The UPLB Business Affairs Office (BAO) and the Department of Agribusiness Management and Entrepreneurship (DAME) of the College of Economics and Management conducted the “Basic Entrepreneurship: A Training on Enhancing the UPLB Entrepreneurial Mindset” for representatives of various income-generating units of the university on Oct. 20-21.

The training-workshop is the second learning event in the UPSKILL series aimed at upgrading, updating, and upscaling the knowledge and skills of UPLB offices that implement key income-generating projects (IGPs) and partner MSMEs in entrepreneurship and enterprise management.

UPSKILL started the training series with the first training-workshop on pricing strategies held on Sept 22-23, also at the Bayleaf in General Trias in Cavite. SKILL in UPSKILL means Seminars and Knowledge Information Learning on Entrepreneurship and Innovation Leadership.

Chancellor Jose Camacho, Jr. discussed in his welcome message to the participants the value of the training-workshop to unleash the entrepreneurial spirit of (our) employees. “This training will also take us one step closer to future-proofing our IGPs,” Chancellor Camacho said.

He pointed out that “commercialization of our knowledge products and technologies will enable us to sustainably distribute to our stakeholders the benefits of our R&D.”

DAME faculty members took a gamified approach in the training-workshop.

The training team was led by Dr. Mar Cruz, DAME director and had for its resource ‘players’ Gian Carlo de Jesus, Cris Edwin Bonalos, and Renen Szilardo De Guzman. The facilitators were Fitz Jimenez and Rei Chino Pua.

The participants went through three games and challenges named Aeropreneurship, Scamper, and UPSkill.

The first game – Aeropreneurship – tested the mettle of the participants in strategizing on how to maximize profits through teamwork, creative thinking, and problem solving.

Scamper, the second game, featured a challenge to the participants to develop an innovative product or service based on the observation of a market in the training area.

It was followed by UPSKill – a game where each team was given P1000 as start-up funds for a 3-hour fundraising activity. Most teams raised 100% to 400% profit from their capital.

The training participants were representatives from Accounting Office, Business Management Office, Cash Office, Internal Control Office, Legal Office,  Institute of Animal Science, Institute of Biological Sciences, National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, Dairy Training and Research Institute, FabLab of the UPLB Startup Innovation and Business Opportunities Linkages, Institute of Food Science and Technology, Institute of Human Nutrition and Food, Institute of Plant Breeding, Makiling Botanic Gardens, Makiling Center for Mountain Ecosystems, Museum of Natural History, Office of Student Housing, Training Center for Tropical Resources and Ecosystems Sustainability, Technology Transfer and Business Development Office, UPLB Alumni Association, and University Publications Office.

In the synthesis part of the training, the participants were asked to share their thoughts about their learnings and insights on entrepreneurship and being an entrepreneur.

Some said they felt excited by the possibilities, inspired, and hopeful. Others saw opportunities, potentials, solutions, possibilities for networking and collaboration, and for innovation.

Dr. Jennifer Marie Amparo, director of BAO, closed the training program, saying that developing UPLB into an entrepreneurial university is a process that requires creativity, collaboration, and commitment.