As a Loyola student, College of Music technology coordinator Jay Crutti imagined students running their own businesses while utilizing Loyola’s resources and using classroom education in real life situations.
Crutti later realized this dream when he and music industry professor John Snyder started a series of businesses, or entrepreneurial units, in 2005, and Loyola donated used equipment, computers, office space and donations to them. The businesses are meant to function as services that anyone — students or companies — can hire and offer student rates as a policy.
“We really push them to start from Loyola but work more and more off campus as well,” Crutti said.
“These are real companies that run their own affairs and deal with their own responsibilities, failures and successes,” he said. “The companies aren’t classroom education so much as a chance to gain real world experience. They are expected and demanded to be profitable, while implementing what they learned.”
The companies are professional and pay their employees for the work that they do, but a lot of the money earned is put forth to allow the companies to grow even more.
There are no class requirements for positions in any of the companies, and employees can be hired just as easily as they can be fired.
Crutti heads four businesses: Nola Sound, a live sound provider; Vital Sounds, a studio recording company; Mark-It Designs, a graphic art company; and a nameless video production company.
Nola Sound was the first formed business in early 2006 and started out with old public announcement equipment until they had the revenue to buy their own system and speakers.
The company produces the sound for all of the UPB Third Friday events, Battle of the Bands and the upcoming Loyola Maroon and Gold Party on May 2, he said.
They’re also looking to work with non-profit organizations that need lower competitor prices over the summer. The company’s main goal is to expand the business outside of Loyola, as they only employ from ten to fifteen people now.
Vital Sounds was created later in fall of 2006 and uses Loyola’s recording studios to record both student and professional artists. They advertise in New Orleans-based offBeat Magazine and also created a compilation of the company’s work to add to the orientation package for music industry freshman.
In the future, the company is looking to hire session musicians and record live shows (including local musicians, church and school groups and professors’ books on tape) in collaboration with Nola Sound.
In order to become a paid employee, students must hold an apprenticeship with the company, pass an engineering test and then go through a proceeding merit system. There are about 12 engineers returning in the fall, and the company is looking for as many apprentices as possible.
The newest business is Mark-It Design and was set up over the past year as a graphic design company. Business director and communication senior Emily Carlson defined the company as “generating creative and consistent design strategies,” with branding services, package design, advertising, logo design, invitation printing, poster printing and Web site design.
The company hires based on an application and portfolio, and the designers are assigned to projects accordingly. The board of seniors who set up the company will hand the company to the junior board member and visual graphics junior, Hope King, next year.
The company has designed many posters, including student recital posters and breast cancer awareness banners at the Howlin’ Wolf. They are currently designing a Web site of their own and one for a client.
