Two alumni guest speakers will give presentations as part of Entrepreneurship Week, which starts Wednesday and goes through Nov. 14.

Mike McKenna, an Eastern alum, and Diamond McKenna, who owns Diamond Assets LLC, are the first guest speakers and will give their presentation at 7 p.m. Wednesday in the Lumpkin Hall Auditorium.

Dale Morrissey, an Eastern alum and CEO of the Developmental Services Center, will be the second speaker at 7 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Lumpkin Hall Auditorium.

Diamond Assets buys and resells refurbished Apple hardware and is the seventh-fastest growing company on the Inc. 5000 list of businesses in the United States.

Developmental Services Center places people with disabilities in local business, helps them find jobs and helps them be more independent.

Mike McKenna and Diamond McKenna will discuss business entrepreneurship while Morrissey will be talking about social entrepreneurship.

Marketing professor Marko Grünhagen said he hopes the speakers expand what students think entrepreneurship is.

“We want students to be aware of the different ways that people actually be entrepreneurs,” Grünhagen said.

Taylor Gresens, treasurer of the Entrepreneurship Club, said she hopes there is a good turnout for the speakers and hopes the students can see what it takes to up their own business.

“Both speakers that are coming have turned their passions into business, so if students can see that it doesn’t necessarily have to be the standard brick-and-mortar store,” Gresens said.

Gresens said if students can find their own personal interests and find a way to turn that into a business, then they will be able to do what they love and make a profit at the same time.

Students will be able to meet both speakers at a meet-and-greet reception in the Lumpkin Hall student lounge following the speeches.

Katelyn Eddington can be

reached at 581-2812 or

at kdeddington@eiu.edu.