Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation
Back 9 Dips was born from products the Mealeys created for their barbeque catering business.
At the urging of friends and happy customers, the couple turned a favorite recipe - Bubba’s Buffalo Chicken Dip – “The Chicken Wing on a Chip” - into an entrepreneurial venture that grew into a successful business.
In less than four years, the Mealeys have transformed a small catering business into a company that sells products in 4,000 retail outlets nationwide and ships to customers from coast to coast. David serves as president and Nique works as director of marketing for their growing company.
The Mealeys and Back 9 Dips have been heard on the “Bubba The Love Sponge” syndicated radio program and seen on ABC-TV’s “Shark Tank,” “The List” and “Good Day Tampa Bay.” The couple has also been profiled in Entrepreneur Magazine.
Michael D. Solomon Speaker Series
The Michael D. Solomon Entrepreneurship Speaker Series brings experienced entrepreneurs on campus each semester to share their insights and wisdom with students. This endowed program is supported by Kent State Alumnus Michael D. Solomon. The Michael D. Solomon Lecture Series in Entrepreneurship held its first lecture in May 2001, after Solomon donated money to the university for the purpose of exposing students to professional entrepreneurs.
After graduating from Kent State, Solomon owned and ran an audio distribution company. During the 1980’s he moved on to work with a number of technology manufacturers and
was a part of the computer and software industry. In the mid-1980s, Solomon was the Vice-President of Sales and Marketing at Aldus Corporation, publisher of "PageMaker."
Now Michael Solomon is the CEO of Audyssey Labs, a company that creates products that improve the sound of speaker systems.
Through his involvement with the university, Michael Solomon hopes to help students learn the best ways to approach business opportunities, and the best ways to make a difference in the business world.
The next Solomon Series Speaker event will be held on Tuesday, April 16th, at 6:30pm in the Kiva of the Kent State University Student Center. For more information, please click the registration link or contact the Center for Entrepreneurship at cebi@kent.edu.
