The Ernest C. Trefz School of Business Executive Speaker Series
Stephanie Blackwell, Founder and President of Aurora Products, presents “How to grow a small business in the world of big enterprise.”
Schedule
5:30 – 6:00 pm Refreshments
6:00 – 7:00 pm Presentation
7:00 – 7:30 pm Q&A, Networking
This free event is open to all UB students, faculty, staff, and the public. Seating is limited so please RSVP to Eileen Zoppi at ezoppi@bridgeport.edu or 203-576-4384.
About Stephanie Blackwell
After raising a family of four children, Stephanie Blackwell decided in 1998 to follow the All-American dream of owning her own business. She saw a need for All Natural and Organic offerings of assorted nuts, dried fruits, granolas and trail mixes in gourmet and supermarket stores, and headed out to seek customers.
After hiring only 4 employees, and borrowing some money from her personal credit cards, Stephanie packaged her new product line within a small warehouse space in downtown Bridgeport, Connecticut. The first few years were a struggle mixed with passion and hard work. Family members and employees became friends and worked hand in hand.
Now, celebrating twenty years, Stephanie has built Aurora Natural into one of the leading All Natural and Organic food brands in America. What once started as a business that packaged dried fruits and nuts using postal scales and tables draped with plastic covers, Aurora Products has grown to over 225 employees. A new 140,000 square foot facility has been built by Aurora in Orange, CT that is filled with state of the art roasting and packaging equipment.
The company strives to maintain high standards in food quality safety for all products and is one of the leaders in obtaining Safe Quality Food (SQF) Certification. Aurora is a family owned company with Stephanie at the helm joined by her son, Gregory, currently heading up the Safety Department.
Students interested in the Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership or the Educational Administration and Supervision Program (092) are invited to our Waterbury Center to meet the program directors and learn more about UB’s graduate-level offerings in the School of Education.
Our Open House is a great opportunity to:
- Find out about the application process
- Obtain important program details
- Meet department faculty
Students interested in the Division of Health Sciences are welcome to join us for information regarding the application process and program details. Program represented include: Acupuncture, Chiropractic, Dental Hygiene, Doctor of Health Sciences, Naturopathic Medicine, Nutrition, and Physician Assistant. Students will also be able to meet with current students and faculty and tour the facilities.
The University of Bridgeport Sammis Lecture Series presents “A US-China Trade War? Likelihood and Implications.”
Tuesday, April 10 at 6:00pm in Mandeville 104.
Speakers:
- John Xu – The U.S. Small Business Administration
- Sergei Kambalov – Diplomat, Economist, and Career United Nations Civil Servant
- Hongbing Deng – Import-Export Specialist in US-China Trade. CT’s 2012 Small Business Entrepreneur of the Year.
- Lloyd Gibson – Dean of the Trefz School of Business
- Congsheng Wu – Faculty, Trefz School of Business
- Joanne Guo – Faculty, Trefz School of Business
All are welcome! Email intlcoll@bridgeport.edu to RSVP.
Students interested in graduate programs at the University of Bridgeport are welcome to join us for information regarding the application process and program details. The graduate programs represented include Business, Engineering, Education, Design Management, Counseling, East Asian and Pacific Rim Studies, Global Media and Communication Studies, and Criminal Justice and Human Security.
Register for the date that works best for you:
Wednesday, May 23, 2018 (In this session, UB’s health sciences programs will also be represented.)