Founder of Kinko’s to Speak at Forum

Paul J. Orfalea’s entrepreneurial success story is well-documented.

Fresh out of college in 1970 with barely enough money to purchase the most basic equipment, Orfalea opened a copying business near UC Santa Barbara. Almost 30 years later, his Kinko’s operation is known around the world for its document copying and business services.

So it makes sense that Orfalea, the local boy made good, has been selected as the keynote speaker for the Mathews Management Forum on March 5 at Cal Lutheran University.

The program, designed to show students the entrepreneurial opportunities available to them, also will include a round-table discussion about entrepreneurship.

“The purpose of the forum is to bring the college student together with the businessperson and to illustrate the importance of entrepreneurship, which is certainly an alternative for many of them,” said Ronald Hagler, director of Cal Lutheran’s MBA program.

“There’s been an explosion of entrepreneurship in the United States,” he said. “We’re in the midst of this revolution of the spirit, almost, in the discovery of the power of the entrepreneurial mind-set. You can seize the opportunity by providing some imagination, tenacity and leadership.”

Hui Ling Tanouye, administrator of the Ventura County Entrepreneur Academy, agreed with Hagler’s assessment.

“More and more Americans are finding self-employment an attractive alternative to unemployment,” she said. “One out of every 11 Americans is self-employed. Last year, more than half of new businesses that were started, were started in someone’s home.”

While there may be many opportunities, Hagler admitted that entrepreneurship is not for everyone.

“Some folks can’t handle the risk,” he said. “There are a lot of paradoxes in it--ambiguity and uncertainty versus planning and rigor, creativity fighting against discipline, patience that battles against urgency.”

For more information on the forum, call (805) 493-3151.