Owner of Narragansett Beer speaks to students
Chloe Thompson
Issue date: 3/7/08 Section: News
03/07/08 - Many college students don't like sitting through lectures, but when it comes to beer, they're bound to perk up a little.
That's what happened when Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Narragansett Beer, Mark Hellendrung, came to speak to the University of Rhode Island's Entrepreneurship Club Wednesday.
Hellendrung, casually sporting a vest bearing his company's name, didn't hand out free samples of his product, but he did give students some valuable business advice in Ballentine Hall.
He looked back on his years as former president of Nantucket Nectars, a famous juice company, and recalled his friend coming up with the pitch. "Somebody once said there aren't any new ideas, just borrowed ideas," Hellendrung said.
He then asked two volunteers from the audience to create the ideal paper airplane.
Onlookers, a bit confused, watched as he tossed his crumpled paper ball "airplane" with more accuracy than the other airplanes into a nearby target. He explained that, like with the airplanes, business is all about innovation.
"Who's to tell me that's not an airplane?" he said, gesturing to his paper ball. "That's innovation. And part of the key to this industry is accuracy."
Hellendrung told the students that small ideas can turn into large corporations overnight, and students should always strive to be creative. He used his friend at Nantucket Nectars as an example.
"He saw all these exotic fruits in Spain, and at the time there was not a whole lot out there for the juice industry," Hellendrung said. "He basically said, 'Why don't we have these in the U.S.?' and next thing you know we've got an $80 million company."
The same type of overnight success happened to Hellendrung, who bought his beer company from the Falstaff Brewery Corporation in 2005 and transformed it into the company it is today.
Narragansett Beer comprises about 2 percent of the beer market in Rhode Island, which might not seem like a big number to many, but Hellendrung said a lot of this market comes from the relationships he's developed among the community. He said he prefers to be small because it allows him to do "quick things" in terms of marketing, like putting more of his product in a store without having to go through mounds of paperwork.
That's what happened when Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Narragansett Beer, Mark Hellendrung, came to speak to the University of Rhode Island's Entrepreneurship Club Wednesday.
Hellendrung, casually sporting a vest bearing his company's name, didn't hand out free samples of his product, but he did give students some valuable business advice in Ballentine Hall.
He looked back on his years as former president of Nantucket Nectars, a famous juice company, and recalled his friend coming up with the pitch. "Somebody once said there aren't any new ideas, just borrowed ideas," Hellendrung said.
He then asked two volunteers from the audience to create the ideal paper airplane.
Onlookers, a bit confused, watched as he tossed his crumpled paper ball "airplane" with more accuracy than the other airplanes into a nearby target. He explained that, like with the airplanes, business is all about innovation.
"Who's to tell me that's not an airplane?" he said, gesturing to his paper ball. "That's innovation. And part of the key to this industry is accuracy."
Hellendrung told the students that small ideas can turn into large corporations overnight, and students should always strive to be creative. He used his friend at Nantucket Nectars as an example.
"He saw all these exotic fruits in Spain, and at the time there was not a whole lot out there for the juice industry," Hellendrung said. "He basically said, 'Why don't we have these in the U.S.?' and next thing you know we've got an $80 million company."
The same type of overnight success happened to Hellendrung, who bought his beer company from the Falstaff Brewery Corporation in 2005 and transformed it into the company it is today.
Narragansett Beer comprises about 2 percent of the beer market in Rhode Island, which might not seem like a big number to many, but Hellendrung said a lot of this market comes from the relationships he's developed among the community. He said he prefers to be small because it allows him to do "quick things" in terms of marketing, like putting more of his product in a store without having to go through mounds of paperwork.