“Growing a Company on Campus”
Like many UMBC students, Andy Lufburrow has a job that earns him money and keeps him busy between classes. But Lufburrow’s work is not your usual off-campus employment. He’s the founder and CEO of his own company, Digimo, a web-development firm with a client base of major corporations and headquarters in the UMBC Technology Center. At least it’s an easy commute from work to class.
As a freshman, Lufburrow presented his business plan to the UMBC Technology Center and became the first student entrepreneur to set up shop in the center’s high-tech incubator program. It wasn’t just the economical office space that Lufburrow found attractive about the incubator environment–it was the advice, mentoring, and exposure that the Tech Center could provide. His advisory board includes respected members of the information technology industry as well as the University, and they have opened doors–to clients and to venture capital–for the fledgling firm. And Digimo’s employee base expanded from immediate family and friends to the enormous talent pool of UMBC students. In fact, tapping the creative and technical potential of student employees has become one of Digimo’s prime selling points–it offers clients fresh, eager, young talent to tackle their Internet needs, as well as providing a source for highly trained future employees.
For UMBC students, Digimo offers a tremendous opportunity to learn cutting-edge skills in a real-world business setting. It takes juggling to balance work and academics, but Lufburrow is a good role model.
