Southeast Missouri State University kicks off Global Entrepreneurship Week

Pasta House co-founder J. Kim Tucci never planned to make a career out of the restaurant industry.

In the few years following his 1962 graduation from St. Louis University, Tucci was a disc jockey at a rock 'n roll station, college professor and athletic trainer for the St. Louis Hawks basketball team.

"All these things were neat experiences at the time," Tucci told a capacity crowd of 400 students, college officials and community leaders inside Glenn Auditorium at Southeast Missouri State University Monday. "I was single and happy. ... There were many hours in the day and I loved to spend them."

In addition to his previous jobs, Tucci worked as a waiter, though he never dreamed he would be an owner of a chain that has more than 2,000 employees working at one of 33 locations mostly in Missouri, including one inside Cape Girardeau's West Park Mall.

Tucci told the students one key to his success in the food industry was waiting several years and gaining additional experience before opening the first Pasta House in 1974.

"When you get out of school, you don't have to open your own business right away," Tucci said. "You'll have to learn from other people. Seize every opportunity that presents itself to do other things."

He added that in any business it is important to exceed the customer's expectations, which Tucci believes the Pasta House has done in a business in which they compete with other family-style restaurants.

"You have to reach out and engage people," Tucci said. "We have to include ourselves and other people in what we're doing.

"Things don't matter," he added. "People will always matter."

Tucci was the keynote speaker during the Global Entrepreneurship Week opening ceremony. KFVS12 vice president and general manager Mike Smythe handled questions for Tucci from the audience and Cape Girardeau Mayor Jay Knudtson issued a proclamation declaring Nov. 17 to 21 as Global Entrepreneurship Week in the city.

This week students from Southeast are joining millions of collegians from more than 75 countries to celebrate an event featuring panels, presentations and competitions aimed at representing the diversity of real-world entrepreneurs.

In addition to Tucci, other speakers scheduled to appear throughout the week include Don Steen, director of the Missouri Department of Agriculture; Dennis Payne, retired president and chief executive officer of AT&T Advertising and Publishing; and Kevin Woelfel, director of the Lionel Hampton School of Music at the University of Idaho in Moscow, Idaho.

The week will end with the dedication of a virtual global cafe and presentation of the Imagine It! Innovation Challenge awards. Fifty-eight teams made up of students from residence halls, Greek social organizations, classes and other student groups throughout campus will attempt to create as much value as possible using duct tape. Each team will have until 6 a.m. Friday to chronicle their efforts in a three-minute video posted on YouTube. The audience during a Friday afternoon session will judge the winner of various categories.

Senior international business major Malia Mondy said that she was excited for the challenge that lies ahead for she and fellow teammates of Talking Smackk.

"This is a great way to get us to think in ways we haven't done before and using an object that we haven't used for such a purpose," said Mondy, whose team is comprised of classmates from an entrepreneurial business course.

Southeast President Kenneth Dobbins said developing an entrepreneurial mindset is critical for students to survive in today's market.

"We face some challenges in the 21st Century," Dobbins said. "Many of us know that entrepreneurship is the backbone of our country. And now is the time to think outside the box."

bblackwell@semissourian.com

388-3628