type 501 c 3 nonprofit founded harvard university 1957 headquarters cambridge ma united states subsidiaries let s go the harvard shop website www.hsa.net harvard student agencies inc. hsa is the largest student run company in the world employing more than 500 harvard undergraduates annually . founded in 1957 hsa is a multimillion dollar non profit that provides harvard university students with meaningful opportunities for employment and hands on business education . student managers lead all aspects of the operations and strategy behind hsa s 15 businesses which range from publishing to tutoring to bartending including let s go the leader in student travel hsa cleaners a laundry and dry cleaning service and the harvard shop a storefront and web retail business . hsa is a 501 c 3 nonprofit and was founded to help defray rising tuition costs while providing practical business experience for harvard undergraduates and supplying services to the campus community . hsa is headquartered in cambridge massachusetts . contents 1 history 1.1 founding 2 current agencies 3 hsa headquarters burke mccoy hall 4 notable alumni 5 references 6 external links history edit founding edit hsa was founded in 1957 on the ideal of financing education through student employment . with harvard s tuition on the rise members of the financial aid office were concerned that the increased cost of higher education would adversely affect the social and economic make up of those applying to harvard . at the same time some ambitious students were running small scale businesses out of their dorm rooms . john munro dean of financial aid assigned dustin m. burke director of student employment to investigate student businesses as a possible source of financial aid and to begin developing the idea that would become harvard student agencies . later that spring a meeting with student managers revealed considerable interest in the idea of a corporation and more concrete plans began to emerge . with an initial capital investment of 7 000 and the acquisition of the rights to provide the weekly linen service traditionally offered by the university hsa was equipped to carry its corporate overhead . the remaining pieces quickly fell into place . in august 1957 the papers authorizing a new company were filed . on september 10 the new corporation s first meeting was held . on december 13 1957 the charter was signed recognizing the six original incorporators john munro dustin burke greg stone john giannetti theodore elliot and harold rosenwald . 1 since then the company has grown significantly over the past 6 decades . let s go publishing was the leading agency for much of 1980s and 1990s at one point publishing over 50 titles annually . with the recent decline in publishing travel however the harvard shop has become the largest operation for the harvard student agencies . with a robust e commerce presence as well as three physical locations in the square it aims to serve tourists locals and students alike . 2 the company has expanded organically and through acquiring startups that align with the company s mission . recent examples include mount auburn productions created to meet the demand for live event filming and photography on campus as well as college copywriters a startup that was acquired by harvard student agencies in 2015 that connected students to companies needing high quality copy . 3 current agencies edit hsa cleaners est. 1957 provides the harvard community and greater boston area with high quality laundry dry cleaning bulk wash and linen rental services at the most competitive prices in all of harvard square . with five physical locations as well as a timesaving pick up and delivery service hsa cleaners is dedicated to serving local businesses residents and the campus community . hsa dorm essentials est. 1957 gives harvard students everything they need to live comfortably on campus . hsa dorm essentials provides linens drink delivery furniture refrigerators fans and packing boxes to students as well as to alumni and summer program participants . hsa temp agency est. 1959 matches harvard students with prospective customers for stand alone job opportunities . hsa temp agency offers licensed bartenders and wait staff for receptions celebrations and other events and the student team also provides proxy research and moving services . let s go est. 1960 is the only travel guide created exclusively by students for students . run entirely by harvard students let s go offers a fresh young perspective on hundreds of travel destinations around the globe and has become one of the most popular hubs of travel information tips and know how through its guides mobile apps and website . built around the unique viewpoint of energetic budget minded explorers let s go s firsthand insider knowledge of the student travel experience entices adventure lovers of all ages . the harvard bartending course est. 1963 provides tips certification and mixology training for aspiring bartenders in the boston area . popular among both students and community members the one day course has trained more than 50 000 participants giving graduates the certification and skills to bartend at any restaurant bar or club . hsa marketing est. 1975 connects outside businesses with the harvard community as well as other boston campuses . with a broad portfolio of online and print publications such as the unofficial guide series and the harvard guide to summer opportunities hsa marketing provides custom advertising packages to suit businesses unique needs . harvard distribution est. 1980 offers campus postering mailbox stuffing and door dropping services to connect businesses with students at harvard and mit . the harvard distribution team distributes inside student dormitories putting advertisers as close to the undergraduate community as possible . the cronin center for enterprise est. 1981 plans and funds cutting edge educational forums and career development programs to spur undergraduate interest in business and to bridge the gap between education and professional careers . the cronin center for enterprise s capstone program the business leadership program provides select undergraduates with a unique educational experience combining lectures from harvard business school professors with corporate presentations and networking events . the harvard shop est. 2001 offers harvard merchandise and apparel for students affiliates and visitors alike at its three harvard square locations and an online store . the harvard shop is the exclusive supplier of the one ring the only harvard university class ring officially sponsored by students . hsa translation est. 2005 provides notarized translations of academic transcripts medical records government and other documents . a member of the american translators association hsa translation only hires native speakers or students who have been vetted by harvard professors . hsa tutoring est. 2006 provides comprehensive sat and other standardized test prep as well as private in person and online academic tutoring . in addition to offering tutoring packages and the sat and act sos courses hsa tutoring offers summer programs based on academic tutoring and leadership . mt. auburn productions est. 2012 is a student run video and multimedia production company that works with student groups and businesses at harvard university and in the greater boston area . it provides a range of services including commercial advertising and creative projects . groupgear est. 2014 offers custom apparel and accessories to organizations at harvard and around the country . with an expansive catalog as well as collegiate and greek licensing groupgear is dedicated to serving small student clubs and national companies alike . functionalities such as online custom stores allow individual group members to buy and pay for products online saving groupgear customers time and money . boston apparel co. est. 2014 is an e commerce business specializing in boston themed merchandise including athletic and collegiate apparel and accessories . this online only store offers a wide range of items for boston natives and tourists alike . college copywriters est. 2015 is an online content marketplace where marketers webmasters business owners and website developers can order quality unique content from students attending the nation s leading colleges and universities . student writers provide a wide variety of content ranging from seo articles to blog posts . hsa headquarters burke mccoy hall edit hsa headquarters is located at 67 mount auburn street cambridge ma in the former manter hall school building which was built in 1927 . established in 1884 manter hall school helped students prepare for harvard s entrance exams during the 1930s and offered four and eight hour review sessions before every major harvard mid term and final examination . although enrollment reached a peak of 250 in the late 1940s by 1994 only 19 students were registered . at this time robert hall the owner of the building and manager of the school for 57 years turned 83 and began talking to harvard student agencies . mr. hall came to understand the unique educational opportunities hsa afforded to students and decided to sell the property to hsa in the spring of 1994 . 4 in the summer of 1995 robert w. mccoy harvard college 62 harvard business school 65 pledged a substantial lead gift to hsa s capital campaign . the building was dedicated as burke mccoy hall on february 5 1997 and the dream of a permanent home for hsa was a reality . 5 the building was named in honor of dustin m. burke the first general manager of hsa 1957 1970 ; hester bell mccoy who joined hsa in 1961 as the company s secretary ; and robert mccoy manager of europe by car assistant general manager to dusty burke and let s go business manager upon his graduation from business school . hsa currently occupies the top three floors and basement of burke mccoy hall . bank of america boloco formerly the wrap and hsa cleaners occupy the retail level of burke mccoy hall . behind the building enough space exists to accommodate construction of a substantial annex for future expansion . a recent partnership with cs50 the introductory computer science course with one of the largest enrollments at harvard has opened the third floor to hosting office hours for students and teaching fellows to meet and congregate . this additional option was created in response to increasing demand for office hours as a result of the size of the course as well the offer more flexible office hours to fit the wide range of schedules from students taking the class . the partnership also seeks to give students the option to pursue projects related services for students with room for collaboration with harvard student agencies beyond the one semester course . 6 hsa also has three locations of the harvard shop in harvard square at 52 jfk street 65 mt. auburn street and 34 jfk street . notable alumni edit because harvard student agencies employees are all students when working for the company many of its alumni have gone on to distinguished careers in various sectors . michael cohrs financier fellow of cambridge university michael f. cronin 7 businessman co founder weston presidio oliver koppell 8 new york politician deval patrick 9 10 politician civil rights lawyer massachusetts governor ken powell 11 ceo general mills andrea silbert 12 businesswoman co founder and former ceo of the center for women & enterprise thomas g. stemberg 13 businessman and venture capitalist co founder of staples inc. andrew tobias columnist author and dnc treasurer matt salzberg cofounder of blue apron 14 several young alumni have been named as forbes 30 under 30 2015 scott crouch for enterprise technology ; 15 alex bick for healthcare 16 2014 brian fienstein for finance 17 references edit http www.hsa.net history http www.hsa.net history http www.thecrimson.com article 2015 10 22 hsa scrutiny silber http www.thecrimson.com article 1995 2 10 hsa finds permanent location in square http www.thecrimson.com article 1996 12 11 hsa lets go move to 67 http www.thecrimson.com article 2016 9 14 cs50 expands to hsa http alumni.harvard.edu stories i choose harvard cronin http www.letsgo.com our history http www.thecrimson.com article 2006