Michigan entrepreneur donates
20 motorcycles to CBA

Celani gift challenges CBA students

Tom Celani, president of Motor City Harley-Davidson and Buell in Farmington, Michigan, donated 20 motorcycles to the College of Business Administration with the provision that marketing students use the gift to test-run in the real world what they’ve been learning in the classroom.

Six CBA business students spread the word about the sale of six Motor City motorcycles on eBay – the first installment of a larger gift from Celani and his wife, Vicki, both longtime supporters of CMU. The bikes raised more than $64,000 for the college.

“I think this is a great stepping stone,” Celani said, announcing the gift in a Warriner Mall ceremony. “I think there are a lot of great alumni in this country who have their own businesses and would love to promote them through this college in this way.

Interim Dean Dan Vetter said the gift is particularly significant because it supports the college’s goal to provide students with real-world learning experiences.

“The generous gift from Tom Celani not only benefits the College of Business Administration financially but also helps facilitate a learning experience for some of its students,” Vetter said. “This is a hands-on education experience that helps prepare students for careers in business.”

The gift enables the college and Celani to implement a three-step approach to enhancing the educational experience of CBA students:

• Marketing. A student marketing team has been established to market the bikes.
• Investment. Proceeds from the sales of the bikes are being invested into a portfolio managed by students.
• Entrepreneurship. Investment earnings will be used to fund a student venture capital business plan competition.

CBA students embrace project
with enthusiasm

As a motorcycle enthusiast and dirt bike racer, entrepreneurship major Yuki Watanabe jumped at the chance to be project manager for the marketing of the first six of the 20 Harley-Davidson and Buell motorcycles donated by Celani.

“I was already into motorcycles, but I’ve learned a lot – just to get to deal with different people outside of class, to get into the real world and into the mindset of what it’s like to do business with people,” Watanabe said. “We’re trying to set a high standard.”

The marketing team now will submit a formal marketing plan to Celani, and this, in turn, will be used next spring to market the remaining motorcycles donated by Celani.

“I feel we did our best,” Watanabe said of the initial auction. “I have learned the importance of promotion and advertising and how much creativity and teamwork it takes in the real world. Overall, I think we raised quite a bit of money for CBA considering the amount of time we had to get the word out. Our most effective approach was the CMU alumni e-mail blast.”

Other marketing students involved in the project were Ashley Hempton, entrepreneur major; Dan Hellerstedt, management information systems and operations management major; Nick D’Ambrosio, management information systems major; Derek Parmenter, entrepreneur major; and Scott Lemke, marketing and hospitality services administration major.

Tom Celani, president of Motor City Harley-Davidson and Buell

CBA marketing students kicked off the first round of promotion for the Celani motorcycle auctions. Pictured, left to right, are Scott Lemke, Dan Hellerstedt, Yuki Watanabe, Nick D’Ambrosio, and Derek Parmenter. Ashley Hempton is not pictured.