Hunter III, James

jhhunter@uwm.edu

(414) 758-0183

Lubar Hall N497

• LEC Teaching Fellows

Mr. Hunter is Bostrom Entrepreneur-in-Residence and has taught entrepreneurship courses at the Lubar School of Business since the late-1990’s. He is the president/managing member of three companies, CFO of one company, Executive Vice--President of one companies, and director of three companies/organizations.

Jim has mentored students and others as they have purchased or started a business. His objective has been to help entrepreneurs to create successful businesses. Jim, himself, bought a failing business early in his career and he worked, unsuccessfully, to turn the company around. He lost everything he owned except for a car and a home with a mortgage. Family members went to work as Jim started three activities to make income to support the family (started a distribution company to sell the products previously sold in his failed business; started a management consulting business to help small businesses; started teaching at UWM. After starting several businesses, Jim sold two of them for significant profits. He continues teaching, acting as an advisor to individuals starting and running companies, and serving on free-market-oriented non-profit boards.

I can offer...

• Interactive Discussions + Mentorship: I am available to hold interactive discussions with student groups on all aspects entrepreneurship (the good, the bad and the ugly) and students’ interests in starting their own businesses.  I also have been engaged in continuing mentoring work with persons (usually students) who wish to start their own businesses.

• Advice on starting and growing your company. Have real world experience on this subject.  I have done it – sometimes not successfully and sometimes successfully.

• Connections with Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization. Was the initial faculty advisor when UWM first joined the Global CEO organization over 12 years ago.  Have continued as faculty advisor and have attended every Global CEO Conference since UWM joined the Global CEO.

Courses

BUS ADM 447 - Entrepreneurship

About the Entrepreneurship Course:

This course was started by Jim's predecessor in the late 1980’s and was tailored around the “Manufacturing” Course taught by General Georges Doriot at the Harvard Business School in the 1950’s and 1960’s. The tradition has continued under the guidance of Jim Hunter since the late 1990’s. Jim has written the cases used in the course from his personal experience in the actual business situation described in the cases (six major cases and eight one-page cases). The course is oriented to the student “doing” rather than studying and taking a test. Two cases involve student teams negotiating – the purchase of a business and bankruptcy situation. The students also role play the selling situation in class – selling to a guest who was the actual sales person in the case. The students act as the bank loan committee and decide if the entrepreneur gets the loan. The students create financial statements for their venture starting with a blank sheet of paper. The final activity in the class is to present a new business idea in a written business plan and a Power Point presentation to two investors from the community.