SIFE Students Start non-profit

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Three Hillsdale College Students in Free Enterprise members signed the legal paperwork launching the club’s new non-profit business, ChargerResources, Inc., on Oct. 26.

ChargerResources buys merchandise in bulk and resells it for a profit on websites, such as Amazon and eBay, and in local newspapers. The business was started as both a learning project as well as a funding mechanism for future club projects, according to SIFE leaders.

“This makes the whole club more sustainable. Before, they appealed to the Student Federation every time they needed to do some big trip or presentation or investment,” said Keith Miller, assistant director of Career Services and faculty advisor to SIFE.

“I really like that this project focuses on that bottom line of turning a profit.”

ChargerResources made its first two sales last Thursday, said Hindle.

Presently, it is marketing surplus military equipment — like boots and sleeping bags — as well as tool boxes and electronic parts, said junior Joshua McGehee, project manager of ChargerResources.

Sophomore Katherine Kinell, marketing director, researches in-demand merchandise and advertises it, while McGehee buys, stores, and ships the materials.

“Currently everything is in my room,” McGehee said. “We are working on a P.O. box and bank account. We need to get our start up funds, then we could probably rent a storage unit.”

He said SIFE agreed to a start-up loan for ChargerResources to make initial purchases.

Junior Ben Hindle initiated the business and continues to lead the team as senior director of ChargerResources.

“We wanted to allow students to gain first-hand knowledge of how to start and run their own business,” he said. “So we thought — why don’t we learn and start up a business together?”

Kinell is appreciative for this learning opportunity.

“I think it’s a good experience because I’ve never done anything with marketing,” she said. “It’s really good to get this hands-on experience and find out if I really want to do this, and it looks great on a resumé.”

Miller encourages Hillsdale’s liberal arts graduates to pursue paths other than graduate school. He is confident they can obtain positions in Fortune 500 companies with “their comfort with the English language, and ability to reason and communicate in that context.”

“But it can be a stretch to communicate that to a recruiter when you have never done anything but take philosophy and history classes,” he said. “Even though you do have the skills there, you don’t have anything that demonstrates it.”

Involvement in ChargerResources, and other SIFE projects, shows the initiative and business-sense that will make Hillsdale students attractive candidates in the business world, Miller said.

Not only is ChargerResources a great resumé addition, Hindle said the majority of the business’ revenue will support SIFE and self-sustain it in the future. Also he would like to eventually donate a portion of its profit to a local charity.

Other integral members of the business are sophomores Madeleine Cooney, director of operations; Julie Finke, director of communications; and Maran McLeod, finance director.