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Article Excerpt
When Pacific Coast National Bank decided it wanted to explore a new potential market in North County, it turned to an unlikely marketing research group: students. The students were part of Cal State San Marcos' business administration school, working on a senior project.
The San Clemente-based bank's assignment was to assess the market for homeowners associations. The four seniors spent two months last fall researching potential client needs, analyzing competition, examining costs and revenue, and recommending an action plan. Their conclusion: do not go forward.
The bank, with assets of $31 million and offices in Encinitas and San Clemente, was surprised by the outcome. But it listened.
"They showed us it was not the right thing for us as a small bank," said Michael Hahn, the president and chief operating officer. "Even though it was a negative outcome, it turned out to be positive, because we didn't have to spend a lot of time and resources to find that out later."
The project was part of the Senior Experience program offered by Cal State San Marcos, which sends students into businesses, while training them for the real world. It's kind of like "The Apprentice" TV show in action.
Increasingly, educational institutions in North County are creating such programs to train students, while serving the business...
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