HPG Partner Brooks Malone Works with UNC Kenan-Flagler Students

May 25, 2010 - PRLog -- HPG Partner Brooks Malone Works with UNC Kenan-Flagler Students
Firm Continues Entrepreneurial Support in Triangle

RALEIGH, N.C. (May 25, 2010)—Brooks Malone, partner at Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP (www.hpg.com), the largest CPA firm headquartered and staffed in the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina, recently worked with students at the University at North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School in the Launching the Venture Program. The program has helped launch more than 100 commercial and nonprofit ventures since inception.

The four-part series of courses included: Opportunity Recognition and Team Building, Feasibility, Business Planning and Financing. It was designed to teach, empower and inspire entrepreneurial teams at UNC Kenan-Flagler to launch commercial businesses and social ventures. The program spanned the entire academic year. Students had the choice to take the courses for credit or as a non-credit seminar series.

“Launching the Venture had a diverse mix of undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate students in the class,” says Dave Neal, lecturer on strategy and entrepreneurship at UNC Kenan-Flagler. “We are thankful to have the support of Brooks and HPG. Their efforts were integral in helping emerging entrepreneurs polish their financial models.”

Malone, along with a team of other professionals, worked directly with the UNC students as they formulated their financial assumptions based on a start-up business model HPG provided. The coaches offered advice on various sources of funding for new ventures, development of pro forma projections and exit strategies.

“We were proud to support a course that continually brings new business opportunities to investors and entrepreneurs across North Carolina and beyond,” said Malone. “Launching the Venture gave valuable hands-on experience to participants, and I was pleased to have the opportunity to lend my support.”

HPG’s support of Launching the Venture continued a longtime commitment to the advancement of the Triangle entrepreneurial community. The firm has also supported the CED, the Small Business and Technology Development Center, the Duke Start-Up Challenge, the Duke Entrepreneurship Educational Series and the DUhatch Student
Business Incubator.

About Hughes Pittman & Gupton, LLP (HPG):
HPG is the largest CPA firm headquartered and staffed in the Research Triangle Park region of North Carolina, as ranked by the Triangle Business Journal. Furthermore, Business Leader magazine ranked HPG as the fifth most successful small business in North Carolina in 2008. HPG is able to provide national and global accounting resources to its clients through the CPAmerica firm network of 701 offices worldwide. HPG offers a wide array of business accounting, auditing, corporate tax, and management advisory services. Specialties include serving owner-managed, investor-backed technology and life science, healthcare services, real estate development, manufacturing and distribution businesses, and providing ERISA audits, family wealthcare services and Sarbanes-Oxley internal audit services. More than just an accounting firm, HPG assists clients in looking beyond the bottom linesm by being the right firm, right value and right people to achieve each client’s definition of success. Visit www.hpg.com.

About Launching the Venture at UNC’s Kenan-Flagler Business School:
Launching the Venture is a four-part series of courses designed to teach, empower and inspire entrepreneurial teams at UNC to launch commercial businesses and social ventures. Teams may be comprised of any mixture of faculty, staff, post-doc, graduate and/or undergraduate students. Courses combine lectures, workshops, guest speakers and hands-on expert coaching and mentoring. The program has helped launch more than 100 commercial and nonprofit ventures since inception.

The series is made up of four half-semester classes beginning in the fall and running through the academic year. Each mod-length course may be taken for 1.5 credit hours or as a non-credit seminar series (no tuition). Enrollment is by permission of the instructor or by application. More information on Launching the Venture is available at www.kenanflagler.unc.edu/Programs/MBA/concentration/entrepreneurial/launch.cfm.

About The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School:
Consistently ranked one of the world's best business schools, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Kenan-Flagler Business School is known for experiential learning in leadership and teamwork, superior teaching, innovative research and a collaborative culture. UNC Kenan-Flagler's commitment to developing socially responsible, results-driven leaders distinguishes its programs, which educate people at every stage of their careers. Its innovative programs prepare business leaders to manage successfully in the global business environment: the MBA, MBA for Executives (Evening, Weekend and OneMBA Global), Master of Accounting, undergraduate BSBA, PhD and Executive Development programs. UNC Kenan-Flagler is the only top business school with a unit that helps business and government tackle problems with impact on society; the Frank Hawkins Kenan Institute of Private Enterprise has operations on the UNC campus and in Bangkok.



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