ThisWeek UA 2/9/2011
The rise of China as a global economic powerhouse has given rise to a new business in Upper Arlington.
“All the experts say the future is China,” said Chris Stellato, an Upper Arlington resident and founder of the Columbus School of Chinese.
“The emergence of China in business made this [youth Chinese course] popular because of UA residents’ forward thinking about their kids’ education,” Gant said. “This program is a great place to get a little exposure and see if they want to go further in their learning.”
Stellato and business partner Zhiwei Bi believe the city’s business-savvy and education-minded residents will be the right match for his school’s offerings: Chinese language courses, private tutoring and cultural consulting.
However, like many new businesses, the startup didn’t have any capital to invest in leasing space.
Matt Shad, deputy city manager for economic development, took notice of a flyer for the school last month while visiting Colin’s Coffee on Riverside Drive. Shad’s curiosity brought him together with the business owners to discuss their plans and their dilemma over finding affordable space.
“I knew we had a great idea and a lot of people wanted to be a part of it; that’s what I knew we had,” Stellato said. “But what we didn’t have was money for a storefront. So we did some brainstorming and thought maybe we could get in with a school system. That’s when we met Matt and he asked, ‘How can the city help?’”
Shad said his role is to look for ways to help nurture business growth.
After talking with Stellato and Bi, he introduced them to James Gant, city youth recreation supervisor, to see if there might be room to partner with the Parks and Recreation Department’s Lifelong Learning & Leisure program.
“One piece of my job is to make connections, so I listen for what a business can bring to the city and what we have that can benefit them,” Shad said. “That’s how we create successful private-public partnerships.”
In this case, it made sense to connect with Parks and Recreation because the department could offer space in return for the business’ offerings, he said.
Gant said he was immediately impressed by the entrepreneurs’ passion and how well developed their lesson plans were.
Shannon Chaney, Lifelong Learning & Leisure director, said this is the first time the program has engaged a brand new venture and acted as a business incubator.
The key, Gant said, is that a business getting its start through the Lifelong Learning & Leisure program must offer students a real experience and create enough interest to pay for it or the program will not offer the class. The city isn’t here just to provide businesses a stage to pitch other services to students, he said.
The proposal process for classes is available online. The Parks and Recreation Department reviews all submissions and interviews potential instructors to determine that the class type and lesson plan are a good fit for the city.
Stellato is working on his doctorate in Chinese Language Pedagogy at the Ohio State University, where he taught Chinese language courses and participated in an 18-month Chinese immersion exchange; he also taught English in China. Bi continues to teach at OSU while working to further grow the business.
The Parks and Recreation Department removed the risk that the business could not afford to take, Stellato said.
“It’s the perfect partnership; the city provides space and we provide expert teachers and classes. They’re clearly desired by how quickly they filled up,” Stellato said. “I am grateful for this opportunity and how smoothly it has gone working with the city. We’re already looking to hire a few more teachers for this summer.”
Winter session courses have already begun. For more information on the upcoming spring & summer courses contact Lifelong Learning & Leisure at 614-583-5333 or http://uaoh.net/.