Barron’s WPSU show to highlight entrepreneurship, small business development

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — The best practices for and challenges facing student entrepreneurs and small business owners will be discussed during the next episode of WPSU Penn State’s “Digging Deeper” with Penn State President Eric J. Barron. The show will premiere at 11:30 a.m. on Sunday, Jan. 15, on WPSU-TV.

Barron will welcome Ishana Shekhawat, an entrepreneur and Penn State mechanical engineering graduate student, and Heather McWhorter, director of the Penn State Small Business Development Center, as the group explores student entrepreneurship and small business development, and Penn State’s role in promoting them.

In addition to the Sunday morning premiere, WPSU’s “Digging Deeper: Starting a Business” will air at 6 p.m. on Jan. 15 on WPSU-TV and at 8 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 19, on WPSU-FM. 

Shekhawat developed PlayPhysio, a breath-controlled video game to ensure exercise and improve lung health, after visiting a trauma center in Delhi, India, in 2014. The entrepreneur has utilized Invent Penn State’s Happy Valley Lunchbox and the Penn State Summer Founders Program as she developed her product.

“The resources at Penn State have helped me tremendously. Not just in terms of the opportunities available but also with respect to the people who are there to offer advice and help whenever I was stuck,” Shekhawat said. “A college environment that is nurturing to student entrepreneurs will definitely increase the visibility of entrepreneurship as a viable next step.”

McWhorter leads the Penn State Small Business Development Center, which offers no-cost, confidential consulting services and seminars for small businesses and entrepreneurs, including Penn State students, in Centre and Mifflin counties. The Penn State SBDC helped start 29 new businesses in 2015 while helping secure $7.5 million in financing for area businesses.

A new episode of “Digging Deeper” will air each month during the academic year. Visit the “Digging Deeper” website for more information and to watched archived episodes.