<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?><item href="/news/2024/1107-van-leeuwen.php" dsn="blogs"><featured/><feature_title>Featured News</feature_title><title>On entrepreneurship and ice cream</title><author>Holly Leber Simmons ’02</author><author_email>info@skidmore.edu</author_email><pubDate>11/07/2024 05:35:22 PM</pubDate><display>display</display><description>Ben Van Leeuwen ’07, a founder of the eponymous, premium ice cream brand that can now be found in shops from New York City to Singapore, says some of the most valuable lessons he has learned about building a business came from courses at Skidmore — including a studio art class.</description><category>Alumni Stories</category><image_listing><img src="/news/2024/images/vanleeuwen-thumbnail.jpg" alt="Ben Van Leeuwen ’07"/></image_listing><image><img src="/news/2024/images/vanleeuwen-featured.jpg" alt="Ben Van Leeuwen ’07"/></image><caption>Ben Van Leeuwen ’07, a founder of the eponymous, premium ice cream brand that can now be found in shops from New York City to Singapore, says some of the most valuable lessons he has learned about building a business came from courses at Skidmore — including a studio art class.</caption></item>