Morrisville State College professor spends summer volunteering in Kenya and Lebanon

Morrisville State College professor Dr. Christopher Scalzo took his vast entrepreneurial expertise overseas this summer to help several companies in Kenya and Lebanon.



The associate professor of business and entrepreneurship first traveled to Kenya, East Africa, for three weeks to continue his efforts in helping a soy and maize producing company enhance its operations.



Scalzo, of Liverpool, traveled to Kenya through the Farmer-to-Farmer Organization as part of CNFA, (originally the Citizens Network for Foreign Affairs), a private, nonprofit organization which strives to produce sustainable growth and reduce poverty by nurturing entrepreneurship.



During his three-week trip, Scalzo assisted Soy Afric, Limited, a company located in an industrial area in Nairobi, Kenya's capital with an accounting system upgrade. Last summer, he helped them redesign the plant layout, assess their production flow and implement a new accounting system.



While he was in Kenya, he was also asked to give a seminar on entrepreneurship and presentations on business law, business research methods and accounting and financial analysis at Africa Nazarene University.



“It was an honor to teach in another country at the graduate level,” Scalzo said.



Scalzo also traveled to Lebanon for three weeks through the Agricultural Cooperative Development International/Volunteers in Overseas Cooperative Assistance (ACDI/VOCA) to help several companies in the organic food industry create a business model and conduct financial analysis.



ACDI/VOCA is a private, international development nonprofit organization based in Washington, D.C, which promotes economic opportunities for cooperatives, enterprises and communities through the innovative application of sound business practice.



Scalzo returned with ideas he will implement in the classroom to help his students gain a better understanding of business models.



This was Scalzo's first volunteer effort in Lebanon and his second trip to Africa. Three years ago, he spent part of his summer helping dairy farmers in Honduras, where he was recognized with a President's Volunteer Service Award, a prestigious national honor which lauds volunteer service.



Scalzo is a member of the United States Association for Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), an organization dedicated to advancing entrepreneurship.