BANGOR, Maine — Husson University is letting students gain real-life experience in the classroom with its newest program.
One Circle Agency is a student-led marketing agency that allows students to take on clients and offer marketing and advertising opportunities to local businesses and organizations.
Program Coordinator Nancy Roberts said since the program's launch, students have already found success, selling out multiple events they promoted.
"So they planned a college night and promoted it, and they ran out of food," Roberts said. "They can see the results from the things they are doing."
Senior Alban Michaud is one of the students a part of the agency. Currently, he's working with a client in Maine to develop a logo for their brand.
After working at a real agency for an internship, he said the work students are doing matches up well with what the real world expects of them.
"I like to think of it as an opportunity to actually be in a marketing agency," Michaud said. "This isn't a lecture hall. You're not sitting among hundreds of people."
Roberts said because of the laps students are able to put under their belt, they can be seen as more valuable for potential clients after they graduate.
"They really leave this place with a greater understanding of what it's like being in a workplace," Roberts said. "They have a portfolio of work they've done and they can talk about it in an interview."
One of the clients students were able to help was the assisted-living facility Phillips-Strickland House in Bangor. Students were able to create a new logo, video tour, and 360-degree photos of the living space for the non-profit.
Executive Director Sheldon Brett says helping students learn while also saving on marketing when budgets are tight was the perfect scenario.
"We were really able to get some tools to help get Phillips-Strickland some publicity," Brett said.