While many seniors scramble to make future plans, international student Emil Nedev has things a bit more under control. Nedev has run his own international business since his sophomore year and plans to enter the business world with first-hand experience.
Nedev, who will graduate in the top five percent of the School of Business, co-founded the 3E International Group, a real estate management conglomerate based in Austria that employs almost 30 workers in countries across Eastern Europe.
“We formed the company for real estate development,” Nedev said. “We’re the middle man, so we bring interested purchasers and sellers together.”
Nedev’s company meets personally with potential buyers of commercial and residential spaces and finds the right match for their needs. The organization then negotiates the deal and in some cases provides post-closing services like tenant management.
“We take the client all the way, meet with them and ask about their needs,” Nedev said.
Applying some of the same ideas and concepts he learned in his business courses at GW, Nedev founded the company to fill a niche in the developing real estate market in Eastern Europe.
“The market in Eastern Europe has only opened up in the last 20 years,” Nedev said, “Our competitive advantage is that they are just not used to it. A company that goes all the way from proposals to tenant management is just not available there, that’s what this is for.”
Nedev spent his summers in Eastern Europe working with clients mainly in Bulgaria but also in Romania, Serbia and Kosovo. During the school year, he telecommunicated via phone and e-mail with his business partner and clients.
In his time at GW, Nedev also found time to participate in the Financial Business Club, the Entrepreneurs Club and a Help Darfur Initiative. He is also a member of the GW Honors Program, the Golden Key Honor Society and the National Scholars Honor Society.
Nedev looks back on his social experience at GW fondly, remembering living in a freshman dorm his first year as a transfer student.
“My first impression of GW was a lot of fun,” Nedev said. “The first two weeks were an ongoing party, people were fun.”
He will also remember the classroom training that sparked some of his business ideas.
“What I will remember most is that some of my professors were really concerned about their students,” Nedev said, “They are committed to their students.”
Nedev has been offered a position at a local D.C. company and was accepted into GW’s master’s in business administration program and is currently weighing his options, but plans to continue and expand his business in the future.
“My ultimate goal is to have a trans-Atlantic link and open up my company to the U.S.,” Nedev said, “But with the economy, it is making it quite challenging.”
