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Week of April 27 – May 2. Keeping you connected to COBA and CIT! |
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1. William A. Freeman Memorial Lecture Series The inaugural Freeman Memorial Lecture Series unfolded Thursday evening as alumnus Ric Tomlinson (’73 BBA), president and CEO of Univest Investments, Inc., delivered the first lecture titled “Entrepreneurial Leadership Through Stormy Waters” in the Assembly Hall at Nessmith-Lane Building. We welcomed back former Dean Carl Gooding who introduced Ric to the audience and provided insights about his mentor and friend, Bill Freeman. We also were honored to host Lee Freeman, one of Bill’s sons, at the event. Ric shared parts of his life story and provided answers to a hypothetical question he posed, “What resources do you need to navigate through stormy waters.” He argued that we are in the midst of a financial “hurricane” and to survive, we must have the following: a plan, a vision, charts (to guide us), a GPS system (to make sure we don’t get lost), and a contingency plan. The Freeman Memorial Lecture was part of a two days worth of activities and celebrations organized by Freeman Chair of Free Enterprise Luke Pittaway. Luke, who is co-director of the Center for Entrepreneurial Learning and Leadership with Constance Campbell, formed an advisory council for the Center and held the inaugural meeting with his council members before the lecture. His entrepreneurship students made presentations to the council. (Reports from unidentified sources tell me these presentations were a smashing success!) In addition, students held a “poster fair” the day before setting up exhibits in the atrium of the CIT building describing the projects and initiatives they are working on. Good show, Luke and students; Bill Freeman would have been proud!! |
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2. Savannah Morning News By now the acronym “TARP” is a familiar word in our vocabulary. Michael Reksulak adds a variation of that word in his Free Enterprise column this week titled “TARP fund use lacks transparency.” In fact, he identifies a man named Neil Barofsky who is the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program, from whence we get “SIGTARP” with its own web site www.sigtarp.gov. One of the functions of SIGTARP is to provide quarterly reports to Congress describing how the bailout money is being used. And as you might be able to guess from the title of Michael’s column, the potential for hanky-panky with the money appears to be high. Michael writes: “Unfortunately, with such large amounts of public spending involved, the questions regarding fraud are not related to whether it will occur but mostly to how much of it will happen; and at what rate it will be unearthed by investigators. That makes the dithering by the Treasury Department, as identified in the newest report, about requiring an actual and meaningful accounting of the use of TARP funds especially worrisome.” His full column in the Savannah Morning News can be found using the following link:
http://savannahnow.com/node/711950 |
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3. Savannah Business Report & Journal Mark Hanna reviewed a book with an interesting title: “The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life” by Alice Schroeder. Much has been written about Buffett, but as Mark says, “If … you’d like to think through the factors and critical decisions that led to Buffett’s spectacular success in accumulation of wealth, you’ll find the book worthwhile.” Mark believes the book is worth reading because of the perspective you will get; in addition, he says: “But perspective isn’t all you’ll get – this book is also entertaining and inspiring. … I was inspired by this book’s description of aspects of his character – singular focus on a goal, demanding a margin of safety in all major decisions, staying true to self despite ample opportunity to become indulgent, loyalty to friends and maintenance of long‐term relationships, commitment to ongoing learning, and more.” Read the rest of Mark’s review at the link below: http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/pdf files/mark_hanna_snowball.pdf +++++++++++++++++ Wendy Woodrum contributed a timely column titled “Getting More Out of Existing Customers” that is directed toward small business owners. She writes: “Looking for a way to increase sales on a shoe string budget? Then look no further than your existing customer base! It’s often difficult and expensive to pursue new customers, especially during tough economic times. So businesses are taking existing customers more seriously and are making efforts to nurture relationships.” What are some of Wendy’s tips for nurturing these relationships with customers? Click on the link below; she provides many good examples that can be implemented easily: http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/pdf files/wendy_woodrum_getting.pdf +++++++++++++++++ |
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4. COBA in the newspaper The Third Annual Fraud and Forensic Accounting Education Conference, which is coming up at the end of May, was recently mentioned on Yahoo Finance. Check out the following link: http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Fraud-and-Forensic-Accounting-iw-15069134.html Greg Brock was honored recently with a Fulbright Specialists grant in economics. This award will enable Greg to travel to the Universidad Veracruzana, Mexico “… where he will spend three weeks working with college professors and teachers to bring age-appropriate economic education to children in kindergarten through twelfth grade.” Unfortunately, the swine flu pandemic has forced Greg to postpone his trip temporarily. Nevertheless, let’s congratulate Greg on this honor! A press release with more details is included at the link below: http://savdailynews.com/main.asp?SectionID=14&SubSectionID=157&ArticleID=23545 |
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5. MBA in the City event Last week we held another open house in Savannah at the Coastal Georgia Center to publicize the MBA program that we deliver there. Dubbed “MBA in the City,” the event continues to attract a robust clientele of prospective MBA students. We advertised through direct email blasts and targeted radio spots, and it was encouraging to hear from those who showed up that they indeed heard about the event through one or the other of those messages. Angela Leverett, Susan Williams, Jerry Wilson, Manouch Tabatabaei, Le Von Wilson, David Murkison, Henry Whitfield, and Jamie Lane circulated among the crowd and answered questions and talked up the program. In addition, Myron Wilson helped Ryan Honeyman (marketing and communications) take some pictures. Jamie’s mother pitched in as well, serving drinks and helping us clean up afterwards. The only disappointment I had was the common answer I received to a question I asked, “Did you know that Georgia Southern delivers an evening MBA program in Savannah?” Almost everyone said “no.” We still have a lot of work to do just to gain visibility for our program in Savannah. Still, we had over 20 participants and almost all indicated they would be applying for admission. A big “thank you” to Jamie for her work in organizing the event and getting the word out. Thanks also to Lisa Williams for help with print materials and Angela for interfacing with the prospective students. |
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6. Road trip Linda Wilke and I traveled to Atlanta on Friday to combine some COBA and CIT work with advisory board members in a couple of back-to-back meetings. First, we had lunch with members of the COBA Business Advisory Council, including JT Marburger, Pat Rising, Mike Sanders, and David Pittman. They had some encouraging thoughts about things they are seeing in their industries that point to an improving economy. Subsequently we met with members of the CIT Advisory Board – Angela Bland and Matt Stultz – along with Tom Case. Matt and Angela have been instrumental in helping us make appropriate connections with companies in Georgia that run SAP. We are trying to set up an SAP certification program known as “Terp 10” this summer. In addition, we are following Matt’s and Angela’s guidance for expanding the relationship between the SAP Users Group and the University Alliance program. |
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7. Guest speaker Susan Roach hosted Kevin Elder recently in her introduction to business classes. Kevin talked about the importance of information systems expertise and careers in the IS field. Thank you, Kevin and Susan! |
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8. Student & alumni successes and faculty research Congratulations to economics major Mark Belville who was recognized by the Georgia Southern athletics program as the 2009 Scholar Athlete of the Year! Mark plays defense on the soccer team. Check out the web site below for more information: http://www.georgiasoutherneagles.com/ViewArticle.dbml?&ATCLID=3729293&DB_OEM_ID=18700 ++++++++++++++ Congratulations to Mike McDonald and John Leaptrott! They received a distinguished research award at the Allied Academies Spring 2009 International Conference in New Orleans for their paper titled “Ways managers interpret and act upon common workplace events: Implications for the entrepreneurial executive.” The paper has also been accepted for publication in the Entrepreneurial Executive. In addition, their article titled “Looking before leaping: The effect of owner decisiveness on small business performance” was recently published in the Academy of Entrepreneurship Journal. +++++++++++++++++ John Leaptrott also received good news from the editor of the Journal of Behavioral Studies in Business who informed John that his manuscript titled “The effect of work-family role conflict on business startup decision-making processes” was accepted for publication. Outstanding work, John! +++++++++++++++++ Finance major Drew Lethem is on the Georgia Southern University golf team. Last weekend our golf team competed in the Southern Conference championships. Though our team did not win, Drew did! He posted the lowest overall total for three rounds and won the individual title! Here is a link to the story: In addition, I contacted Head Golf Coach Larry Mays and asked him about Drew’s play. Coach Mays reported the following: “Drew Lethem won the tournament with scores of 66, 72, and 72. The 66 in the first round was the low round of the tournament and helped lead him to the victory. He a five-hole stretch in which he went 6 under for five holes – birdie, birdie, birdie, eagle, birdie – quite a run of holes! … Drew and the rest of the team will be heading to regionals May 14-16.”
Way to go, Drew, and thanks for the update, Coach Mays! P.S. Coach Mays was named “Southern Conference Coach of the Year.” Kudos, Coach! +++++++++++++++++ Robbie Franklin (’64 BS in general business), owner of Franklin Toyota Scion in Statesboro, was notified by Toyota Motor Sales that his dealership won the 2008 President’s Award! This is the third year in a row that Robbie has won the President’s Award, which is “… the highest honor for a (Toyota) dealership to receive … and is only awarded to those dealerships that demonstrate a commitment to maintaining Toyota’s highest standards for customer satisfaction.” (Statesboro Herald, April 28, 2009, pB1). Well deserved, Robbie, and hearty congratulations!! |
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9. Welcome new subscribers § Students in John Leaptrott’s undergraduate strategic management class. § Brad DeBartolo (’96 BBA in marketing), who is director of sales for Arrow Electronics in Alpharetta. § Melissa (Wilson) Cook (’02 BBA in logistics and intermodal transportation), who is sales analyst for CSX Intermodal in Jacksonville, FL. Melissa and her husband, Chris, also celebrated the birth of their first child, Jared Todd Cook, on September 12, 2008. § Brittany Larraine McElroy (’07 BBA in economics), who is financial advisor for AXA Equitable in Atlanta. |
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Eagle Executive Society Please consider joining – or renewing your membership in – COBA’s Eagle Executive Society. For only $50 a year your contribution will support our annual funding needs that are not being covered by state dollars. Corporate memberships are $250 per year. Click on the following link now and sign up online! Thank you. http://coba.georgiasouthern.edu/eagleexecutive/eexsmembership.htm |
