Campus Currents

Walt Alderman wanted the students in his new Sustainable Business course at UNH Manchester to learn about the local economy by operating their own business. And he wanted that business to help the students, as well as members of the community, to see the value in buying locally made products. But a college semester is only 15 weeks long, so he wasted no time. On the first day, he taught the class a plan-implement-evaluate strategy for managing a business. Within three weeks, the students had come up with a business plan, and on the fourth week, Millyard Soaps opened its doors—or at least its web site (www.millyardsoaps.com) and a table in the foyer at UNH Manchester—and began selling handmade soaps.

New Hampshire, the class learned, has a surprisingly large number of soap makers. From a list of 14, they chose to distribute the products of five, including Dear Me Suds and Olive Me Soaps. Soap was the perfect product for his purposes, says Alderman, "because the foundation of the local economy is products people use on a regular basis." In addition, soap is neither perishable nor subject to special regulations.

By mid-semester, the business, launched with roughly $500 from Alderman's faculty-development budget, was turning a profit, and virtually every class session was a business meeting, where the students hashed out ways to solve problems as they arose. By April, the students were well on their way toward their goal of selling enough soap, roughly 600 bars, to fund a scholarship to enable a local high school student to take a course in sustainable business at UNHM. In addition, all their marketing efforts—online and in brochures distributed on foot at businesses in downtown Manchester—promote not only soap but also the concept of "buying local" as a means of saving energy and invigorating the local economy.

By mid-semester, the business, launched with roughly $500 from Alderman's faculty-development budget, was turning a profit, and virtually every class session was a business meeting, where the students hashed out ways to solve problems as they arose. By April, the students were well on their way toward their goal of selling enough soap, roughly 600 bars, to fund a scholarship to enable a local high school student to take a course in sustainable business at UNHM. In addition, all their marketing efforts—online and in brochures distributed on foot at businesses in downtown Manchester—promote not only soap but also the concept of "buying local" as a means of saving energy and invigorating the local economy.

"Even if people don't buy soap from us," says Kate Luczko, a senior business major who is in charge of external marketing for Millyard Soaps, "maybe there's something else they can switch to buying locally."

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