College of Business News

Sarah Calhoun, owner of Red Ants Pants will be the keynote speaker at the ninth annual Montana State University College of Business Entrepreneur Day, set for 10:00 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday, November 1, in the ballrooms of the Strand Union Building on the MSU campus.

Calhoun’s keynote presentation, “Red Ants Pants, More than a Pair of Pants,” which is free and open to the public, will be held from 1:15-2:00 p.m. A question and answer session will follow her remarks.

Calhoun will discuss her experiences with pants and how that led to a new business idea and a company based in a rural agriculturally-based town in Montana. She will touch upon how to start and run a successful business as well as her business’s unique marketing efforts and how her business has expanded to include a non-profit branch in support of women’s leadership, working family farms and ranches, and rural communities.

Calhoun grew up on a farm in Connecticut and received her degree in Environmental Studies from Gettysburg College. She opened up shop in 2006 in an old historic saddle shop in White Sulphur Springs and Red Ants Pants are now sold via the Internet all across the country and in other countries including Antarctica.

The day will be broken into several segments. In addition to Calhoun’s presentation, College of Business faculty and current students will facilitate a group workshop in the morning. The session is designed for high school students and transfer students interested in business and the entrepreneurship program at MSU.

The MSU College of Business hosts Entrepreneur Day as part of its commitment to enhance entrepreneurial spirit and education in the area, as well as its commitment to improving the economic development of the state.

For more information on the sessions and luncheon, or to RSVP, contact Audrey Lee at 994-7026 or audrey.lee@montana.edu. Reservations are requested.

News

Paul Quigley, a senior double-majoring in business management and film, and who participated in the College of Business (CoB)’s Professional Coaching Clinic (PCC) course, applied and was accepted into an intensive seminar for college students given by bestselling author and entrepreneur Seth Godin, in New York.

Twenty students were invited to participate between July 30 and August 1. Godin described this event as “perfect for full-time college students who are interested in pushing themselves, connecting with others on the same journey, and perhaps for those who are looking for a chance to see how much they can learn and do in 72 hours.”

The application process was quick, but rigorous. Quigley played to his strengths and submitted a thoughtful one minute required video that can be viewed at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G39WIdwchxk.

Quigley had participated in the PCC with instructor Tammy Machowicz Olsztyn, who connected him with this opportunity. Godin posted the seminar on his blog and Machowicz Olsztyn, a subscriber, forwarded Quigley the link on a Tuesday, with the deadline that Friday. Quigley jumped at the opportunity. “I felt like it was an opportunity I needed to try for and believed I could do it,” he said.

Godin describes “linchpins,” also the title of one of his books, as the people who “invent, lead (regardless of title), connect others, make things happen, and create order out of chaos. They figure out what to do when there’s no rulebook. They delight and challenge their customers and peers. They love their work, pour their best selves into it, and turn each day into a kind of art.” Machowicz Olsztyn described Quigley as embodying the definition of a linchpin and that he would be a great fit for the seminar.

“Paul is an artist—not because he is a double-major in film and business—he is an artist in relationships and in making connection. People value connections and businesses grow and succeed by mastering this kind of art. Other attributes Paul shares with many of the students we coach in the PCC are that he is a forward thinker, a risk taker, and a contributor with great desire to create and produce value in the workplace,” Machowicz Olsztyn said.

Quigley described Godin as a very casual lecturer. The structure of the workshop began with an overview and conversations leading to project work. Godin had the students talk to him about ideas and or projects they would like to bring to fruition within the next six months. From those conversations with the students, he would interject lecture information as it pertained to the different topics at hand.

Students developed hypothetical or real plans and presented them to the rest of the group. Each day, students spent about six hours with Godin and another four to ten hours working on their own time. All the students were able to speak with Godin one-on-one and network amongst themselves.

“He has amazing knowledge, wisdom, and insight to the many complexities facing our world, yet he has a way of boiling them down to tangible levels that inspire hope and faith,” Quigley recalled. “Making a difference in this world starts with the individual.”

Godin’s goals for the workshop were to help students understand basic storytelling, the realities of marketing online, the new economics of the connection economy, spreadsheet analysis, advanced communication and bootstrapping skills.

In Godin’s words, “I think college is the perfect place to stop getting A’s and start making a ruckus, as it’s a lot harder to shift gears later. I know that it was a transformative moment in my career and I’d like to help share some of that thinking.”

Quigley said he took a lot away from just three days. “I walked away believing that every moment in life provides opportunity, and that these moments are part of the process of creating my personal art; art defined as the use of gifts and passions towards the creation of something that is shared with others. I was inspired to consider personal fears, and take note on how they hold me back from being the person I am meant to be professionally and personally. Also, never underestimate the power of networking! Relationship building is worth the investment.”

The CoB’s goal is to educate students in business and to equip them with the skills to challenge themselves to grow personally and professionally. Professional programs, like the PCC, help our students succeed after graduation and foster self-confidence and educational excellence.

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The College of Business will host Greg Ruff, founder of White Space Strategy, as the fall Entrepreneur-in-Residence, October 15-19, 2012. On Thursday, October 18, he will present “Heartland Entrepreneuring: Creating and Growing Heartland Businesses” in Reid 108 at 5:00 p.m., on the Bozeman campus. The event is free and open to the public. Ruff will also visit business classes throughout the week and meet with students in the entrepreneurship program.

Greg’s presentation will answer key questions about starting and building new businesses in America’s Heartland including: Why start a new business now? Why here? What do new businesses mean for the Montana economy and for me? Is there a real opportunity outside Silicon Valley and what are their secrets? What is a White Space market opportunity and why should I care? and, “How do I grow my current business today?

Greg has worked with a number of Montana businesses as well as the TechRanch start-up incubator while the bulk of his practice has been in Silicon Valley. He’s now turning his attention from high-tech to the heartland and has coined the term “Heartland Entrepreneuring” to reflect to opportunities for business growth and new business start-ups outside the metropolitan areas of America.

He is the founder of White Space Strategy, a market and business strategy consulting firm that has provided counsel to more than 200 client organizations since 1996. Prior to that, he built consulting practices for several leading firms in the Silicon Valley. He has been consulting for high-tech companies and industry leaders since 1987 when he joined Booz & Co. a leading worldwide consultancy after 13 years in sales and marketing management at HP. His clients have included American Express, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Adobe, Oracle and Apple as well as hundreds of start-ups and new businesses in a broad range of industries.

Ruff earned a B.S.E.E from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A in international management and finance from New York University. He has written numerous articles for industry organizations such as Dealmaker Media and The Chasm Group and has spoken about Web 2.0, 3.0, entrepreneuring and new market creation at events such as the Web 2.0 Expo and Summit, and Office 2.0. He has guest lectured at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, Santa Clara University and been a judge and mentor for companies presenting at the International Business Plan Competition at the University of San Francisco (USF).

For more information about this event, or the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, please contact Scott Bryant at bryant@montana.edu or 406-994-6191.

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ASMSU and the MSU Leadership Institute will host The White House Project on Oct. 20 in the SUB. Students will be able to participate in leadership workshops that will teach the ambition and creativity necessary for successful leadership and also see why women are critical in effective leadership.

The College of Business is a sponsor of this event.

Download and complete the registration forms by noon Wednesday, Oct.17

Learn more about the White House Project:
http://calendar.msu.montana.edu/events/7633

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Montana State University will present the design for its new College of Business building with its emphasis on sustainability, flexible classroom and work space, and natural light during a campus meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 9.

“This is a very open building, both literally in terms of light and in terms of fostering collaboration between students, faculty and members of the community. It is a building that is warm and welcoming to the entire state of Montana,” said Ben Lloyd, principal with Comma-Q Architecture of Bozeman, who worked on the design with Hennebery Eddy Architects of Portland, Ore.

A two-story-tall glass map of Montana at the building’s main entrance will greet visitors and emphasize its place in the state. The map will be illuminated at night, making it glow as a beacon to the main entry of the building.

“It will be a spectacular way for everyone to remember this building and its importance to the state,” said Tim Eddy, principal with Hennebery Eddy Architects.

For more views of the interior and exterior of the building, click here.

Nearly the entire south side of the 45,000-square-foot building is covered in windows, letting the classrooms and meeting spaces behind them fill with natural light. Additionally, a large central skylight will brighten a student meeting space on the third floor.

“This will be unlike any other building on campus,” Eddy said. “The biggest difference is that its design is rooted in the desire to make the building a place where students, faculty and professionals from the community can collaborate.”

The design of the building also aspires to achieve at least a Silver LEED certification. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. It is an internationally recognized green building certification program developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.

For the full announcement, click here.

News

Sarah Calhoun, owner of Red Ants Pants will be the keynote speaker at the ninth annual Montana State University College of Business Entrepreneur Day, set for 10:00 a.m.-3 p.m. Thursday, November 1, in the ballrooms of the Strand Union Building on the MSU campus.

Calhoun’s keynote presentation, “Red Ants Pants, More than a Pair of Pants,” which is free and open to the public, will be held from 1:15-2:00 p.m. A question and answer session will follow her remarks.

Calhoun will discuss her experiences with pants and how that led to a new business idea and a company based in a rural agriculturally-based town in Montana. She will touch upon how to start and run a successful business as well as her business’s unique marketing efforts and how her business has expanded to include a non-profit branch in support of women’s leadership, working family farms and ranches, and rural communities.

Calhoun grew up on a farm in Connecticut and received her degree in Environmental Studies from Gettysburg College. She opened up shop in 2006 in an old historic saddle shop in White Sulphur Springs and Red Ants Pants are now sold via the Internet all across the country and in other countries including Antarctica.

The day will be broken into several segments. In addition to Calhoun’s presentation, College of Business faculty and current students will facilitate a group workshop in the morning. The session is designed for high school students and transfer students interested in business and the entrepreneurship program at MSU.

The MSU College of Business hosts Entrepreneur Day as part of its commitment to enhance entrepreneurial spirit and education in the area, as well as its commitment to improving the economic development of the state.

For more information on the sessions and luncheon, or to RSVP, contact Audrey Lee at 994-7026 or audrey.lee@montana.edu. Reservations are requested.

News

The College of Business will host Greg Ruff, founder of White Space Strategy, as the fall Entrepreneur-in-Residence, October 15-19, 2012. On Thursday, October 18, he will present “Heartland Entrepreneuring: Creating and Growing Heartland Businesses” in Reid 108 at 5:00 p.m., on the Bozeman campus. The event is free and open to the public. Ruff will also visit business classes throughout the week and meet with students in the entrepreneurship program.

Greg’s presentation will answer key questions about starting and building new businesses in America’s Heartland including: Why start a new business now? Why here? What do new businesses mean for the Montana economy and for me? Is there a real opportunity outside Silicon Valley and what are their secrets? What is a White Space market opportunity and why should I care? and, “How do I grow my current business today?

Greg has worked with a number of Montana businesses as well as the TechRanch start-up incubator while the bulk of his practice has been in Silicon Valley. He’s now turning his attention from high-tech to the heartland and has coined the term “Heartland Entrepreneuring” to reflect to opportunities for business growth and new business start-ups outside the metropolitan areas of America.

He is the founder of White Space Strategy, a market and business strategy consulting firm that has provided counsel to more than 200 client organizations since 1996. Prior to that, he built consulting practices for several leading firms in the Silicon Valley. He has been consulting for high-tech companies and industry leaders since 1987 when he joined Booz & Co. a leading worldwide consultancy after 13 years in sales and marketing management at HP. His clients have included American Express, IBM, Hewlett Packard, Adobe, Oracle and Apple as well as hundreds of start-ups and new businesses in a broad range of industries.

Ruff earned a B.S.E.E from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A in international management and finance from New York University. He has written numerous articles for industry organizations such as Dealmaker Media and The Chasm Group and has spoken about Web 2.0, 3.0, entrepreneuring and new market creation at events such as the Web 2.0 Expo and Summit, and Office 2.0. He has guest lectured at the Haas School of Business at Berkeley, Santa Clara University and been a judge and mentor for companies presenting at the International Business Plan Competition at the University of San Francisco (USF).

For more information about this event, or the Entrepreneur-in-Residence program, please contact Scott Bryant at bryant@montana.edu or 406-994-6191.

News