BUSINESS MATTERS

College of Business Alumni News January 2017

Beavers helping Beavers: Celebrating our heritage Happy New Year! I hope that you had an enjoyable and relaxing holiday with friends and family. Winter term has already kicked off at the College of Business, and Austin Hall is buzzing with students again. As you’ve read in past issues of Business Matters we have a lot to be proud of as we look back on 2016, but I’d like to take this moment to look ahead to 2017. Our alumni play an essential role in our success. There is no greater evidence of the inherent value of a college than the quality of the alumni that it produces. I invite you to help us honor those alumni who have helped us shape the College’s strong heritage into what it is today, and I invite you to help us grow our student community in order to expand our strong heritage for tomorrow. Nominate an alum Our alumni are hard-working and lead by example through constant tides of change in business. If you know a College of Business alum who deserves recognition for professional achievements and service, Our people tell our story best — Assistant Professor Amol Joshi meets with a potential MBA student, discussing the benefits of the new hybrid MBA offered online and in person at the nominate him or her for one of these awards: Hall WeWorks community work building in Portland. Please get in touch, and see how you can get of Fame, Innovation and Distinguished Business involved. Visit business.oregonstate.edu/engage. Professional or Young Business Professional.To nominate, visit business.oregonstate.edu/alumni-awards. Refer a future student As alumni or friend of the College, you know the value of an OSU College of Business education. Help us shape the next generation of Oregon business leaders by referring a future undergraduate or future MBA student to the College of Business. To refer future undergraduate and IN THE NEWS MBA students, visit business.oregonstate.edu/engage, and complete these online forms. Read about alumni and faculty at business.oregonstate.edu/business-matters As always, thank you for your continued support of the college. We look forward to seeing all that we can How to Quit a Job - BYU Off-grid power in remote On a quest for the cure - accomplish together in 2017 and beyond. Radio areas will require special Eric Vela, MBA student business model to succeed

Mitzi Montoya, Sara Hart Kimball Dean

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Creating a mindset, and skill set, for entrepreneurial excellence We are launching the College of Business Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, a platform for signature programming and thought leadership that will positively impact innovation, startup activity and new job creation in Oregon and the Pacific Northwest.

“Our responsibility to educate Building on a strong and an entrepreneurial mindset. Steven Miller and Moriah Shay have a distinctive class of business entrepreneurial heritage With the Center’s experiential started a business before graduation. leaders and innovators begins The College of Business has a learning opportunities, our on day one for our students, great history of innovation and students will hone these traits into support by creating a peer and it also extends to those entrepreneurship to build upon. the highly innovative and hard- community of selected in the broader Northwest working signature skill set of our “We have a tradition, Beavers entrepreneurial-minded students entrepreneurship ecosystem” graduates,” Miller said. helping Beavers, that is embedded and a series of activities that said College of Business Dean Mitzi into the Center programming The Center events and promote applied learning, working Montoya. “The Center promotes and stems from the original programming on teams, being competitive, and business development with endowment from Ken Austin, The emerging Center embraces ultimately, student success. activities and signature events an entrepreneur, an innovator, and elevates numerous new Ultimately, Launch-U, Launch to inspire students, faculty, and a great community leader,” activities launched by the Academy and other Center alumni and community to build said Sandra Miller, the Center’s dean this fall. For example, programming create a pipeline to successful businesses. For our director. “We understand that our the Center will host Launch-U, Launch Corps, startup services students, it presents experiences future will be great if we build on entrepreneurship-specific weekly that support MBA students who and opportunities that go that tradition of community.” programming, as part of Fridays have business ventures. As they beyond a traditional classroom in Austin. Launch-U activities The eight-year-old Austin progress through OSU’s Innovation environment to develop them and events include startup job Entrepreneurship Program is the Management MBA, students in into performance-driven business fairs and internship opportunities, precursor to the Center, which Launch Corps will be connected to professionals. Our students social mixers, business-pitch exemplifies the long tradition of resources that will help turn their will actively contribute to an practice workshops, mentoring entrepreneurship at the college, startup ideas into reality. Those entrepreneurial-minded peer sessions, startup weekends and and was originally funded by an resources include mentors in areas community and benefit from the invention competitions. greater College of Business alumni endowment from OSU alumnus, such as marketing, accounting community and regional industry A-dec cofounder and College of The Center will also raise funds for and finance; office space at partner network.” Business benefactor, Ken Austin. student scholarships as well as the college’s new Portland fund business grants, provide seed headquarters at WeWork, a co- Montoya expects to measure Miller points out that the rapidly capital, and support innovation working community for multiple in years ahead how the Center changing pace of business competitions and student groups. ventures and startups, services, positively impacts innovation, requires that College of Business equipment and related amenities; startup activity and new job graduates have mastered the skill The Launch Academy pillar of the and access to investors and to creation in Oregon and the Pacific of entrepreneurial thinking. Center, a competitive and cohort- based model of entrepreneurship the OSU’s business incubator, the Northwest, and enhances the “We want our students to display education, provides deeper Advantage Accelerator. reputation of the College. agility, innovation, creativity,

CALENDAR OF EVENTS

For a complete list of OSU alumni events visit osualum.com

Wednesday, Feb. 8: Monday, Feb. 13: Thursday, Feb. 16: State of the University Address Advancing Women’s Leadership Women’s Happy Hour Meetup Portland Portland Portland BUSINESS MATTERS 3

Seeing green: Grad makes business case for social responsibility

Jenna Wiegand doesn’t think that business growth and environmental sustainability are mutually exclusive. After pursuing a College of Business Finance degree and a College of Agricultural Sciences Sustainability degree, she’s now out to prove that a company can succeed and grow while making the health and well-being of people and the planet a top priority as well.

Wiegand, a 2015 graduate of State, including a leadership A double major in finance and sustainability gives Jenna Wiegand the tools to Oregon State University’s Honors seminar she took through the solve supply chain challenges in her role with . She’s seated in the second row, fourth from the right, at the 2016 Unilever Community Action Day. College, landed a job working College of Business, with preparing in supply chain with Unilever, a her to think on her feet and make clean the lines every 72 hours. She’s proud of Unilever’s Global 500 multinational company sound decisions. accomplishments with ’s that makes consumer goods, While at Oregon State, Wiegand “A lot of time, there’s not a positive body image campaign with products ranging from home took a colloquium for critical right answer,” Wiegand said. “You for women, accessible hygiene health and beauty products, thinking through the Honors learn to trust your instincts and products called Lifebuoy and the such as Dove, to frozen desserts, College that opened her eyes commit to your decision.” Healing Project aimed including Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream. to the scope of impact behind at providing medical supplies for Some of her early successes business decisions. She often asks Mid-way through a three-year people affected by poverty or at Unilever have been on the herself, “How will my decisions rotational program preparing her emergencies worldwide. logistics side. She worked on impact communities and the for a management role with the a delivery route map for the environment, both locally and Wiegand said her personal goals company, she’s already finding United States and found a way to globally?” are well-aligned with Unilever. business solutions to meet social reduce trucking miles travelled. And there are certain perks and environmental challenges. Wiegand said her proposals have Wiegand’s model reduces 200 that come with working for the been well-received when she’s “Business has the potential to tons of carbon per year. company responsible for Ben & been able to make the business solve the problems we face. We Jerry’s, Gelato and She’s also improving the efficiency case for change. She’s kept her don’t have to choose exclusively Ice Cream. of the cleaning process for ice idealism of making the world between profitability and cream production. The challenge better through responsibility. And “I have tried a lot of ice cream sustainability. A process that was to reduce the amount of she sees reason to be optimistic, flavors,” she said. Her favorite saves energy or water or other water used. But Wiegand also as Unilever’s Sustainable Living is Magnum ice cream bars. “The resources also should save looked for ways to salvage ice brand is growing twice as fast as white chocolate bars are to money,” Wiegand said. cream that would otherwise be other products, a trend driven by die for.” She credits her studies at Oregon wasted when they shut down to consumer choice.

POINTS OF PRIDE

400+ $2.2M 29th

More than 400 volunteers engage with Our Oregon State Investment Group The College of Business is ranked 29th the College of Business every year. manages a $2.2M portfolio. internationally in operations management empirical research on the SCM Journal List. BUSINESS MATTERS 4

Taking the lead: Graduates find bright future at Deloitte Finding a job, taking advantage of opportunities, building a career path … it may not be top of mind for newly minted university students exploring all possibilities within the College of Business. However, one of the core Recent grads Madeline Mill (left) and Brittany Donahue (right) have a lot in messages our students hear from us is – take advantage of common: double degrees, an alma mater, their current employer, and a drive for opportunities outside the classroom. excellence.

Some of our most successful the mindset to just go for every want to see what you’ve done are essential to succeed,” graduates have followed this opportunity that was out there. with your learning. That question Donahue said. formula and achieved terrific can usually be answered by Mill collected work experience Donahue’s club involvement results. Case in point, two Class describing how you’ve shown before college including an included acting as treasurer of of 2014 graduates with dual up and how you engage in the internship in the finance her sorority and treasurer of majors in Business Information amazing programs we have department at Leatherman Tools. the Oregon State Robotics Club. Systems and Accounting are now outside of class,” Mill said. However, it was Mill’s involvement Donahue also volunteered at the colleagues together at the Big Four in SIM Club – the Students of Like Mill, Brittany Donahue also Corvallis City Hall business office accounting and consulting firm, Information Management Club at is a senior consultant at Deloitte, while a student and continued her Deloitte, at their Portland office. Oregon State – that brought her and Class of 2014 cum laude active involvement after college The common threads in their the opportunity she needed. A graduate with a dual degree in serving as the deputy treasurer for stories – involvement in student Deloitte representative came to Business Information Systems and the Willamette Valley chapter of clubs, building work experience a meeting, and mentioned that Accounting. the Information Systems Audit and with internships and jobs, and Control Association (ISACA). they had an opportunity to join Donahue and Mill were both in working closely with their the firm. the Dean’s Student Leadership She began pursuing the internship professors – weave together to “I decided to go for it. I wouldn’t Council; both were teaching opportunities posted by Deloitte, form the skill set that top-tier be at Deloitte if I hadn’t shown assistants during undergraduate along with the other Big Four employer’s value. up to SIM Club the night they years, gaining project experience firms, during her junior year. Madeline Mill graduated with announced an opening,” Mill said. under the guidance of their Inspired by her mother, who is a honors in 2014 and is now a Mill, who would later become professors that mirrored the real- CPA, Brittany had a clear picture senior consultant with Deloitte. the president of the SIM Club at world job requirements. of what this career path offered. In a typical day, Mill works with She interviewed with multiple Big Oregon State, often recruited “Students should really take clients within the energy and Four, regional, and local firms. students to join the club and get advantage of the inclusive and resources, and consumer and involved. collaborative nature within the “The people at Deloitte stood out industrial products industries. “Half of it is showing up to College of Business, both between to me as particularly intelligent Mill, in describing her path extracurricular activities, lectures students as well as between and genuine. I was offered an to Deloitte, sums it up rather outside of class, office hours, and students and faculty. It’s a great internship position in Advisory modestly as “basically, getting taking any of the opportunities practice for a career after college, after visiting the Deloitte office, lucky.” However, the high-school you get exposed to. ... Recruiters where inclusion and collaboration and upon completion of the valedictorian says she’s long held internship I was offered a full time opportunity,” Donahue said of In BUSINESS MATTERS, our alumni newsletter, we share information about College of Business people, her job supporting risk-based IT events and engagement opportunities. testing related to external financial You are a valued ambassador for Beaver Nation, and we look forward to hearing from you. audits. Please send your news or story ideas to [email protected] “I’d encourage undergraduates to attend the informational For questions or information: sessions, meet-and-greets, and any other opportunities to meet MARIA SCHELL professionals as early as possible,” College of Business | Oregon State University Foundation Donahue said. [email protected] 503-553-3422 | cell 971-404-6910