Blue Edge Labs – The UCONN program is run by Dr. Richard Dino, a professor from the School of Business with an endless amount of enthusiasm and encouragement. Keith Fox, an alumnus of UCONN, provides iQ support from the national program level. In addition to Rich and Keith, there are twenty or more individuals both inside and outside the University who provide mentoring and other program support.
Author: Claire Hall
Job Recovery Has Been Steady, But Slow, Under Malloy
New Haven Register – Malloy’s Republican opponent, Tom Foley, has suggested elimination of the business entity tax, a cut to sales tax and the creation of enterprise zones in the city’s hardest hit by the recession could resuscitate Connecticut’s economy and labor market. But Fred Carstensen, University of Connecticut finance and economics professor and the director of the Connecticut Center for Economic Analysis, isn’t sold on Foley’s ideas.
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How to Build a 21st-Century Business Plan
Hartford Business Journal – Q&A talks about the evolution of business plans with Timothy B. Folta, a UConn professor and Thomas John and Bette Wolff Family chair in strategic entrepreneurship.
State’s Sales Tax ‘Holiday’ for Clothing, Shoes Starts Sunday
Greenwich Housing Market Shows Signs of Strength
McKinney Seeks to Eliminate Middle-Class Income Tax
UConn Students Compete in 7th Annual Business Language Case Competition
On Friday, November 8, three students from the University of Connecticut traveled to Provo, Utah to compete in the Seventh Annual Business Language Case Competition at the Brigham Young University (BYU) Marriott School of Business. The three students were Sarah Scheffel ’14, a senior who is majoring in international business with a minor in Spanish, Akanksha Singh ’16, a second-year student studying finance and Spanish, and Jonathan Sanchez ’14 (CLAS), a political science major also in his last year. The team was accompanied by Kelly Aceto, Managing Director of the UConn Center for International Business Education and Research.
The competition was conducted in two categories: Spanish and Mandarin. All of the participants were non-native speakers of each language. The team from UConn participated in the Spanish competition, in which they had to read a case about Wal-Mart’s expansion into organics, create an executive summary and PowerPoint presentation, and answer ten minutes of questions all in Spanish.
Overall, the BYU competition was an incredible experience for the students who took part because it allowed them to showcase their business acumen and foreign language skills, sharpen their presentation skills for real-life global business situations, and network with international business professionals who served as judges and coaches, as well as the other participants. Other schools present at the competition were Arizona State University, University of Miami, Indiana University, American University, University of Nevada Las Vegas, University of Washington, University of Pittsburgh, Rutgers University, University of Pennsylvania, Utah State University, and University of Notre Dame. This is the first year that UConn has participated in the Business Language Case Competition.
The UConn team was sponsored by the UConn Center for International Business Education and Research (CIBER), which is one of the 33 CIBERs located in top business schools throughout the U.S. The UConn CIBER is mandated to increase the competitiveness of U.S. business in the global marketplace.
The Value of a Day’s Work: Panel Addresses Pay Equity
Women make up 48% of Connecticut’s labor force, and yet in 2011, Connecticut full-time working women earned just 78% of what their male counterparts earned, according to a research brief on pay equity by the Connecticut General Assembly Permanent Commission on the Status of Women (PCSW).Continue Reading
UConn EBV Program is a Community of Veterans Supporting Connecticut’s Economy
UConn’s Entrepreneurship Bootcamp for Veterans with Disabilities (EBV) fills an important need both for the veteran population in that it provides access to entrepreneurial education and resources, and to the state in that it helps create economic vitality and businesses that create jobs.
A May 2011 study from the Small Business Administration Office of Advocacy revealed that 45 percent of veterans are more likely to take the plunge into entrepreneurship than people with no active-duty military experience. “I think there are several reasons why veterans tend to be more entrepreneurial, says Michael Zacchea ’12 MBA, EBV program manager, in a 2012 Hartford Business Journal interview. “First, in the military, they developed a bias for action, and a commitment to mission accomplishment. Veterans tend to network with other veterans, and tend to understand things like logistics and supply chains. Veterans have learned management and planning skills that lend themselves to entrepreneurial success.â€
On Veterans Day in 2004, Zacchea nearly died while fighting with his unit in the streets of Fallujah, one of Iraq’s deadliest combat zones. Nine years later and retired from the Marine Corps, he has led more than 60 disabled veterans through the EBV program curriculum. “We believe that veteran entrepreneurship is part of the solution both for the current generation of 2.5 million Iraq and Afghanistan veterans, and for our economy both nationally and for our state. In Connecticut, there are more than 40,000 veteran-owned businesses, which account for 8% of the state’s GDP,†says Zacchea. “Veteran business owners create both economic and social value disproportionate to their size of the population.â€
Learn more about UConn’s EBV program and hear feedback from participants in this video:
Over 400 Attend Second Annual Business Career Expo
On a crisp October morning, more than 400 students and employers participated in the School of Business’ Second Annual Business Career Expo. The event, which was designed to complement the successful career fairs hosted by the UConn Center for Career Development, featured a multi-dimensional format designed to enhance personal connections between students and those employers who specifically seek School of Business undergraduate and MBA students.
Students were advised to come to the Business Career Expo prepared to talk about their personal passions such as sports, clubs, hobbies, musical interests, community service, and unique pursuits. Employers were invited to tell stories reflecting their company culture including team sports, community service initiatives, and distinctive company activities or efforts. Students were encouraged to understand the differentiators between companies and in return to highlight the differentiators between themselves and other business students.
In their introductory remarks, the School of Business Career Center (SBCC) team encouraged the crowd to think beyond traditional career fair conversations. “Our students are more than their GPAs, and our corporate partners have more to offer than job postings; we invite you all to find those compelling reasons for connecting here today,” announced Kathy Hendrickson, assistant director of the Undergraduate Business Career Center.
In order to encourage this unique dialogue and to highlight personal passions and talents beyond academics, the event was opened with a performance of the national anthem by the Conn-Men. The Conn-Men is a student a cappella group who performed at the inauguration of UConn President Susan Herbst, and has also recently won the UConn A Cappella Competition. Their inspiring performance launched the morning discussions in a manner which brought immediate energy into the room and the conversations. Employers Jodi Culberston, Northwestern Mutual, and Sean O’Connell ’83 (CLAS), ’92 MBA, GE, were just two of the participants who expressed enthusiasm and appreciation for the unique introduction to the day and the manner in which it immediately facilitated conversations with students.
The full agenda included an open forum in the Student Union Ballroom and 18 concurrent individual employer sessions. The event culminated at 1:30 p.m., when the Conn-Men returned for a half-hour performance for all students, employers, faculty, and staff of the School of Business who participated in the event. Meg Warren, assistant director of the MBA Business Career Center, concludes, “In terms of connecting students and employers in a personal way, the day was a resounding success!”