Points of Pride

Business alum makes
Crain’s “20 in their 20s” list

Natalie Finn, B.S. ’02, ranked among the crème-de-la-crème of young business leaders in Detroit when she appeared on Crain’s Detroit Business’ “Twenty in their 20s”– people making a creative difference in the Detroit area.

Chosen from a list of 400 nominees, Finn gained attention as an account executive with Campbell-Ewald, where she oversees the creation of TV and radio ads and coordinates events and promotions sponsored by Chevrolet, including the Essence Music Festival, the Vibe Awards, and Chevrolet’s Historically Black College and University Homecoming Tour.

Most notably, Ewald created a package of advertising spots for Chevrolet that featured the Detroit hip-hop duo Slum Village. Her project grew from two 30-second TV spots into a three-minute Slum Village music video filled with Chevrolet product placements that plays regularly on MTV2.

Students and faculty
winners in Barron’s Challenge

Two CBA students and one faculty member were listed in the May 1, 2006, Barron’s for the Barron’s Challenge, a 6-month stock-picking contest that lasted from Oct. 17, 2005, to April 13, 2006.

Andrew Rivard, ’07, of Capac, Michigan, finished fifth in the student category with a return of 66.6 percent, Steven Smith, ’06 of Holland, Michigan, finished 15th in the student category with a return of 49.7 percent, and finance and law faculty member James Felton finished fourth in the professor category with a return of 64.8 percent. There were more than 2,500 contestants, and the College of Business Administration had more in the top standings than any other school in the country.

IT students put on skit to highlight AITP conference

Students in the Central Michigan University Association of Information Technology Professionals attended the 2006 National Collegiate Conference in Dallas. While there, they gathered information to help them host the 2007 conference in Detroit, and they performed a skit to advertise the 2007 event for almost 800 attendees.

“We wanted to get some exposure for CMU, and Detroit is all about hosting the conference there because it has a booming information technology center,” said Rachel Swift, CMU student and AITP program chairwoman. “It was a great opportunity to meet with business professionals as well as other students.”
Swift is one of approximately 25 students who attended the NCC this year.

“Hosting the 2007 AITP conference in Detroit will put CMU on the map for many information technology students and employers,” said Monica Holmes, business information systems chairwoman. “The corporate members of CMU’s College of Business Administration Management Information Systems Advisory Board are supporting us in this endeavor. The CMU students have really worked very hard to ensure that we will have the support to host this event in 2007.”

During the conference each student participated in at least one technical competition, such as computer troubleshooting or Web site design.

State Farm offers internship program

A new internship program has been established with State Farm Insurance. Alumni Michael Love, ’04, agency field specialist, and Jay Miller, ’72, agency field executive, developed the program. Interns will work in a paid full-time position as part of a team in a local State Farm Insurance agent’s office, supporting the sales and servicing of insurance and financial services.

Interns will become directly responsible for client contact coordination, making client appointments, marketing system coordination, sales support, and follow up. The internship program will allow students to initiate special projects such as marketing campaigns, existing client cross-sell opportunity generation, and perpetual marketing system creation.

Students participating are Ali McCrite, ’06 business administration major; Chad Pung, ’07 entrepreneurship major; Jesse Dailey, ’06 business administration and Spanish majors; and Anthony Micles, ’07, human resources management major.

Computer simulation helps business students understand product issues

Many of management professor Spencer Tower’s students have been getting the chance to go far beyond the textbook with his global management strategy class.

They’ve been using the program Management Simulations Inc. to link up with students from around the country in a competitive environment that helps them learn about finance, marketing, production, and research and development while selling technology products.

“It’s unique because all our results depend on what our competitors (other students) do, so we have to factor that in along with how we work together against the competition,” said international business junior Xuanning Lu. “I really like that you get instant results in terms of how much profit you make.”

Last year Lu and his team compared their local results against the national level and found that they had scored in the top ten in “main measurements.”

“We did very well and made a profit of $65 million in a year. It’s a pretty good assessment of our knowledge and skills,” Lu said. “That experience created a close network of friends. It really engaged us and made us want to do better. I was even dreaming about his project at night because I wanted to do my best.”

Professional M.B.A. program pioneering new technology

CBA is pioneering the use of new technology in offering its Professional M.B.A. program in the Detroit area. Students will be able to access streaming classroom information on the Web. Instructors will capture their classroom presentations using Mediasite, a new hardware system allowing for simultaneous capturing of the classroom presentation along with any visual aide materials. With the use of this new technology, in-class time can focus on application, case analysis, and expansion of class material.

Gaming study to measure economic impact
Economics department faculty members Gregory Falls and Philip Thompson will team up with Honors Program director Jim Hill and a group of CMU students to conduct research on gaming operations. The study, beginning this summer, will assess Michigan gaming operations and their impact on local economies and government services.

Linrud accepts Minot deanship

JoAnn Linrud will become the new dean of the College of Business at Minot State University in Minot, North Dakota, effective July 1, 2006. Linrud has been at CMU for eight years. For the past two years she has served as the interim associate dean and director of M.B.A. programs. In her prior position in the college she served as the chair of the department of marketing and hospitality services administration. Prior to joining CMU, Linrud worked at Minnesota State University and University of North Texas. Minot State University is the third largest public institution in North Dakota serving Northwest North Dakota and Canada.

Entrepreneurial center holds competition

The LaBelle Entrepreneurial Center held its semiannual Entrepreneurship Investment Forum this spring. The competition takes place twice each year at the end of each semester. Students present the top four business plans produced for the capstone entrepreneurship course (ENT 419). Presenters are given a half hour to explain their business plan to the Entrepreneurship Advisory Board, with the understanding that they could possibly get funding for their project from board members or angel investors who also attend the meeting.

In addition to potential funding for the businesses, students receive cash awards of $1,000, $500, $250, and $100 for places one through four, respectively. The winners of the two competitions were Robert Loomis, entrepreneurship major, whose business idea was Fast-Trax Lifestyle, a consulting firm; and Cason Thorsby, of Davison, Michigan. His pitch titled Hunter’s Choice Soups, showcased wild game.

From left, Justin Jones as Ted Nugent, Rachel Swift as Madonna, Jared Johnson as the announcer, and Melissa Hill as Meg White rehearse an IT student skit to highlight the AITP 2007 conference in Detroit.

International business junior Xuanning Lu led a team of students in a competitive computer simulation program that challenged their ability to make key business decisions. The result? They made a (simulated) profit of $65 million in a year.