Life-sized silver bananas will likely soon be a high priority for a group of five Wharton MBA students.
In January, the students will travel to La Oroya, Peru, to help its local silver artisans better sell their products.
"The project is designed to impact the overall community," said Lisa Linn De Barona, an administrator from the Global Consulting Practicum, a Wharton-run initiative that pairs business students with "social impact" programs and is sponsoring the trip.
As part of this six-month long project, the students will work with their counterparts from La Universidad Del Pacifico of Lima, who will help identify the artisans and pair them with Penn business students. They will then work to help the silversmiths "break into" the U.S. market and sell their products abroad.
Wharton students will market products ranging from silver picture frames to roses to bananas. They will gather data and attend artisan trade shows in Peru.
At the end of the project, the students will be responsible for presenting recommendations to improve the workers' marketability.
"These social impact projects allow Wharton students to give back early in their careers," said Marketing professor Leonard Lodish, leader of the Practicum. He added that this was a good opportunity to help turn a local craft into a global product.
However, funding projects like these is usually a problem, he added.
But this time, the Doe Run Co. - a natural resources firm based in St. Louis - has come to the rescue, he said. Its subsidiary, the Doe Run Peru, agreed to fund the project by covering the research costs as well as the logistical and administrative costs of the study.
"The artisans in this area work in an isolated fashion," said Victor Andreas, a spokesman for the Doe Run Peru. "Our aim is to help them organize themselves so that they can create an export offer for international markets."
He also said that he thinks the silversmiths will be very pleased to know that these students want to help.
But Andreas isn't the only one excited about the project.
"I think projects like these are admirable," said Wharton junior Jason Mischel, president of the undergraduate division of the Microfinance Club.
But opportunities are limited for undergraduates to get involved in similar business service projects, he said. "There isn't enough funding for such projects."
