SBA Names Richmond Senior Joel Erb Regional Young Entrepreneur of the Year
May 9, 2006
The Small Business Administration will present University of Richmond senior Joel Erb with its mid-Atlantic regional Young Entrepreneur of the Year award at a May 12 luncheon in Richmond.
Erb launched his Web design firm while a 15-year-old high school student by making a trip to New York to pitch his services to Armani, Calvin Klein and Hugo Boss. Now 22, Erb continued to operate the firm throughout his undergraduate days as a business major. Inet Network today has offices in downtown Richmond with six employees and revenues in the high-six figures.
“My first design work was for my middle school’s Web site,” Erb says in an upcoming Richmond Alumni Magazine story. His classmates’ parents saw Erb’s work and wanted similar sites for their businesses. The experience encouraged him to create mockups he showed to New York fashion moguls.
Although he leaves college with extensive business experience, Erb says he learned important lessons as a student at the Robins School of Business—especially contingency plans and diversification.
Erb already plans to launch a second company focusing on corporate graphics and branding, from brochures to billboards.