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It's an opportunity for students to take what they've learned in the classroom and apply it in a real-world setting. And it's a chance for businesses to support Aggies while getting "high-quality" results.
AiB, or Aggies in Business, operates as a nonprofit organization affiliated with Texas A&M University through the Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship at the Mays Business School.
AiB Consulting does projects for paying clients, said Jessica L. Pullen, director of sales and marketing for AiB Consulting, who is also a marketing student.
"There's no better experience than knowing what you're doing is having an effect on how a company operates," Pullen said.
AiB started in September 2006, primarily with students working on master's degrees, Pullen said, adding that in the future the program will include undergraduate and graduate students, both within and outside the business school.
AiB Consulting lines up projects that are billed at $50 an hour. They typically range from 100 to 300 hours, per semester, although Pullen said some have taken as few as 25 hours, some as many as 640 hours.
Businesses can hire the part-time workers for tasks such as developing business and marketing plans; conducting market research, feasibility studies, surveys and analysis; and brand development.
The project is designed to give students experience they wouldn't get elsewhere and to help businesses get quality work at a discount.
"We would hope that people would want to work with students and believe in the purpose of the company," Pullen said. "Especially now, more than ever in the state of the economy, we're offering the same thing you'd get at another consultant firm for a fraction of the cost."
In addition, she said, companies using AiB get fresh perspectives, students with diverse backgrounds and access to the university's resources.
Pullen said AiB works year-round but tries to wrap projects up in a semester so client companies don't have to switch consultants.
AiB is run by students except for a general manager, who provides continuity, Pullen said.
The students have mentors on each project.
The clients
One happy client is Houston-based Salient Pharmaceuticals Inc. "I get a good product, and I like what I get" at a fair price, said Chief Executive Office Richard Scruggs. "They're able to take a project off my plate and handle it for me." He's used AiB three times.
One project involved research to help the company secure a patent for a drug to deal with side effects of cancer. The students came through with flying colors.
"I wouldn't use them if they didn't do a good job," Scruggs said. Students, he said, represent a great resource and are smart, motivated and eager to learn.
"I view it as a win-win deal," Scruggs said. "I get a good product, and they are hopefully learning something."
Scruggs, who once worked in the university's business school, said it was "definitely a plus to me to be able to help the students."
'Too good to pass up'
For 22-year-old Chris Smith, AiB is "an opportunity you really aren't going to find anywhere else."
Smith, who started with AiB last July, said he'd worked as a consultant on a project dealing with a business expansion plan for a company that provides continuing medical education. He said the work included market analysis to determine whether students would be interested in the product.
On a project he managed, students researched state towing laws.
"It's not a typical leadership organization ... this is something where there is cash flow involved," Smith said. "You represent your business, and you're trying to help other businesses out there trying to grow."
Smith, who will graduate in May with an accounting degree, said the companies with which he's interviewed have been impressed with his work with AiB. An opportunity to differentiate yourself is crucial in this economy, he said.
Juan Saravia, president and chief executive officer of Comercios Industriales, graduated from Texas A&M in 1998 and has stayed in touch with several friends who introduced him to AiB, he said.
His Guatemala City-based company manages brand names and works to give them a spot in the global market, Saravia said.
His company has been pleased with AiB's work on two project, he said.
"I personally have a deep appreciation and respect toward the American people and, being a Texas A&M alumnus, I have an affinity toward the university," Saravoa said. "Now that I am involved in building a professional career, AiB has given me the opportunity to start expressing my thoughts and ideas in a professional way."
