Adam Melnick, J.D., gets in people’s business. A lot.
And they appreciate him for it. Because Melnick, an assistant professor in the Metropolitan State University of Denver Department of Management, is not only passionate about helping others find success as entrepreneurs; he’s good at it, too.
Now, Melnick, who has more than a decade of experience working with entrepreneurs, has been named director of MSU Denver’s Center for Entrepreneurship. He also serves as the Kemper Family Endowed Chair of Entrepreneurship.
In his new role, Melnick said his focus will be on reinvigorating the Entrepreneurship Center, seeking funding and reviving programs including the public-private partnership that makes loans to MSU Denver-affiliated businesses, a program that helps professors across campus teach entrepreneurship and the campuswide business-pitch competition.
Melnick will continue to teach three classes per semester and oversee the Bachelor of Arts in Entrepreneurship program. He’ll also continue his work with nonprofits including Bluestar Recyclers, an electronics-recycling company that creates employment opportunities for people on the autism spectrum.
New chair of the Entrepreneurship Center, Adam Melnick, teaches the Business Management course. Photo by Josh Geurink
The MSU Denver Center for Entrepreneurship was created to prepare students to start businesses by providing a foundation in areas such as accounting, management, marketing and finance as well as in-person knowledge and skills gained through internships, case studies and projects that connect them to Denver businesses.
Melnick said many Front Range colleges and universities focus on promoting and nurturing high-growth, high-value enterprises. That’s not the case at MSU Denver. “Our students tend to be more in the vein of small family businesses,” he said.
Big investors may not be interested in bankrolling, for example, “my student who’s made hand-crocheted stuffed animals and is selling them on Facebook,” Melnick said.
“But if I can help her get more exposure and grow her business, that’s great,” he said. “We zag while others zig.”
An upcoming zag will be Melnick’s initiative to create an online marketplace and in-person pop-up shops that sell products created by MSU Denver students. He’s also reviving the business pitch-and-poster competition, which will take place April 30 and is open to all MSU Denver students, he said.
It’s no accident that students across disciplines are invited. Melnick doesn’t see entrepreneurship as a Business-majors-only endeavor. “Having the mindset of an entrepreneur is beneficial whether you’re a Business major or in the School of Hospitality or the College of Letters, Arts and Sciences.”
Melnick acknowledges that his new role will keep him busy. But he runs on energy that comes from a passion for entrepreneurship and belief in the power of business to do good.
“My view is that business is kind of humanity’s best hope,” he said. “Government isn’t going to solve our problems. The nonprofit sector is amazing, but they are not big enough to solve society’s problems. The only sector with the resources to solve societywide problems is business.”
He concedes that businesspeople haven’t always behaved in ways that benefit society. That’s why Melnick, who holds degrees in Environmental Law and Management, is involved in such efforts as Conscious Capitalism, which promotes capitalism as a catalyst for environmental responsibility and other social gains.
“I think the paradigm is changing,” Melnick said. “I think that businesses that incorporate a higher purpose into what they are trying to achieve can have enormous impact. And more and more research indicates that businesses that operate that way actually make more money in the long run.”
