Carroll College is entering into the second year of its Entrepreneur in Residence program. John McCarvel, Carroll class of 1979 and former CEO and President of Crocs, Inc., will serve as the 2015-16 Entrepreneur in Residence.
The goal of the Entrepreneur in Residence program is to expose students to real-world practical instruction in the formation and advancement of new business ventures that can result in viable businesses. New for this year is a one-credit class devoted to the program, as well as the availability of seed funding up to $2,500 for each selected project.
The program began with a kickoff lecture by McCarvel in early November and is followed by proposal reviews in January where multidisciplinary teams present their ideas. Up to five proposals will be selected for further mentoring. McCarvel will visit in-person monthly with the multidisciplinary teams in addition to bi-weekly tele-conferencing calls to help bring the proposals to fruition.
"As Carroll College alum, I have drawn strong correlations between my family, upbringing and Carroll College education to my successes in high tech and consumer goods. I have enjoyed being on the Board of Trustees for the past two years and look forward to being this year's Entrepreneur in Residence." said McCarvel.
McCarvel brings an extensive amount of global experience and business acumen to Carroll. McCarvel served as Chief Executive Officer and President of Crocs, Inc. from 2010 until his retirement in 2014. He was instrumental in building the company’s global operations infrastructure, global wholesale and direct to consumer channels, as well as spearheading Crocs’ Asian business operations. He started as a consultant for the fledgling company in 2004, moved into the role of Vice President of Crocs Asia before being promoted to Chief Operating Officer and Executive Vice President in 2006, a position he held from 2006 – 2010.
Prior to joining Crocs, McCarvel worked in the high tech industry for 25 years where he was the Asian Vice President for the Design, Test and Semiconductor division of Flextronics, served as President of U.S. Operations and Senior Vice President of Worldwide Sales and Marketing for Singapore Technologies, as well as having worked for Micron, Inc., Dovatron International and Adaptec. He and his family have lived and worked in Singapore on two different occasions; Paris, France; San Jose, California; Boulder, Colorado; Boise, Idaho; and now currently reside in Denver, Colorado.
McCarvel’s latest ventures include investments in multiple start-up companies as well as serving as chairman of the board and lead investor for Xero Shoes, and board member for BackJoy (a health and wellness company).
McCarvel received his Bachelor of Science from Carroll College in 1979 and is currently a member of Carroll College’s Board of Trustees.