Hat World co-founder to speak

When Scott Molander and Glenn Campbell created Hat World, Inc., in 1995, it was a temporary store in Tippecanoe Mall in Lafayette. It has since grown into a chain of over 480 stores nationwide. Hat World also plans to open stores in South Korea and China.\nMolander, now executive vice president of Real Estate at Hat World, will be the keynote speaker at IU's fourth annual Entrepreneur Day at the Kelley School of Business. He is scheduled to speak at 1 p.m. Friday in Room 0036 of the Kelley Graduate and Executive Education Center. The Johnson Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the Young Entrepreneur's Association co-organized the event.\nBefore Hat World, Molander and Campbell were managers at Foot Locker outlets, where Molander said hats were a big seller.\n"The more hats I got, the more I sold," Molander said. "Foot Locker sold a lot of hats without even trying."\nJoe Denekamp, faculty adviser to the Young Entrepreneur's Association, said Molander's story is one students can relate to because of Hat World's modest beginnings.\n"He has a great story to tell," Denekamp said. "This is much like how Kinko's was started out of a knapsack."\nFollowing Molander's speech, there will be a panel discussion titled "Why Indiana: Fertile Ground for Entrepreneurship." The panel will consist of leaders from Indiana business industries, including Steve Humke, partner at the law firm Ice Miller, Tim Michel, principal director of Real Estate Management Services at Colliers Turley Martin Tucker, Jane Martin, general partner in Village Ventures, Inc., and Mack McCormack, president of AuthorHouse, a publishing company based in Bloomington. Michel, Martin and McCormack are all IU alumni.\nDenekamp said he hopes the panel will help dispel the myth that Indiana is not a good place to start a business, since Indiana is highly ranked in many surveys.\n"Indianapolis is a very strong place to start and grow a business," Denekamp said.\nHe said one way to ensure the best and brightest students stay in Indiana is for them to start and grow businesses here.\n"They can stay here themselves and hire our graduates," Denekamp said.\nSue Artmeier, assistant director of the Johnson Center, said she hopes Entrepreneur Day will inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs in Indiana.\n"There are a lot of people who have ideas and who are always thinking, 'I should start a business,' but they have no idea how to start," Artmeier said.\nDenekamp said the event is not just for students at the business school but for anyone who has aspirations of starting a business. \n"The fact is a lot of businesses are started by people who never come through (the) business school," Denekamp said.\nHe said many people from informatics, music and science departments have started their own businesses.\nSenior Michael Shapiro, CFO of the Young Entrepreneur Association, said the event gives students a chance to network with each other and hear how established entrepreneurs got started. \n"They can take what they learned and use it in their own lives," Shapiro said.\nEntrepreneur Day is open to the public at no cost. The event is expected to last until 5 p.m. Friday. Seating is limited. Registration is available by contacting the Johnson Center at 855-4248 or at jeci@indiana.edu.\n-- Contact staff writer Steven Chung at stchung@indiana.edu.