel School," said Cathy Enz, associate dean for Industry Research and Affairs. "He has vast experience launching and running successful companies, and he excels at sharing his insights and helping students learn to develop their entrepreneurial ambitions."

A 1956 graduate of the Hotel School, Quest described his return to campus as, "A dream come true. Entrepreneurship is a natural fit for the Hotel School and the industry it serves. I hope to be able to help infuse an entrepreneurial spirit across the school's curriculum."

Cornell's other Entrepreneur-in-Residence is Brad Treat '02, who is teaching at The Johnson Graduate School of Management.