Bryan-College Station, TX (April 2, 2025) |
The 2024-2025 Integrated Business Experience (IBE) class of Texas A&M Mays Business School generated a record $137,305 in revenue, with earnings of more than $57,000 donated to local charities.
Early in the semester the students pitched their business concepts to a panel of financial experts from Aggieland Credit Union. The credit union awarded start-up funding to the businesses based on the judges’ assessment of the product concept, manufacturing, and sales and marketing strategy they presented.
“This year’s teams were remarkably innovative with their product concepts, which showed through in their sales,” said Blake Petty, Executive Director of the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship at Texas A&M University and instructor for the IBE course. “One business had revenue of $42,343 and three others had revenue of more than $15,000 each.”
Petty added, “For the first time the students were able to use official A&M trademarks and brands, which elevated their product designs, setting new class sales, earnings, and donation records for the program.”
The biggest beneficiaries of the IBE program were the local charities that reaped the earnings of each IBE business. Ten local nonprofits received donations ranging from $926 to $17,512 from the IBE business class of 2024-2025.
- Voices for Children received donations from Build-a-Rev and Rev’s Refresh for $17,512
- Brazos Valley Cares received $8,515 in donations from the 12th Brand and Aggie Glow Co.
- Aggieland Aces donated $7,922 to the Aggieland Humane Society
- Maroon & Metal gave $7,424 to the Brazos Valley Food Bank
- OnRamp received a donation of $6,272 from JigSaw ‘Em Off Puzzles
- Patriot PAWS Service Dogs was the recipient of $3,112 from Prints for Paws
- Scented Stories gave $2,712 to the REACH project
- The Boys and Girls Club of the Brazos Valley received $1,460 from Tradition Trays
- Paws & Claws Wildlife Rehabilitation Center was the beneficiary of $1,216 from the Ag Swag Co.
- Whoop Wearables donated $926 to Special Olympics
Leveraging the A&M brand allowed the IBE companies to develop products such as the best-selling LEGO brick model of Reveille, Texas A&M’s mascot. Build-a-Rev earned two-and-a-half times more than the second highest earning company, Maroon & Metal.
“Besides providing seed funding for the IBE companies, our role in the program is to help mentor the students in financial matters so that they can master the skills needed to succeed in business,” said Tina Muth, AVP, Aggieland Credit Union Executive Officer. “Being the official credit union of Texas A&M allows us to partner with the university and its students to enrich the learning experience through real-life applications like starting, growing, and building a business.”
