Imagine gaining meaningful career experience while helping local businesses and nonprofits thrive. That is the ecosystem Chris Lantinen oversees as the faculty director of entrepreneurship and leader of the PennWest Edinboro Beehive.

Chris’s PennWest story started with early mornings, hard work and a deep connection to campus. As a student at PennWest Edinboro, he ran cross country and track, balancing long training days with classes and campus life.

“It was very hard work, getting up at 6:30 a.m. to do a morning run and running 70 to 100 miles a week during the season,” Chris said.

Balancing that commitment with classes and campus life taught him what it means to be part of something bigger than himself. That mindset still shapes the work he does today.

Now Chris’s role sits at the intersection of students, business and community. At the Beehive, students work with real clients, solve branding and marketing challenges, and help local businesses and nonprofits move forward.

“The students get this amazing experiential learning opportunity because they have a real client on their hands with real issues to solve within the marketing and branding worlds,” Chris said. “The business gets help for free, and they get that help from these super creative and driven students.”

That combination is what Chris called an “incredible win-win.” In a typical semester, the Beehive serves about 20 to 25 clients through work that can include websites, logos, marketing strategy and search engine optimization.

That practical outlook also shapes Chris’s vision for PEAK at PennWest. He sees PEAK as a way to connect the university’s entrepreneurship resources and help students understand that their ideas can be supported on campus.

“We want these students to know that their business ambitions, whatever those are, are going to be supported by these programs that we have on campus,” he said.

That support can take many forms, from mentorship and technical assistance to the Student Startup Hub at Edinboro, where Chris said students can rent a desk, have access to a computer and get free office supplies and printing. He also sees the Beehive and PEAK as part of PennWest’s larger role in the region.

“I’m just happy that we can be involved in a positive sense in how this region grows and how all the job-creating businesses around here survive and thrive,” he said.

One of Chris’s most memorable insights is also one of his most encouraging:“Even a side hustle in college can be the beginning of a family-supporting and job-creating business.”

That belief reflects a bigger PennWest truth. Students do not have to wait until after graduation to begin building something meaningful At PennWest, Chris is helping to create a culture where ideas are taken seriously, communities are part of the learning process, and students can see how their work can make a difference well beyond campus.