CORVALLIS, Ore. - An Oregon State University graduate who has already started two successful start-up companies since he graduated in 2006 will speak about his entrepreneurial vision in a presentation at OSU on Thursday, Jan. 28, from noon to 1:20 p.m.

Ryan Kirkpatrick's talk, "From OSU to Snowboarding on Your Quad: One Entrepreneur's Story," will detail how he went from being a student in OSU's Austin Entrepreneurship Program to creating two successful start-ups in high fashion and innovative event production industries.

While at OSU, Kirkpatrick majored in general science, with minors in entrepreneurship and chemistry. His experiences at OSU gave him the skill set and versatility to go on to a successful business career.

One of Kirkpatrick's notable startups is Galvanic Design, creator of the Campus Rail Jam Tour, a unique promotional tour that travels to 12 different college campuses around the western U.S. and puts on snowboarding exhibitions in the middle of college campuses.

Kirkpatrick also recently founded, along with OSU business alum Dan Genco ('05), Shwood Shades, a company that manufactures high-end sunglasses made of exotic woods. The company showcases two of the main values that are part of OSU's College of Business and the Austin Entrepreneurship Program: innovation and sustainability. Handmade in Portland, the sunglasses are made of sustainably harvested wood and have created a buzz in the snowboarding world as well as in high-fashion blogs.

Kirkpatrick's talk, which is part of the Entrepreneur in Residence Series, will be held at the Construction & Engineering Hall of OSU's LaSells Stewart Center, 875 S.W. 26th St., Corvallis. It is free and open to the public.

Source: 

Christopher Klemm, 541-713-8044

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