College of Business Administration 2018 Academic Highlights

Exchange

This publication highlights many of the wonderful things we are doing in the College of Business Administration at CMU. The college has aligned its mission and vision with the university’s. We are focused on three main areas: nurturing student success, fostering scholarly activities, and building stronger partnerships with organizations in Michigan and

beyond. This issue of Exchange features things we have done in these areas.

CMU’s first imperative is to nurture student success. Our strategic plan states that we provide “a transformative education to prepare students for successful careers and fulfilling lives.” You will see numerous examples of this in these pages, as students are spotlighted in successful internships, in competing and placing in national and international competitions, and in formal and informal interactions with companies.

The second university imperative focuses on fostering scholarly activity. Many of our faculty continue to publish in premiere journals and present at leading conferences in their respective fields. One faculty spotlighted was named a fellow in a leading professional organization in his field, while another became a prestigious Fulbright fellow and is spending the spring in Paraguay.

Our third imperative centers on strengthening partnerships in Michigan and beyond. Among the many activities in the college, students and faculty were invited and sponsored to attend the Best Practices for Automotive Conference for the second year in a row. Several other groups have spent time with various companies from New York City to Minneapolis, learning from alumni and others who excel in their fields. CMU also has been designated an SAP Next Gen Lab and Chapter. This will provide a mechanism to help connect companies with faculty and students, leading to real-life projects that allow students firsthand experience in solving business problems.

CMU and the College of Business Administration prepare students to become business professionals who significantly impact their organizations and communities. A CBA education at CMU continues to be a sound investment, as evidenced in the many activities highlighted in this issue of Exchange.

Kind regards, Karl Smart Interim Dean. College of Business Administration

DE A N’S COLUMN

CMU, an AA/EO institution, strongly and actively strives to increase diversity and provide equal opportunity within its community. CMU does not discriminate against persons based on age, color, disability, ethnicity, gender, gender expression, gender identity, genetic information, height, marital status, national origin, political persuasion, pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions, race, religion, sex, sex-based stereotypes, sexual orientation, transgender status, veteran status, or weight. UComm 10015 - 45,800 (3/19)

It was the must-attend conference for automotive industry leaders. On the guest list, among companies such as General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., was a name that might have surprised some: Central Michigan University.

Thanks to a boost from CMU alum Dan Mahlebashian, a dozen CMU students became industry insiders at the 2018 Best Practices for Automotive Conference in Detroit. They joined about 500 automotive business professionals from companies around the world.

A front row seat to the working world

Mahlebashian, executive director of global business solutions at GM, worked with faculty members Ed Woelfert, from the School of Accounting, and Steve Tracy, from business information systems, and select students.

“We invited students to attend to sharpen their intellectual curiosity and demonstrate the need to learn for a lifetime,” Mahlebashian said. “Learning doesn’t stop when you leave college. This conference showed them that seasoned industry professionals need to come together to share ideas and learn from each other.”

Industry insiders for a dayStudents partner with GM leaders to learn from automotive experts in Detroit

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Students were paired with members of Mahlebashian’s leadership team at the conference and attended sessions together.

Joshua Frankovich, a senior business information systems major from Clarkston, Michigan, said his GM partner took him to conference sessions on customer service; ticketing; and working with SAP HANA, a business data platform.

“It was the opportunity of a lifetime,” he said. “My mentor, Deborah Key, talked to me about my passions and what I wanted to do with my degree. She helped me think about where I might fit at GM.”

Positioned for career success

Mahlebashian also said he had selfish reasons for bringing CMU students to the event — he wants to hire them.

“Back-end business operations are the foundation of our business and enable the work of all GM employees in every area,” he said. “CMU students enable us to run faster, more efficiently. We need employees who can look for ways to streamline and think digitally.”

“The education I see coming out of CMU is very comprehensive. It’s a blend of a very specific technical skill

set — SAP — and soft skills such as problem-solving, teamwork and leadership. GM recognizes the talent potential at CMU, and we invested in that potential.”

During the conference, students met with one of GM’s human resources leaders to discuss career goals, get résumé advice, and learn about internships and job opportunities with the company. Mahlebashian also noted other conference attendees’ interest in CMU’s SAP programs and the students’ level of knowledge, and it made him proud.

“I want every business professional in every industry to see the assets coming out of CMU,” he said. “They should see that these students can help them solve business problems.”

From intern to inside track

Before the CMU students attended the conference, they met with fellow student Matthew Hanpeter to learn more about GM’s culture and internship opportunities.

Hanpeter, a double major in accounting and information systems from Northville, Michigan, will graduate from CMU in May with a degree and a full-time job at GM.

He completed an internship in the company’s global business solutions department, working on a request-to-pay process. He noted opportunities to increase efficiency by moving away from the use of Microsoft Excel spreadsheets and focusing on use of an internal database. The change cut down on human error and accelerated the speed with which requests could be processed.

His supervisors were impressed and implemented his suggestion.

“It was gratifying to hear from the department leaders that my idea would actually make a difference,” he said.

On the last day of his internship, Hanpeter was offered a full-time job at GM in a new employee track program that will enable him to work in multiple areas of the business for three years. He’d always hoped to follow in the footsteps of his father and brother, both of whom work in the automotive industry, and he is excited to join a company he feels is at the height of innovation.

“It’s a tremendous feeling,” he said. •

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Innovation. Digital disruption. To some people, they’re little more than business buzzwords.

But for faculty and students in a new project that crosses department lines at Central Michigan University, they represent a new mission: to lead thinking for business worldwide.

Earlier this year, enterprise resource planning software company SAP selected Central and 10 other universities to serve as a Next-Gen Chapter. Additionally, CMU was designated as an SAP Next-Gen Lab.

As an industry leader, SAP’s name often is used as a synonym for the ERP software that integrates an organization’s accounting, purchasing, production, human resources and other business functions. CMU and other universities use SAP to teach business processes.

That may sound very technical. What it means is that CMU faculty and students

from three departments — business information systems, computer science, and engineering and technology — together will share best practices for teaching SAP skills, developing curricula other universities can use and building partnerships with businesses.

CMU also will partner with business and industry leaders to work on projects that address United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. CMU will focus specifically on the goals for quality education; gender equality; and industry, innovation and infrastructure. The project will connect CMU with thousands of educational institutions in more than 100 countries, as well as with SAP’s own innovation centers and thousands of its partner companies.

Stephen Tracy, director of the SAP University Alliance and faculty member in business information systems, said CMU is working on projects with companies such as Dow, Ford, General Motors and Consumers Energy. Interdisciplinary teams also have made site visits to companies such as Ford and Steelcase for innovation inspiration, brainstorming and project planning.

“The Next-Gen project is all about community outreach and engagement. We’re involving our students in projects that matter,” Tracy said. “The projects they complete will have real, lasting impact for our partner companies.”

Driving digital disruption at CMUGlobal business software leader looks to CMU to help speed innovation

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Things to know about SAP at CMU

CMU has been an SAP partner for more than 20 years: In 1997, CMU was one of the first five SAP University Alliance programs to sign a partnership agreement with SAP. Dozens of CMU faculty have received SAP training, and more than 10,000 students have participated in SAP-related courses and activities.

CMU leads the nation in SAP TERP10 certifications: The SAP certificate is called TERP10, integrated business processes in ERP. Students from every department of the College of Business Administration have studied for and earned the certification, which often leads to higher initial salaries for graduates, Tracy said.

CMU students with SAP training are recruited for great jobs before they graduate: Dozens of employers send representatives to mentor and coach students in CMU’s annual ERPsim Invitational Competition. The mentors work closely with students for months during training, and they come to the competition prepared to recruit students for jobs. Many students receive offers for internships or even full-time jobs on the floor during the competition or at the job fair the day after the event.

CMU has the resources to winA team of CMU students win third place at statewide human resources competition

A team of Central Michigan University students placed third in the Human Resource Student Games during the Michigan Society for Human Resource Management state conference. Nearly 1,000 human resources professionals from around the state attended the three-day event.

Sidney Switanowski, Cierra Gleason, Dani Ventura-Montes and Libby Cousino, all seniors in the human resources management program, competed against teams from several Michigan universities.

The games were structured like a quiz show: Students were asked two rounds of retired questions from the SHRM certification exam. The first round consisted of knowledge-based questions, and the second round consisted of situational judgement questions.

“The competition offers a unique opportunity for human resources students to apply in-class learning to showcase their knowledge to seasoned human resources practitioners,” said Callie Zipple, SHRM-CP, and a field services director at SHRM. •

CMU students are global champions: A team of CMU students placed second in the world in the international ERPsim competition, beating previous international champions from countries such as China and Indonesia. CMU was the only U.S. team in the final round of competition.

CMU is educating new leaders: In addition to offering SAP-based courses, facilitating an SAP student user group and hosting a two-week SAP certification academy, CMU is opening its doors to engage new learners. CMU hosts an annual ERPsim competition for high school students and is implementing new programs, such as SheInnovates, to encourage young women to get involved in information systems and computer science activities. •

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Transformational internshipsWhen you hear the word “internship,” do you think of making endless copies, fumbling with ancient coffee machines or running pointless errands for a manic boss?

Think again.

Central Michigan University students take the reins at internships where they can put their stamp on the businesses and organizations they serve.

At CMU’s College of Business Administration, for example, the new strategic plan directs students to “seek out transformational experiences that prepare you for successful careers.”

“Most of our students have a high level of responsibility in their positions. The work they do has real impact on their company, saving time or money or both,” said Karen Arthur, director of business student services.

“They build crucial professional skills and gain experience they can add to their résumés. They also return to campus as better learners,” Arthur said.

“They come back more confident and engaged in their coursework. They speak up more often in class to share what they’ve experienced. The examples in their textbooks are suddenly relatable and real.”

Here’s a sampling of the transformational experiences CMU students completed last summer.

‘I’ve developed so much confidence’

Samir Bahadur, a purchasing and supply chain management and logistics management double major, first connected with Amway at a networking night hosted by the student Supply Chain Management Association.

As an intern in Amway’s global project management, he worked toward the European release of a new probiotic product. He collaborated with product developers, marketing mavens, supply chain managers, compliance officers from regulatory affairs and representatives of European affiliates.

“At first it was intimidating to be in the room with these subject matter experts and realize they were looking to me for input,” he said.

“I’ve developed so much confidence leading meetings. Being in a lead role made me focus on organization; follow-through; and clear, effective communication skills.”

CMU students spent last summer preparing for great careers

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we could make improvements in service. The experience gave me so many options for the next step on my career path.”

Spreadsheet lessons pay off

As a meat and seafood intern at Meijer, Trevor Shafer studied the way customers find, compare and choose protein snacks. The senior marketing and logistics double major said he was thankful for all the time he spent using spreadsheets in classes at CMU.

“On normal days, I ran reports and analyzed data that could help me determine where certain products should be placed,” he said.

After a visit to the distribution center, he began attending vendor meetings and visiting competitors to compare shelving strategies. He also took advantage of Meijer professional development workshops, building his presentation and business etiquette skills. Shafer also collaborated with interns in many other areas.

“There were over 100 of us working over the summer, and it was great to sit down with people from other areas to brainstorm.” •

Wearing all the hats

Anna Lukens, a senior studying hospitality services administration, gets jazzed when she can make someone’s day.

“I love to go out of my way to give a guest a top-notch stay. That’s what hospitality is all about: exceeding expectations,” she said.

As an operations intern at the Courtyard by Marriott Detroit Downtown, Lukens was constantly on the lookout for ways to improve her guests’ experiences, and she had to think like a supervisor.

“The smallest issue can logjam an entire day. I learned just how important communication between divisions and teams is for day-to-day operations.”

Lukens split her time between several departments: front desk, housekeeping, valet and front office. She attended management meetings with supervisors in all areas and often served as manager on duty in the evenings.

“Being involved in several departments allowed me to see how everyone worked together most efficiently and where

In an increasingly competitive job market, helping Central Michigan University students stand out is a top priority for College of Business Administration faculty and staff.

When CMU launched its new universitywide strategic plan, Advancing Excellence, the college used the opportunity to reconsider its approach to student learning and success. With input from faculty, alumni, business partners and advisory councils, the College of Business Administration focused on key skills employers say they most want to see in new hires:

• Oral communication.

• Written communication.

• Problem-solving, both quantitative and qualitative.

• Information technology.

Faculty teams have spent several years defining each competency, developing rubrics, and focusing on ways to measure and improve student success in these areas. The college offers resources, such as video tutorials, to help faculty incorporate them into their classes.

The emphasis on these key areas gives CMU students a competitive advantage in the workplace, said Misty Bennett, assistant dean for the college.

“Our students are more confident public speakers. They can solve any kind of problem and adapt to any situation. These are the skills that will differentiate CMU students to employers.”

Bennett said the college hopes to establish learning communities around each core competency and will invite alumni and employers to be more heavily involved with students. If you are interested in being a part of this movement, contact misty.bennett@cmich.edu. •

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Improving student learning College’s Assurance of Learning focuses on skill attainment

Coaching others to

succeed Senior Laine Hettel leads teammates to victory at International DECA competition

“We’re a young chapter with a competitive spark.”

That’s how Laine Hettel described his award-winning DECA team following its outstanding performance at the 2018 DECA International Career Development Conference in Washington, D.C.

DECA, formerly Distributive Education Clubs of America, is an international association of nearly 4,000 high schools and colleges that prepares students for success in fields such as marketing, finance, hospitality and management. Competitions involve written examinations, case statement preparation and role-playing simulations.

Hettel, the CMU chapter president of DECA, prepared his team for the competition for eight months. He scheduled weekly professional development workshops covering everything from leadership styles to professional dress and interview skills.

“Our group was much more comfortable talking to the judges, because we had practiced professional etiquette and presentation skills. Professionalism can make the difference between a good score and a great score,” he said.

Practice pays off

Several CMU students were finalists in the top 10 in their categories: Elise Zawacki, a senior studying human resources management; Savannah Fullmer, a junior double majoring in marketing and information systems; and Natalie Wallace, a senior in the general management program.

Hettel and his teammate William Dunn, a senior majoring in finance, took first place in the financial statement analysis competition.

“It really feels amazing to know that I made a positive difference and helped them accomplish their goals. I wanted to make sure that they felt confident

and prepared to the best of their abilities and that showed in their success at competition,” he said.

Experience leads to job success

Hettel balanced his DECA responsibilities with increasingly challenging classes and work for his fraternity, Beta Theta Pi.

“I used a calendar to set aside specific time slots to focus on school work, DECA, mock interviewing, and fraternity events and commitments. I never really had free time, as there was always something to do to get ahead or catch up.”

The hard work was worth it when the job offer from Stanley Black & Decker arrived. Following his graduation last May, Hettel was hired as a financial analyst in the company’s leadership development program. •

For the top careers in fields such as investment banking, asset management and corporate finance, students need more than great grades — they need soft skills, experience and connections.

The Michigan Finance Scholars offers dedicated students the opportunity to build their networks as they develop professional skills and prepare for career success. Students meet several times a month, including evenings and weekends, to participate in case study reviews, professional workshops and skill development.

To participate in the program, students must perform well on a rigorous entrance exam, complete an interview and maintain a specific grade point average.

The first cohort, which includes 16 current students, participated in a variety of college programs including the Finance Speakers Series and a fall trip to New York, where they met with alumni and visited the Royal Bank of Canada, Goldman Sachs, Fragomen and the New York Stock Exchange. •

Financial matters Michigan Finance Scholars prepare for career success

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For example, in areas where farming is the primary occupation, Pisani said men who had been injured during the decades-spanning Nicaraguan wars often struggled to find a way to earn a living. If they couldn’t farm, they couldn’t work and often were excluded from the community.

In one such case, Pisani helped a group of men with disabilities turn their carpentry cooperative into an income-producing small business, enabling them to re-engage with neighbors and provide work with dignity.

Understanding the informal economy

Pisani’s interest in small-scale entrepreneurship and informal economies began on his first trip to Teotecacinte, Nicaragua, more than 20 years ago. Through a sister-city partnership, Pisani worked with nongovernmental organizations focused on rural community development.

He worked with individuals and small groups in rural communities to identify business opportunities, teach basic business concepts and language, and develop partnerships and informal networks to support small business.

For his Fulbright program, Pisani will travel to Asunción, the capital city of Paraguay, and conduct cross-border business and economic research. He will be hosted by the Centro de Análisis y Difusión de la Economía Paraguaya, the nation’s leading economic think tank.

Pisani has co-authored nearly 100 scholarly journal articles and book chapters on international business, cross-border economics, entrepreneurship and microfinance with an emphasis on the U.S.-Mexico border and Central America. His most recent co-authored book, “Batos, Bolillos, Pochos and Pelados: Class and Culture on the South Texas Border,” explores issues of cultural assimilation, education, social inequality and entrepreneurship in Latino South Texas. •

Could small business be a solution to poverty in some of the world’s poorest nations? Central Michigan University international business faculty member Mike Pisani has been granted a Fulbright Scholar award to research the possibility.

Pisani is interested in workers in the “informal economy” — people who provide goods or services but whose incomes are not reported or recorded by the government.

“In an area where people use bicycles as the primary mode of transportation, for example, it could be someone who does bicycle repair. It could be someone who sells homemade foods, or used clothing, from their home,” he said.

In most developing nations, that kind of individually or family owned business represents roughly one-half of the country’s overall economic activity and employs a large percentage of the population.

That sort of entrepreneurship is at the heart of Pisani’s greatest passion: empowering others to improve their lives.

“Most of these microbusinesses are born out of necessity: People need to feed their families,” Pisani said.

Crossing borders and boundaries with businessCMU professor receives Fulbright Award to teach, conduct research in Paraguay

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CMU provides students with a variety of opportunities to meet with hiring managers and build their professional networks. Last year, more

than 200 companies came to meet and recruit students at events such as the Alpha Kappa Psi

Career Day, Pi Sigma Epsilon Networking Night, the Supply Chain Management Association

Networking Night and Meet the Recruiters.

Networking for the next step

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Central Michigan University student Josh Marzic wants you to know he is not a hacker. At least, not anymore.

In high school, he would look for ways to get around blocks in his school’s computer system. It wasn’t exactly hacking, he said, but he enjoyed looking for weaknesses he and his friends could exploit.

Now, as president of the CMU Cyber Security Club, a registered student organization, the junior from Delton, Michigan, is helping other students learn how hackers can break into systems and how to keep them out.

Ready for online threats

CMU recently added a cybersecurity option to the undergraduate degree in business information systems and will add a similar track to the graduate program next fall. Students also can pursue an undergraduate certificate or graduate certificate in cybersecurity online.

Susan Helser, a member of the business information systems faculty and the faculty advisor for the Cyber Security Club, said thousands of jobs go unfilled each year, and employers are eager to recruit students with the right skill sets. She is working with colleagues in the College of Business Administration and the College of Science and Engineering on an interdisciplinary curriculum to provide more students access to the program.

“The field of cybersecurity is growing so fast, and the jobs pay very well,” Helser said. “Our goal is to help students build technical skills and explore their career options.”

At each club meeting, students engage in hands-on activities,

such as testing vulnerabilities on virtual systems or using

online programs to test their hacking skills.

Every meeting builds on their knowledge and understanding of computers and network security, Marzic said.

“The technical side is always changing, and you are constantly

having to learn new skills and

programs,” he said.

Club members also attend professional networking events and host an annual cybersecurity awareness day event at CMU.

Preparing for an in-demand career

“The demand has been growing steadily for a while but has skyrocketed in the last two to three years,” said Matthew Pitzer, a project manager in the Cyberspace Operations Directorate of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General in Washington, D.C.

Pitzer graduated from CMU with a degree in accounting. He returned to campus to recruit students and to participate in a career panel discussion during Cybersecurity Awareness Month.

“When I joined the Office of Inspector General in 2009, we had about three teams performing information technology management audits. Now the cyberspace workforce has grown to more than 15 teams, and we’re projected to gain another three teams in the near future.”

Pitzer told students to focus on building soft skills, such as teamwork and problem-solving, alongside their technical knowledge in whatever major they select.

“The new employees who are most successful have a strong desire to continue to learn, the ability to think critically and have great communication skills. I was an accounting major with zero cyber experience other than the TERP10 certification. Now I’m an auditor who has never seen a financial statement in my career.”

Building a competitive résumé

Former club president Gerald Smith, a 2018 CMU graduate, encourages current students to take advantage of the resources on campus to build a great résumé.

Before he accepted a position as an information security analyst at The Dow Chemical Co., Smith took courses in cybercrime forensics and network fundamentals at CMU. He also spent several hours a week involved in registered student organizations and campus jobs.

“You can only learn so much in a lecture hall. My on-campus job at the Office of Information Technology help desk played a big part in building my résumé. All the clubs I was involved with — the Cyber Security Club, Phi Sigma Pi, the Empowered Latino Union and Chi Alpha — led to a ton of connections, too.” •

CMU students studying cybersecurity learn how to keep networks safe.

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PITCH PERFECT

STUDENT STARTUPS

“The lights were bright, the crowd was huge, and I basically forgot our entire two-minute pitch right before we went onstage.”

That’s how Bryan Caragay, a Central Michigan University senior majoring in computer science with a minor in entrepreneurship, remembers the moments before he stepped onstage at the 2017 New Venture Competition. He credits a teammate with helping him recover his confidence in the nick of time.

Their team, Scrappy Technologies, went on to pitch to the judges and walked away with $11,000 to build their mobile product, an app called Guarded Safety. They used the funding for marketing and user interface technology.

Caragay was excited to be just a spectator during the 2018 event, as more than 30 student teams competed in the “Shark Tank”-style main event, presented by the Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business Administration.

Practice pitching to the pros

Bruce Marble, executive director of the institute, said, “Our goal is to provide students with an experience that

simulates the real-world process of entrepreneurs presenting their business concepts to early stage investors.”

With nearly $100,000 in cash prizes at stake, the student teams had great incentive to put time, energy and effort into making a great pitch. Sponsors like Automation Alley, Spectrum Health Innovations and Foster Swift provide much of the prize money for winning teams.

For more than eight months, students interested in the competition attended a series of focused workshops and mentoring sessions where they received guidance on topics such as customer discovery, developing a marketing strategy and early-stage legal issues.

“There is no better environment to learn about building and growing a business,” Megan Cavellier said. The senior fashion merchandising and design major had no prior experience with business concepts like writing a financial statement or marketing plan. She was nervous about entering her company, ReCover, into the competition.

Cavellier took the concept of hospital gowns for teens and built it into a business she hopes will appeal to

CMU’s annual New Venture Competition offers entrepreneurs advice and funding for ideas

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patients, nurses and investors. Along the way, she and her team worked with faculty and staff to develop their business plan.

“The staff and mentors were always willing to help,” she said. “I had people on all sides offering to meet with me and practice with me. If there was something I didn’t understand, I was supported by people who could help. It was incredibly collaborative.”

Mentors worked with students to develop and refine their presentations during the “Make a Pitch” competition in December and the “Pitch to the Pros” event in February.

Andy Fennell, director of finance for Dow Ventures and Business Development, served as both a keynote speaker and mentor for the practice events. He said it was an opportunity to work with students on a subject he’s passionate about: venture investment.

“Students have a wonderful creativity. There is a freshness to their way of looking at the world. We are constantly looking for ideas and innovations for our business. Being out in the community and working with the university students is one of the ways we can connect with those new ideas,” Fennell said.

Tabitha Haney, a senior majoring in entrepreneurship, pitched a specialty dog food company in the competition. She attended almost every workshop and took advantage of all the early workshops to practice her pitch.

“I’m selling a product and a business model that are a little unusual. I needed help to consolidate a lot of necessary information into an incredibly short two-minute pitch. I received terrific advice and guidance from the mentors in that regard,” she said.

Building a better business

The New Venture Competition brings local and regional professionals to CMU to work with students as mentors and judges throughout the competition. Marble said more than 50 senior-level managers and executives from companies including The Dow Chemical Co., Isabella Bank and the Blue Water Angels Investment Network have participated in the event.

Judges rated student teams based on criteria including the quality of the idea, evidence of sufficient market research, sustainability of the financial model and the passion of the entrepreneurs. To help the businesses thrive beyond the competition, this year CMU added a new NVC Summer Accelerator Award worth $15,000.

“We want to continue to support the most committed teams and make sure they can continue the momentum they have built during the competition,” Marble said.

The road ahead for entrepreneurs

Jared Weston, a 2013 entrepreneurship and business administration graduate, is reaping the success of his New Venture experience. His company, Earthworm Castings, now sells product at thousands of Home Depot and Walmart stores nationwide.

Weston continues to participate in the event as a mentor and reminds his student teams about the challenging road ahead for serious entrepreneurs.

“Be prepared to make a lot of sacrifices. Expect to put in tremendous amounts of sweat equity before bringing in any money,” he tells them. “Their lives may become unbalanced and upside down — it may be a long and bumpy road.

“Just be smart and don’t give up.” •

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A successful startup needs more than a great idea — it also needs a solid business plan and, perhaps most importantly, funding. More than half of all new businesses fail within five years due to a lack of one or the other.

For two startups nurtured at Central Michigan University, the future may be a little brighter. Elemental and Drone the News, both winning teams in the 2018 New Venture Competition, completed a six-week summer accelerator program designed to help them stay successful in the years ahead.

The inaugural summer accelerator program matched teams with mentors from Automation Alley, Incuba8, Foster Swift Collins & Smith PC, Phobio, BlueWater Angels, and CMU’s entrepreneur-in-residence Curt White, chief technology officer with ViaClean Technologies.

Teams had daily accountability calls, weekly workshops and one-on-one meetings with experts in specific areas of business. The high-intensity mentoring program provided on-campus workspace, technical support and a stipend for living expenses.

At its close, the experience also came with a $5,000 business boost for both teams from sponsor Automation Alley.

A wake-up call from experts

For Zach Huffman and Tim Harkleroad, both recent alumni of CMU’s electronic

Accelerating toward successmedia studies graduate degree program, the accelerator was an opportunity to look critically at their business plan for Drone the News. Although it performed successfully during the spring competition, it needed some serious adjustments for implementation.

“On day one, the mentors told us we were trying to do too much. They feared we wouldn’t be able to provide our customers with exceptional service because we were stretching ourselves too thin,” Huffman said.

With help from their mentors, the team completely overhauled its business model, cutting down from five priority areas to just one.

“Focusing on the comprehensive commercial drone training course is a big change that will be much more beneficial for Drone the News,” Harkleroad said.

The team behind Elemental, a thermal bra for breast cancer survivors, also thought it had a pretty solid business plan in place. Sue Wroblewski said team members quickly learned how much they hadn’t considered.

“We’ve had generous donations of time from business leaders with experience in legal, marketing, accounting, raising equity, website development and anything else we suggested we needed to work on. Now we have multiple pages of high-level ‘must-do’ tasks,” she said.

Bracing for an entrepreneurial boom

Both teams had daily conference calls with their core mentor, entrepreneur Stephen Wakeling. The founder and CEO of Phobio believes CMU student entrepreneurs are positioning Michigan for a huge economic boost.

“Michigan is well-positioned to be a garden of disruption, where new ideas can grow and prosper. It’s fertile ground for myriad startup industries, from tech to agriculture. All we need to do is provide some support to these bright, creative visionaries to experience another boom.”

Winners of the New Venture Competition

complete new summer

incubator program

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Wakeling recalled the support he received in the early stages of his business and was excited to offer the same guidance and encouragement to the CMU teams.

“One thing that sets the CMU entrepreneurs apart is their tenacity. I’ve watched them take their ideas and grow them into viable products — and it hasn’t been easy for them. They have processed the feedback and criticism they’ve received without losing momentum,” he said.

“They are so passionate and hardworking, and they won’t let anything stop them. It’s really inspiring.”

Ready. Set. Launch.

As a final exercise, both teams presented one last pitch at a dinner in June.

Members of the core mentoring team, sponsors from the New Venture Competition, local entrepreneurs and business leaders attended and participated in the Q&A session following the pitches.

One of the accelerator goals is to make the teams more “investor ready,” and both teams secured additional investment during the program. They also made connections they hope will help in the next phase of their businesses.

With its new business model in place, Drone the News plans to begin trial runs of its training program and hopes to be ready to serve customers soon.

“We’ve confirmed that our market has a need for the training we’re providing, and we look forward to helping our customers get their videos off the ground,” Huffman said.

For Elemental, the next step is the roll out of their marketing plan. Wroblewski said the group plans to reach out to physicians, cancer support networks, insurance companies and direct customers. •

Central Michigan University student Angel Stallings is the recipient of a $10,000 merit scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board.

Stallings is a junior from Detroit, Michigan, majoring in accounting with minors in information systems and finance. She helped re-establish the CMU chapter of the National Association of Black Accountants to help fellow students develop professional skills.

The scholarships are awarded to outstanding undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in an accounting degree program at accredited colleges and universities in the United States. CMU accounting faculty members nominated Stallings for the award based on her academic excellence, involvement on campus and experience in the accounting field.

“One of my goals is to sit for the certified public accountant exam after graduation,” Stallings said.

“This scholarship just further solidified that I chose the right career path, and I’m honored that the board chose to support me on my journey.” •

Accounting student awarded $10K Angel Stallings received a $10,000 scholarship for excellence in accounting

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Detroit Labs president and co-founder Dan Ward returned to his alma mater to speak to classes at Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration and College of Science and Engineering.

Following his graduation in 2007, Ward applied for and was hired as desktop support at Quicken Loans, one of CMU’s premier partners. He quickly was brought onto the executive support team, where he worked for Quicken Loans founder Dan Gilbert before leaving to start his own company.

Ward modeled his lecture from personal experiences and how, as a history major, he leveraged his time at CMU working at the Office of

Richard Featheringham, Ph.D., taught business

communication and business writing for the business information systems department at Central Michigan from 1971 to 2007.

He has given over 100 presentations at the national and international levels and has researched and written extensively in the areas of business communication, business ethics, business information systems and methodology for teaching. He has written more than 5O research-based articles and has authored or co-authored seven textbooks.

Information Technology help desk to launch a successful career in the tech industry.

His message to CMU students is to be inquisitive, build relationships and aggressively pursue opportunities — even if they aren’t a part of the job description.

“I’m a firm believer in creating your own positions, rather than looking for job postings,” Ward said. “Look for gaps, and go out of your way to fill those holes.”

Detroit Labs is a mobile app development company servicing large corporate clients including General Motors, DTE Energy, Volkswagen and Domino’s Pizza. •

At CMU, Featheringham received the Excellence in Teaching Award, the Dean’s Outstanding Teaching Award, the College of Business Ameritech Excellence in Teaching Award and the Outstanding Educator of the Year Award from the National Court Reporters Association. Before coming to CMU, he received the Outstanding Faculty Member Award, Alumni Distinguished Teacher of the Year Award and Outstanding Teacher in the College of Business Administration Award at Kent State University.

Featheringham has taught summer sessions at 10 universities, including the University of Alaska, the University of New Brunswick in Canada and Catholic University of America. •

Tech talks with Dan WardAlum and mobile tech company co-founder returns to CMU to share his story with students

Featheringham inducted into Hall of FameAlum and former faculty member recognized for excellence in teaching, research

Award-winning best-sellers At the 2018 Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon, CMU students crush the competition

The professional sales program at Central Michigan University creates best-sellers, and the students have the awards to prove it.

At the 2018 Pi Sigma Epsilon National Convention, 130 students representing 60 programs around the country competed in the Pro-Am Sell-a-Thon. Of the top 10 finalists, six were CMU students, taking top spots in the professional development, speakers and sales competitions.

“Our suitcases were a few pounds heavier with all the awards we brought back from San Diego,” said Elena Pavlicas, a senior studying hospitality management.

Gary Gagnon, a faculty member who accompanied the students to San Diego, California, noted that in addition to their individual wins, the students showcased the excellence of CMU’s sales program. CMU won gold standing for the fifth year and received a Sustained Excellence award.

“This team helped keep CMU’s program positioned as one of the top in the country in the minds of everyone in attendance. At the career fair, recruiters were actively seeking out our CMU students.”

“Our students are realizing how potentially valuable they are and started dreaming big and aiming higher. That’s impactful for an aspiring professional,” Gagnon said. •

Colleges of Business Administration and Medicine partner to stimulate health care innovation

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What if you could improve the health of Michigan’s residents and its economy at the same time? With the right partners around the table, the possibilities for a healthier, wealthier Michigan are just a few innovations away.

Central Michigan University’s College of Business Administration and College of Medicine announced a public-private partnership with Michigan-based BlueWater Angels Investment Network. The new Michigan Healthcare Innovation Partnership will emphasize entrepreneurship in medicine by fostering educational collaboration and creating new small businesses and jobs within the state.

“Health care is one of the most rapidly growing areas of the economy,” Ken Kousky, executive director of BlueWater Angels, said.

“Health and life sciences make up about one-fifth of the current economy and are changing more rapidly than almost any other sector. We want Michigan to be at the forefront of that growth.”

Kousky met with Dr. George Kikano, dean of the CMU College of Medicine; Dr. Sethu Reddy, chair of medical disciplines at CMED; Charles Crespy, former dean of the CMU College of Business Administration; and Bruce Marble, executive director of the CMU Isabella Bank Institute for Entrepreneurship, to build the three-way agreement.

At its heart, the partnership is about building bridges and increasing collaboration among students in the two

colleges. By engaging business experts and leaders, the students can extend their networks and deepen their understanding of trends and challenges facing entrepreneurs.

Improving patient outcomes

The ultimate goal: a healthier Michigan.

In the spirit of CMU’s mission to give back to the community, many medical students are interested in ways they can use their talents to improve the lives of their patients beyond their clinical practice.

In addition to providing higher quality health care, these young medical entrepreneurs may be able to provide another valuable commodity: jobs. Small businesses employ nearly half of all workers in the state.

“We’re working with startups that want to begin in Michigan and stay in Michigan. Our investors want to see our state thrive,” Kousky said.

With tremendous growth in health care employment projected over the next five years, there’s reason to be optimistic.

Since the startup companies that begin in the New Venture Competition usually continue to operate in Michigan, the state stands to benefit greatly from the work of these entrepreneurial students. •

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They began as strangers with little in common.

The Central Michigan University students represented different countries of origin: Saudi Arabia, India and China. They had different career aspirations: university professor, software architect and restaurant owner among them. What they shared in common was being information systems graduate students.

And less than one year after their first meeting, they celebrated their second-place win in the ERPsim International business competition as a family.

Overcoming cultural barriers

“We’re an international team,” said Yinghui Lu, who received a CMU degree in communication before entering the master’s degree program for information systems.

“There are a lot of differences between us. We’re all from different countries, different backgrounds and different cultures. We had to learn a lot about each other in order to work together. Now, we’re like family.”

Her ERPsim International Competition teammate Naveen Uppu, a student in information systems and the MBA program, said the team began meeting together a few times a week for a few hours a day to work with the SAP-based game. By spring, they were meeting daily for up to five hours at a time.

The time spent poring over data and running drills paid off. The team took top prize at CMU’s invitational event and then went on to beat out hundreds of other school teams — the only U.S. team to make it into the final four.

A résumé building adventure

Along the way, the teammates were building the skills employers want most.

SAP is an industry leader in enterprise resource planning software that integrates an organization’s accounting, purchasing, production, human resources and other business functions. CMU and other universities use SAP to teach business processes.

In order to compete, each student had to master SAP software, building valuable technical skills. Their mock business — a cereal company — faced unexpected challenges in every cycle, forcing them to quickly address and resolve a variety of problems.

Bayan Masoudi said the simulations also led the team to focus on communication and build trust quickly.

“Everything about the business is integrated. If I am doing something wrong, it affects my teammates. I had to learn how to work in two ways: doing my own work and listening for cues from them.”

Gathered around laptops in Grawn Hall, the team progressed through dozens of rounds, eventually defeating the 2017 champions from Indonesia before losing to a Chinese team in the last round.

Lu said she felt great standing next to the team’s trophy but is focused more on the intangible prizes that came from the competition.

“I have so much more confidence. When I face new challenges, I know I can succeed,” she said. •

CMU team places second in the worldFive international students lead CMU to global business competition’s final round

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CMU students around the world. Top to bottom: Scotland, Austria, The Netherlands, England.

Employers want to hire students with cultural competence and a global mindset. One great way to build both is through study abroad. This year, more than 100 College of Business Administration students traveled to 17 countries around the globe to experience new languages and cultures.

BUSINESS GOES

GLOBAL

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NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION

U.S. POSTAGE PAID

DEARBORN MI PERMIT NO. 11

College of Business Administration 250 Grawn Hall Central Michigan University Mount Pleasant, MI 48859

It’s a safe bet Roxanne Bruhn traveled the farthest to attend Central Michigan University’s May 5 commencement.

The retired U.S. Air Force veteran flew more than 4,300 miles from her home on the Hawaiian island of Oahu to receive her master’s degree in human resource management with a certificate in leadership.

Some might think traveling that distance to receive a diploma is out of the question. But for Bruhn, it’s how she lives life: “You are either all in, or you stay home.”

31-year tour of duty

Bruhn began her 31-year tour of duty in the Hawaii Air National Guard as the first woman aerospace ground equipment specialist, maintaining the equipment aircraft crew chiefs used.

After more than six months of training, she graduated first in her class.

Her accomplishments continued to multiply, reaching what she considers one of her best achievements: being on a team that in two years improved a system used today for the Air National Guard to create military status orders.

Going all in

Bruhn realized she needed a degree when she applied for the highest-ranking job an Air Force enlisted person could hold. Despite being told she was the most qualified applicant, she didn’t get it because she didn’t have a degree.

She didn’t go home but went all in.

“I decided that this was never going to happen to me again. Within one year I had four associate degrees, and I was going to work on my bachelor’s in public administration, which I got in about 18 months from the University of Hawaii West Oahu in 2014.”

A CMU program administrator at Hickam Air Force Base encouraged Bruhn to pursue her master’s in human resource management. Now Bruhn is negotiating the starting pay for a position in the Navy and has applied for other military jobs.

Whichever position she gets, she credits support from CMU and her family.

“I worked hard for this, and so has my family, so I’m walking,” she said before commencement. “I wanted to come to commencement with my husband and son to relish the moment. To me it’s the symbol of completion. I can end this and start the next chapter.” •

Going the distance for a CMU degreeRoxanne Bruhn traveled from her home in Hawaii to receive her master’s degree