{"id":14442,"date":"2026-04-23T09:03:51","date_gmt":"2026-04-23T14:03:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/?p=14442"},"modified":"2026-04-24T08:34:05","modified_gmt":"2026-04-24T13:34:05","slug":"turning-ideas-into-impact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/2026\/04\/23\/turning-ideas-into-impact\/","title":{"rendered":"Turning ideas into impact"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last fall, Ryan Harvey \u201926<\/strong> arrived at Augsburg a week before classes began. Typically, he would have already been on campus\u2014running plays as the Auggies\u2019 quarterback\u2014but injuries sacked the Minnesota native\u2019s senior football season. Refusing to wallow, Harvey channeled his competitive spirit into a new opportunity to lead\u2014this time, in the corporate arena.<\/p>\n

The double major in accounting and finance was invited to join one of three teams competing in the third annual Augsburg Entrepreneur Cup, better known as the Auggie Cup. Each team of one MBA student, two undergraduate business majors, and two graphic design majors assesses and supports a business venture that professionals and Augsburg faculty judge during a Shark Tank-style event in December.
\nDonors fund prize money of $3,000 per student for first place, $2,000 per student for second place, and $1,000 per student for third place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe partnered with Navatar Health<\/a>, which offers AI-powered, culturally tailored \u2018Navatars\u2019 that walk people through the colon cancer screening process. Navatar doesn\u2019t conduct screenings, but the platform works to reduce obstacles like confusion, fear, and language barriers to improve screening rates and, ultimately, save more lives,\u201d Harvey said. \u201cThat reality makes the learning process more meaningful, and the experience gave us confidence and skills we can carry forward.\u201d<\/p>\n

During the fall, Harvey led a financial analysis of Navatar\u2019s efforts to transform how patients are engaged, educated, and guided to act. Through interviews with health care professionals, Harvey and fellow business student, Jacob Henry \u201926<\/strong>, learned that tens of thousands of Americans die from preventable cancers, even though screening is available, covered, and recommended. Navatar Health estimates that nearly one-third of eligible Americans remain unscreened, largely due to a lack of trust and understanding.<\/p>\n

So, graphic design majors, Alanna Franklin \u201925<\/strong> and Bri Mccutchan \u201925<\/strong>, helped the company execute its creative vision to offer user-friendly scheduling and custom Navatars who provide information in many languages. Jacqueline Zimmerman \u201926<\/strong> MBA led the team\u2019s work, keeping the group organized and on track with research and marketing during the four-month project.<\/p>\n

Harvey said the project became their passion: \u201cWe spent time outside of class on Zoom calls, worked through challenges together, and held one another accountable. Everyone on the team stepped up and did what was needed, and that commitment was present in our final presentation.\u201d<\/p>\n

The payoff<\/h2>\n
\"A
Each of the winners of the Third Annual Auggie Cup earned $3,000 of donor-funded prize money. From left to right, Ryan Harvey \u201926<\/b>, Jacob Henry \u201926<\/b>, Alanna Franklin \u201925<\/b>, David Perdue, Founder\/Principal of Navatar Health, Bri Mccutchan \u201925<\/b>, Jacqueline Zimmerman \u201926 MBA<\/b> (Photo by Courtney Perry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At an event in December, the Navatar Health team won first place in front of a crowd of nearly 150 students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs, and donors. Dr. David Perdue, founder and principal of Navatar, was present to congratulate the students.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey took this as seriously as if they were on my payroll,\u201d said Perdue, who was a gastroenterologist for 16 years before starting Navatar in January 2024. \u201cOur business students interviewed leaders at large health care organizations, including UnitedHealthcare and Blue Cross Blue Shield. They synthesized those interviews and thoughtfully integrated the insights into a business plan that reflects how decisions get made in health care. That level of initiative and real-world engagement is not easy, even for experienced professionals. The design students applied next-level design thinking, and Jacqueline managed the project with energy, insight, and expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

The most valuable outcome, Perdue said, was the clarity students brought in, recognizing Navatar\u2019s \u201cfriction points,\u201d or where the company could pivot to enhance its reach and impact. Working with start-ups, he added, gives students a fresh perspective.<\/p>\n

It was Perdue\u2019s first partnership with Augsburg, and he would \u201cabsolutely do it again.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI was a little apprehensive at first, wondering how much of my time it would take,\u201d Perdue admitted. \u201cThose concerns were quickly belayed. I met with the team, gave them information about the market, helped make some business contacts, and talked to them about the business for about 30 minutes. They took it from there.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"A
George Dierberger<\/b> serves as an associate professor of business administration and director of the MBA program at Augsburg. (Photo by Courtney Perry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Success builds momentum<\/h2>\n

Augsburg business professor George Dierberger<\/strong>, who started the Auggie Cup in 2023, said he is delighted but not surprised to hear these and other positive outcomes from the competition event.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents continue to impress with their professionalism, creativity, and work ethic. It\u2019s more than a project for them. They come to care deeply about these partnerships and their very real-world outcomes,\u201d said Dierberger, who is the inaugural Thomas \u201972 and Karen Howe Endowed Professor for Entrepreneurship and chair of the Department of Business Administration and Economics. \u201cIt\u2019s inspiring as we think about the importance and the impact of experiential learning on the trajectory of students\u2019 careers and on the businesses we serve.\u201d<\/p>\n

In three years, the Auggie Cup has partnered 45 students with nine companies\u2014awarding $90,000 in prize money to students. Its success led to the inaugural Augsburg Baby Shark entrepreneur contest in Spring 2025. The competition invites graduate and undergraduate students of any major to pitch a business venture that addresses a social problem. Submissions are due by April 1, and winners are announced during a celebration later that month.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe final 10 teams present a 15-minute slide deck to a panel of \u2018sharks\u2019 (from the school\u2019s Business Advisory Council) for the chance to win thousands in donor-funded prize money,\u201d said Dierberger, who is also director of Augsburg\u2019s MBA program. \u201cBaby Shark has engaged more students in the entrepreneurial space, and students can use the prize money to start their business or pay for additional research.\u201d<\/p>\n

An innovative mindset<\/h2>\n

Dierberger has dedicated his life to the business sector. He led multi-million-dollar sales initiatives during his 25-year tenure at 3M before launching five companies. Teaching for the past 16 years at Augsburg has enabled him to inspire the next generation of business leaders through engaging, relevant experiences like the Auggie Cup.<\/p>\n

\"Three
Augsburg professors Keith Gilsdorf<\/b>, Jeanne Boeh<\/b>, and Stella Koutroumanes Hofrenning<\/b> present at an open house during first-year convocation. (Photo by Courtney Perry)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Jeanne Boeh<\/strong>, director of the School of Business, said Dierberger is not unique among Augsburg business faculty in his professional experience: \u201cEvery one of our professors has worked in their field, and that influences their teaching and expands networks for our students.\u201d Many universities offer entrepreneurial experiences, but it\u2019s rare, she explained, for undergraduate students to partner with graduate students, alumni, and business leaders across industries.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t tell students how to apply their learning; we walk alongside them as they apply that learning through classes and extracurricular activities. And we are blessed with many donors, alumni, and friends who invest in our students with their time, gifts, and expertise.\u201d<\/p>\n

Boeh said the school\u2019s Business Advisory Council is an active partner in fostering this synergy between campus and community connections. The group provides external perspective, reviews curricula, and advocates for the school\u2019s programs and strategic direction.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe constantly assess and reflect on how we can improve, and our Business Advisory Council and other partners are integral to that continued evolution,\u201d she said. \u201cWe push entrepreneurial, hands-on learning because it prepares our students for practice and connects with Augsburg\u2019s overall mission to apply learning to community needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2018I want to provide that direction to others\u2019<\/h2>\n
\"Two
The Innovator Series is intended to yield practical learnings and outcomes for students and graduates alike. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Kyle Wheaton \u201999<\/strong> joined the Business Advisory Council in October 2024 with a goal of helping students make connections and discover their path as early as possible.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a huge difference between passively listening to lectures about abstract business concepts and actually going through the process of building something,\u201d he said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t until my junior-year internship that everything clicked, and I gained clarity about my direction. The guidance and preparation my boss provided had a profound, lasting impact on my career trajectory, and I want to help provide that direction for others.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wheaton said internships and experiences like the Auggie Cup \u201cbuild real-world skills, confidence, and perspective that classroom learning alone can\u2019t provide.\u201d<\/p>\n

He returned to campus in 2024 to offer guidance as part of Augsburg\u2019s Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship<\/a>\u2019s Innovator Series, which features six speakers each academic year. Wheaton\u2019s talk stressed the importance of internships and networking.<\/p>\n

\u201cDo as many internships as you can and use them to figure out what you truly want to do. Then, build a clear plan to get there and work the plan relentlessly,\u201d said Wheaton, who founded Victory Innovations, which pioneered a cordless electrostatic sprayer. \u201cReach out to professionals in fields that interest you\u2014ask about what they love about their jobs, what they don\u2019t like, and how they built their careers. Those conversations provide invaluable insight.\u201d<\/p>\n

Augsburg now requires an internship course to ensure each business major gains guided real-world experience before graduation. Students journal to reflect throughout the course, as they work alongside professionals in their chosen field.<\/p>\n

A relevant, industry-driven education<\/h2>\n

Newer competitions and courses complement the school\u2019s longstanding focus on applied learning and entrepreneurial partnerships. One such program is Innovation Scholars<\/a>, in which scholars work in interdisciplinary teams, much like the Auggie Cup, to create business plans or specific deliverables requested by early-stage companies and the Mayo Clinic. Jacob Enger, assistant professor of business administration, is the Augsburg contact for this six-month program, which provides each student with a $1,500 stipend upon completion.<\/p>\n

Jeff Clement<\/strong>, assistant professor of management information systems, teaches the department\u2019s senior capstone, Information Systems Projects, which partners student teams to tackle the technology challenges of community organizations. Recent projects have included improvements to the cybersecurity and accounting software of the West Bank Business Association and the document management system at Luther Seminary.<\/p>\n

\u201cStudents act as consultants\u2014leading the project, defining the problem, and developing practical recommendations for solutions, vendors, or software that fit the organization\u2019s goals and constraints,\u201d he said. \u201cA former student in her first job after graduation shared that one of her first work assignments was to develop a workflow diagram, which was something she did in her capstone project. She was able to confidently engage, ask good questions, and get started right away. She told me it helped her make a strong impression early on, and that\u2019s exactly the kind of outcome these hands-on experiences are designed to create.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Five
Teams of Innovation Scholars are challenged with interdisciplinary learning as they explore innovations at the intersection of science, business, medicine, and entrepreneurship. (Courtesy photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Clement was also involved with revision to the MBA Business Analytics course to incorporate hands-on experience using a range of AI and data-driven methods to solve real business problems. \u201cBecause our MBA students are all working professionals, many bring in problems from their own organizations,\u201d said Clement, who previously worked as a scientific adviser for a digital health startup. \u201cThe goal is that the project isn\u2019t just an academic exercise\u2014it\u2019s something they can take back to work, use immediately, and ideally leverage to make an impact and advance their careers at the same time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lori Lohman<\/strong>, professor of marketing, has taught Marketing Research and Analysis since 1990. From the beginning, Lohman said, the course has focused on completion of an applied research project with a real client.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am a strong believer in learning by doing, as it’s the best way to experience what working in this field is really like. It’s easy to lecture about how to conduct marketing research and easy to take a test on the major concepts, but it’s a lot harder to apply those concepts in an actual workplace setting. Not even simulations can replicate the dynamics of what happens between a student group, a client, an instructor, and survey respondents.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, students have to learn how to approach a client and ask to do a project for them, to initiate and maintain communication with them and with their instructor, to design and distribute a survey, to interpret the findings, and to make a formal presentation of the results.\u201d<\/p>\n

Students do this while handling the messiness that can happen in the real world, such as missed deadlines, poor communication, repeated survey edits, and slow response rates.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s a win-win for everyone involved: The students gain experience, and the clients save at least $5,000 or more, which would be the cost of hiring a research firm to do a comparable study,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

\"AOne of the most memorable studies her entire class conducted was for a division of a $6-billion Japanese company that was interested in introducing a new product in the United States. The company flew its CEO in from Japan to meet the students and hear their final presentation: \u201cIt was an experience the students will never forget, and the company went ahead with the product introduction,\u201d Lohman said.<\/p>\n

The class has also conducted research for the NCAA, Metro Transit, many of Minnesota\u2019s professional and non-professional sports teams, and a wide variety of local businesses and nonprofits. In addition to creating products and change in those sectors, the findings have been presented at academic conferences and published in academic journals.<\/p>\n

Many students use the findings from the course to inform the marketing plans they develop in Marketing Management, an upper-level course that also engages a real-world client. The focus on practical application is woven into the curriculum across the school, Lohman said.<\/p>\n

An embrace of the humanities<\/h2>\n

Many of the business school\u2019s faculty share an appreciation for disciplines outside the school. Success in business, Lohman said, requires a broad understanding of economics, sociology, psychology, writing, communication, art, and history.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actively encourage my advisees to take courses in the humanities and social sciences because the best businesspeople are often those with a solid liberal arts education, as opposed to those students with only a narrow business focus,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Boeh said Augsburg\u2019s transition in 2025 from two large divisions to five schools has fostered organic collaborations across the university, which has extended interdisciplinary innovations into the community. She meets weekly with the leaders of the arts, health, natural sciences, and the humanities and social sciences.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are just getting started,\u201d Boeh said in an article about the new structure<\/a>, \u201cbut it\u2019s an exciting time to be an Auggie or to partner and dream with us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"ADierberger is also an advocate for cross-campus collaborations: \u201cMy wife is an artist, and I took a theater class in undergrad that brought theater to life for me. I still enjoy the stage and love to read and experience the arts to expand my world and perspective,\u201d Dierberger said. \u201cI push my students to embrace a holistic education and say \u2018yes\u2019 to new experiences. It enriches their lives and improves their ability to connect and adapt.\u201d<\/p>\n

Each semester, he introduces MBA students to Dave McClellan, who served as CEO, board chair, and executive chair of Cargill\u2014America\u2019s largest private company\u2014from 2013 to 2023. McClellan, who earned an English degree before graduate studies in finance, stresses the importance of liberal arts to build critical thinking, sharpen persuasive communication, strengthen empathy, and deepen ethical judgement. Dierberger said it\u2019s one of the students’ most powerful memories.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe comes in all by himself and tells the students about his nontraditional path to the C-suite, and then he spends at least an hour answering their questions about leadership, service, and life,\u201d Dierberger said. \u201cHe reminds us that the humanities make leaders, not just managers. [Humanities disciplines] don\u2019t compete with a business education; they complete it.\u201d
\nHarvey agrees. The Auggie Cup sharpened his transferable skills and applied his liberal arts education to evaluate evidence, make reasoned arguments, solve unfamiliar problems, and adapt to new expectations and environments.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe experience showed me that I will not shy away from unique opportunities or challenges, even when they may seem difficult or outside my comfort zone. The competition reinforced the idea that saying \u2018yes\u2019 and being willing to try something new can lead to growth and unexpected opportunities that positively shape your career,\u201d he said. \u201cCommunication, collaboration, and empathy are critical skills that have helped me secure multiple internships and a full-time role after graduation.\u201d<\/p>\n

Harvey came to Augsburg to play football, but he stayed \u201ceven after that chapter ended\u201d because of the fulfilling, community-focused learning that has shaped him as a person and professional. After graduation in May, Harvey will move to Florida to work at Cherry Bekaert as a risk advisory associate.<\/p>\n

\n

Top image: Gesturing to a slide on further financial steps, Augsburg students share their ideas with an engaged crowd. (Photo by Courtney Perry)<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last fall, Ryan Harvey \u201926 arrived at Augsburg a week before classes began. Typically, he would have already been on campus\u2014running plays as the Auggies\u2019 quarterback\u2014but injuries sacked the Minnesota native\u2019s senior football season. Refusing to wallow, Harvey channeled his competitive spirit into a new opportunity to lead\u2014this time, in the corporate arena. The double <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":278,"featured_media":14452,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-14442","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-featured-stories"],"wps_subtitle":"Entrepreneurial contests and classes elevate an Augsburg business education.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/278"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=14442"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":14464,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/14442\/revisions\/14464"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/14452"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=14442"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=14442"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.augsburg.edu\/now\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=14442"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}