“The education you received at the School of  Business Administration will help you accomplish great things,” said Dean Sanjay Sharma.  “We encourage you to be ambitious, creative, and compassionate.  Continue to challenge yourself and others.”

Carrie Teffner (’88 BSBA and ’97 MBA), newly appointed Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at PetSmart, Inc., was the keynote speaker during the Commencement Ceremony.  Teffner brings more than 20 years of management experience to PetSmart, most recently serving as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Weber-Stephen Products, one of the largest global manufacturers of charcoal and gas grills.

Dean Sharma took time in the ceremony to point out three university-wide awards that were given to business school students and faculty.  Ryan Little and Michelle Leung were the 2013 recipients of the Keith M. Miser Leadership Award, which recognizes students who have contributed significantly to campus leadership endeavors. 

The dean also congratulated Assistant Professor Allison Kingsley for being one of four faculty members at the university selected as the 2013 winners of the Kroepsch-Maurice Excellence in Teaching Awards, which recognizes UVM professors for excellent instruction. 

Professor Kingsley was also named the 2013 School of Business Administration Undergraduate Teacher of the Year.  Assistant Professor Glenn Walberg was named the 2013 Master of Accountancy Teacher of the Year and Professor Rocki-Lee DeWitt was named 2013 Master of Business Administration Teacher of the Year Award. 

About the Class of 2013 *

Summa Cum Laude

Yuliya Gulenko, B.S. Business Administration

Todd Michael Kinneston, B.S. Business Administration

Zachary David Schmoll, B.S. Business Administration

Magna Cum Laude

Kelby J. Benson, B.S. Business Administration

Matthew Bryant Betit, B.S. Business Administration

Jason Matthew Fish, B.S. Business Administration

Kyle Jacob Greenhaus, B.S. Business Administration

David M. Ramada, B.S. Business Administration

Marshall T. Shepherd, B.S. Business Administration

Cum Laude

Timothy Andreasen, B.S. Business Administration

Matthew Barall, B.S. Business Administration

Thomas Joseph Barkovic IV, B.S. Business Administration

Benjamin Z. Daut, B.S. Business Administration

Jessica Lynne Finkle, B.S. Business Administration

Alyssa Morgan Hoyt, B.S. Business Administration

Justin T. Marquis, B.S. Business Administration

David Michael Marx, B.S. Business Administration

Michael Louis Massa, B.S. Business Administration

Nolan Wyatt Rhodes, B.S. Business Administration

Joseph E. Waesche, B.S. Business Administration

Madelaine S. White, B.S. Business Administration

* From the Office of the Registra

Associate Professor Zhang was the recipient of the 2013 Faculty Scholarship Recognition Award.  Professor Zhang received her Ph.D. in Marketing and her Master of Science degree in Agricultural Economics from Michigan State University.  She received her Bachelor of Arts in Finance from Renmin University in China.  Her research interests include relationship management challenges between organizations.  In particular, she examines how relational norms govern and recover inter-organizational relationships in complex environments.  For her work related to relationship management challenges in upstream supply chains, Professor Zhang has received several research grants from the prestigious MIT-IMVP (International Motor Vehicle Program).  Professor Zhang and her co-author also received a general research fund awarded by the Research Grants Council in Hong Kong, the most competitive and prestigious research grant institution in Hong Kong.  Her scholarly work has appeared in a number of top tier business journals including Journal of Operations Management, MIT Sloan Management Review, Journal of International Business Studies, and Journal of International Marketing.  In 2008, she received a Certificate of Recognition from the Michigan State University Broad College of Business in recognition of her contributions to the advancement of international business and innovation research.  Professor Zhang has taught marketing management, international market analysis and marketing research at the School of Business Administration since 2005.  Her industry experience includes statistical analysis for the Risk Management Group at Kraft Foods Inc. and project intern work for the Euro-Asia Flower Trade Corporation, Beijing.

John Ritter received the 2013 Staff Recognition Award.  John is the Information Technology Manager at the School of Business Administration.  He was first hired as Customer Service Representative for University Graphics & Printing in October 1991.  He earned his Bachelor of Science in Business Administration in May 1997 and became a Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer in May 1999.   His main areas of responsibility are the planning and implementation of the School’s hardware and software deployments.  He is the primary contact for messaging and collaboration services and serves as the Center for Research in Security Prices Database administrator.  He also oversees the security, maintenance, and optimization of the School’s computers.

Zachary Schmoll, senior business administration major with a  concentration in accounting and statistics

Project title: The Impact of Compensation for NCAA Student Athletes on NBA Draft Decisions

Advisers: Barbara Arel and Michael Tomas III

Why this topic? What was your motivation? I chose this topic because I have always been a sports fan. I have been around basketball most of my life, and I particularly love the NCAA. When I noticed that Professor Arel and Professor Tomas had written a paper on NBA draft decisions, I knew that I wanted to expand on that. After a discussion with Professor Arel, we decided that this would be an interesting topic to pursue.

What was your key discovery? Essentially, the most important discovery I made was that if we assume that the players will make the economically rational decision, the NCAA proposal of paying college athletes $2,000 will have virtually no effect on this decision. The players who were going to enter the NBA before will still enter.

Any surprises along the way?  My results are not necessarily surprising because it does make sense that with million-dollar contracts on the table, a few thousand dollars will not make much of a difference. However, I think that the actual moment I ran my final model and discovered these results was the best moment. Even though it was my original hypothesis, it felt good to be able to empirically prove something that nobody has ever taken the time to do before.

Why does this research matter? I believe that this research matters because the NCAA is seriously considering policies regarding compensation right now. I think that people will be wondering what is the best way to keep these athletes in college, and this type of research could provide a new perspective on this problem.

What's next for the project? I think that this project has plenty of potential for future work. I am planning on taking this particular paper and ideally getting it published, but there's plenty of work, particularly psychological, that could be done on this topic in the future. For example, even though $2000 doesn't make any measurable difference in the number of players entering the NBA according to this model, is there any potential way that players will feel more valued by making even an insignificant amount of money and perhaps be more willing to remain in school? The psychological effect of money is certainly important in reality, and I think that would be a great extension of this research.

Sophia Howat, senior studio art major

Project title:
 Memory and Photographs

Adviser:
 William McDowell

Why this topic? I started taking these photographs based on this tension between trust in our memories and evidence outside of that. I found that using photography makes it more visual and concrete. When you take a picture you’re completely constructing a biased view on things despite this strong association we have of photographs as evidence -- you’re editing, you’re sequencing, you’re doing all these things that are contrary to fact. I think that aspect of photography, paired with that aspect of our memories that is potentially false or narrated, is what’s interesting.

What was your motivation?
 I did a project last spring that involved memories and physically manipulating printed photographs to make sculptural objects. That was a starting point. Broadly this interest in memory and reflecting about things I’m sure has to do with finishing college, living in places that are temporary, figuring out what’s next. I think that plays into why I’m photographing home spaces, trying to collect memories and create a narrative. I’m totally editing it. Maybe I’m not moving objects, maybe I am just documenting things around me, but I am choosing what to photograph, editing the sequence as a finished project, editing how the light reads on the paper. In one sense they’re documents of my life -- they’re what I want to see of the space around me. That’s comforting. Maybe it’s the search for something comfortable in this big area of transition.

What was your key discovery? 
I think that no matter how hard I attempt to photograph a particular subject or theme it’s that the photographs are going to speak, that they have wisdom over the photographer sometimes.

Any surprises along the way? In terms of logistics -- issues in the dark room or with film, figuring out this medium that I’m not incredibly comfortable with. I usually scan in my film because I work with color. So the dark room was a new area for me.

Worst moment/best moment? 
Worst -- repeated instances of film not coming out, being black or just not working. There’s this nostalgia with our film -- the feeling that the picture would have been great but it didn’t come through. Those are bummer moments. Best -- getting over the stress of what I’m supposed to be showing with my photographs or what I’m supposed to be and feeling excited about the project, feeling creative and being present with it.

What are the broader implications of the project? Through this project I’ve found other photographers who I’m interested in, I’ve found other visual interests in photography and subject matter and I have this feeling that it’s relevant. It’s a conversation with people. It’s widened my eyes on photography and art theory.

Why does this research matter?
 I think because it makes people stop and look. There’s a description but really it’s this viewer who will engage -- or not engage -- with the photographs. It asks people to stop and be present and think about this physical process (in a darkroom with silver gelatin prints) with this kind of airy feeling behind it. And maybe it’s a comment or question for people to reconsider the photographs they’re taking and to understand what kind of history they are building with their visual archived memories.

What's next for the project?
 Eventually I’m working toward more prints that will become a book.

Sebastian Downs, senior environmental engineering major

Project title: Bridge Scour Monitoring

Advisers: Donna Rizzo, Mandar Dewoolkar

What is your topic? “Scour” is the erosion of streambed sediment; it happens around obstructions in a river because the water is constricted there, creates vortices, and picks up the sediment. You’re left with a hole in the sediment that a bridge is built on. During floods, this destabilizes bridges and it’s the cause of sixty percent of bridge failures spanning waterways.

There are several existing scouring monitoring systems for bridges, but they all have severe limitations. Some are cost prohibitive -- somewhere in the order of $10,000 for a single sensor. Some less expensive sensors are only good for a single use. Physical probing is cheapest, but it doesn’t give you real-time data. Sonar and fathometers are pretty good but they are not capable of getting data in turbid conditions -- which is what you often have in a flood -- the most critical time to measure. So we came up with something that is more robust and cost-effective.

What did you create? We built a scour monitoring sensor -- a buried rod -- with a goal of being so low-cost that a transportation agency or bridge engineer would be able to install a series of them in an array across an area and interpolate that data in order to get a sense of what the hole looks like.

It works with vibration switches and resistors. The sensor gets buried in the sediment next to the bridge pier. All of the switches are still when they’re trapped by the sediment, but then, as the scour erodes the sediment around them, they become exposed to the flow of the water and start to vibrate. From that vibration, the switch is opened, forcing current through the resistor and -- from a wireless transmitter that goes back to a data logger -- we’re able to measure the presence of the current and can identify how many of the switches are exposed to the water.

This allow us to see how far the scour has reached down each rod and, overall, what the hole looks like. Hopefully, once we have the design finalized, it will be less than $100 per rod. The prototype we built has four switches, but we could put in as many as was deemed necessary based on the size of the river and bridge.

What was your key discovery? Figuring out that vibration switches would do the job. And, also that these same switches will detect deposition after a flood event -- because they stop vibrating.

Why does this research matter? A failure of a bridge can take place in a matter of hours. This could help with better bridge design, better preemptive remediation -- not waiting until it is at risk of failure before identifying problems.

Also, the scour after a storm event appears to be less than it is during the actual max scour point because there is deposition from all the suspended solids in the water. So if you wait until after a storm to go out and measure, you might not be measuring the full extent of the structural damage.

What's next for the project? This research is going to continue after I graduate. Ian Anderson, a graduate student, is going to do some scour monitoring around bridges in the area, and if our new system works out, then he’ll be able to construct more and test them in the field by the end of next year.

Stephanie Parente, senior social work major

Project title: Examining the Effectiveness of Services Provided to War Veterans as They Transition Back to Civilian Life

Adviser: Holly-Lynn Busier

Why this topic? What was your motivation? One of my classmates, Brent Reader, is an Iraq/Afghanistan War veteran and sparked my interest in this topic. Hearing his stories and listening to him talk about how difficult his reintegration experience was inspired me to do more research on this topic.

What was your key discovery? It is important to understand the prevalence and progress of mental health issues among returning war veterans. In order to better serve those who have served our country, the Department of Defense and Veterans Affairs must take action. There must be an increase in trained mental health professionals working with war veterans in order to accommodate the escalating number of veteran intakes and claims. Improvements must also be made in regards to the mental health screenings and evaluations. Since it can take a significant amount of time for psychological injuries to manifest, veterans should be screened upon their return and continuously rescreened. Veterans must also be encouraged to seek care and obtain treatment. This can be difficult for many veterans due to the stigma attached to mental health issues. Our society must educate its citizens in order to support our veterans.

Best moment? The best moment was reading the feedback from my surveys that I had distributed to veterans in Vermont.

What are the broader implications of the project? Why does this research matter? Currently, there are over 20 million veterans in the US, which makes up seven percent of the entire population. This project emphasizes the need for post-war care improvements in order to better serve the veteran population.

What's next for the project? My goal is to one day work with the veteran population and hopefully have the opportunity to incorporate my research and my knowledge into my future work with veterans.

Jaime Sheahan, master’s candidate in dietetics

Project title: Frialator Annihilator

Adviser: Amy Nickerson

What was your motivation? I had been working at Rutland Regional Medical Center and found it slightly hypocritical when I'd see a cardiologist go through the line at the food court and grab a basket of fries. I'm thinking, “He was just educating a patient about how they need to change their lifestyle.” When you're in a hospital, you think about nurses and doctors as this representative of health, and when they're not practicing what they preach, it's difficult to watch.

I thought it would be interesting to see what would happen if we overhauled the food environment (by getting rid of fried foods for three weeks) and see how those nurses and doctors and everyone else in the hospital would react.

What did you discover? It was kind of split 50/50. A lot of people reacted strongly and felt like we shouldn't be telling them what to eat. It's very similar to what we've seen in New York with the soda ban, whether it's the government coming in or hospital administration dictating to people what options are available to them, it's this nanny state mentality, where people respond very negatively.

But on the flip side, the other half of the people were very positive, saying we need to set a positive example, not just for the hospital and visitors, but for the community at large. If you really want fried food, there's a McDonald's down the street, and you can drive there. But we should be looking at more nutritious foods, more sustainable options sourced locally. It wasn't just that they wanted fried foods gone, it was that they wanted to make positive changes.

The thing I learned the most is that the elimination of certain foods can be more readily accepted if you bring in more positive changes.

Worst moment? Some people were very irate, and I was glad I wasn't present in Rutland at the time fried foods were removed. Some very, very strong reactions. I know people like certain foods, but I think it can be easy to forget how emotional it is.

Why does this research matter? Thirty-six percent of U.S. adults are obese. Thirty-three percent are overweight. I think that’s a serious problem that needs to be addressed. Previously, we were looking at it more on an individual level: looking at obesity as a problem with people being lazy or not having self control. Now we're recognizing we have this toxic food environment that needs to be addressed. Even though a hospital setting is a small part of that, it's an example of health and is a place that can send the right message to a community.

What’s next for the project? The hospital hasn’t made the permanent change, but I think it's a step in the right direction to open up that conversation. One thing that did come out of it is a yogurt bar in the morning, which people love. So I'm hoping those types of changes can stick, and they can slowly ease toward a more healthy environment.

The evening of “art, music and drinks” was attended by more than 300 people and showcased the partnerships established with local artists, non-profits and businesses by Andreasen and his fellow students Todd Kinneston, Ben Weigher, Michael Massa and Eric Laine. On hand were seven local artists who painted or created graphic imagery on snowboards that were auctioned off for charity; Zachary Nigro, brand coordinator for Burton who agreed to donate the snowboards; senior Brandon Sauer, who works in marketing at The Sticky Brand, a local printshop and vinyl die cuttery that prepared the surfaces of the snowboards for artists to work on; Hot Wax who played music; and members of the UVM Snowboard Team, which donated funds to print promotional flyers for the event.

“We have a lot of friends who are artists and musicians, and we wanted to showcase their work for a good cause,” says Andreasen, who along with his father constructed wooden-stained stands to display the snowboards from a fallen tree in his parents’ back yard. “It started out as just an idea, but turned into a really cool collaborative project that involved a lot of people at UVM and in the local community.” 

By the end of night, the event raised more than $500 for the BCA Scholarship Fund and Burton Chill Program, a youth development program that uses snowboarding to teach life skills and increase self-esteem in at-risk and underserved youth. Pre-event promotions such as posters, flyers, word of mouth and a Facebook page helped draw attention to the fundraiser.

Entrepreneurial efforts with a community focus

The eleven teams that completed “Make a Difference” projects for the “Entrepreneurial Leadership” course created by Pramodita Sharma, Sanders Professor for Family Business, will present them on Friday, April 26 in the main lobby of Kalkin Hall from 1:15 to 2:15 p.m. Projects focus on topics students have a passion for such as music, sports and art, but also include fundraising elements to support causes they care about, such as mentoring local youth, supporting the local emergency food shelf and the Ronald McDonald House.

For Kane Tobin and Sarah Gardner, creating UVMentors, a student-run organization committed to promoting the importance of education through one-on-one relationships between college students and local youth, is a personal passion. “I had a mentor when I was growing up, and she provided me with a stable role model and positive reinforcement, so I wanted to do something similar with this project,” says Gardner. Tobin, who spent seven years in the military, including tours of Afghanistan and Iraq, before coming to UVM, says he could have used a mentor as a teenager and believes proper training of UVMentors is critical to successfully mentoring youth at the Boys & Girls Club in Burlington. “Education is the key to ending the cycle of poverty that exists today,” says Tobin, who asks UVMentors to commit one hour per week in a one-on-one setting with their mentees. “A UVM student could really make a difference in the life of a child by being a role model and showing them how to achieve their dreams. They could turn an at-risk youth into a future UVM student who could later give back to the community.”

Another team used a marketing strategy to collect 620 pounds of groceries for the Chittenden Emergency Food Shelf that involved daily postings around campus with cryptic messages like “have you heard about it?” to create intrigue leading to later posters with Quick Response Codes (QR bar codes) linking to their Facebook page. For each food item donated, they  offered raffle tickets for a Webbook, SpringFest tickets and other items. “We really wanted to help families in need, so we worked hard to understand what it would take organizationally to make something monumental happen in a short amount of time that would really have an impact,” said Ryan Little, a former U.S. Marine who served in Afghanistan and is president of UVM’s Student Veteran Organization.  

Every dog has its day

Some of the projects focused more on helping UVM students. The “Every Dog Has its Day” club brought six teams of dogs from Therapy Dogs of Vermont to Marsh Lounge in Billings to help students relive stress before final exams. 802unes creates mini-documentary style videos with rented library equipment to promote aspiring UVM and other local musicians like the Heisenbuells and Suz Friedman. “Vermont is all about the local scene, and we really wanted to support local musicians who needed an opportunity to have their voice heard,” said Stephanie Siegart.

Other groups organized a basketball tournament and barbecue to raise money for Boys & Girls Club; partnered with University Chemistry Cats to collect beverage can tabs to sell the aluminum to recycling centers to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House and Vermont Children’s Hospital; and raised money to help the Vermont Refugee Resettlement Program and other local non-profits.

“Students were asked to clearly define their selected community, understand its needs, envision and deliver a project that addresses those needs, and have a legacy plan so that the project can continue after the course,” says Sharma, whose course enrollment increased from 15 last year to 50 this spring. “The fundamentals of ideation, CreAction (action-oriented creation) and cognitive ambidexterity that balances analytical-based prediction and creation are put to test in these projects. I am very pleased with the outcome. They are diverse indicating the diversity of interests in our student body, and yet, each makes a difference in our community, while enriching their experiences at UVM.”

“I was thrilled to win but we put a lot of effort in as a team, so I really think of it as a prize to the whole team,” said Chloe Cangardel, a University of Vermont MBA student.

Cangardel, Katharina Regina Schaal, Katherine Bowen and Elena Sergeevna Yakimova represented the University of Vermont in the two-day competition that included 21 teams from nine different schools including Babson, Brandeis, Duke, MIT Sloan, Tuck School of Business, UC Berkeley, University of Connecticut, and University of Pittsburgh.

“The case competition was great.  It allowed us the opportunity to apply all we’ve learned in classes to a real0world situation a company is currently facing,” said Katherine Bowen, a University of Vermont MBA student.  “It is exciting to see and hear how other teams of MBA students approached the same challenge.”

“Unlike some other case competition formats this case was very current and the upper management team of INFONAVIT was actually looking for answers to their current challenge,” said Katharina Schaal, a University of Vermont MBA student.

"It was a hands-on case, not just a theoretical analysis," said Elena Sergeevna Yakimova, a University of Vermont MBA student.

A team from Babson ended up winning the $4,000 prize money. 

“The students who are being honored today… have made significant achievement in scholarship, leadership, and service,” said Dean Sanjay Sharma, of the School of Business Administration.

Twenty-two students were recognized at the hour-long ceremony.  Here is the complete list: 

·      Junior Award for Excellence in Accounting – Laura Macuga and Zachary Pion (funded in honor of Ozzie Nyquist)

·      Senior Award for Excellence in Accounting – Justin Marquis (funded by Raymond Weinstein)

·      Junior Award for Excellence in Finance – Patrick Halfmann (funded by Major J.M. Adair)

·      Senior Award for Excellence in Finance – David Ramada and Greta Schirmann (funded by Stephen Penwell)

·      Senior Award for Excellence in Entrepreneurship – Jason Fish

·      Senior Award for Excellence in Human Resource Management – Anna Bassford (funded by Philip Branon)

·      Award for Excellence in International Business – Andrew Cornelia

·      Junior Award for Excellence in Management and the Environment – Gregory Bove

·      Senior Award for Excellence in Management and the Environment – Benjamin Hatch

·      Award for Excellence in Management Information Systems – Ben Jacobson

·      Junior Award for Excellence in Marketing – Anja Gruber

·      Senior Award for Excellence in Marketing – Todd Kinneston

·      Award for Excellence in Production and Operations Management – Yulia Gulenko

·      Beta Gamma Sigma Scholarship – Nicholas Cianci

·      MBA Director’s Award for Academic Excellence – Michelle Cann and Steve Doyon

·      Outstanding Graduate Award in the MBA Program – Chloe Cangardel (funded by Malcolm Severance)

·      Outstanding Graduate Award in the MAcc Program – Patrick Marshall

·      Outstanding Junior Award for Academic Excellence and Overall Achievement – Patrick Halfmann

·      Outstanding Senior Award for Academic Excellence and Overall Achievement – Zachary Schmoll (funded by Christopher Guido)

During his two-day visit, Dr. Linsmeier spoke with Master of Accountance (MAcc) students during a special meeting, lunched with faculty and undergraduate and graduate students, presented a standard setting overview to members of the local business community and enjoyed a working breakfast with a combined class of undergraduate accounting students.

“I really liked that (Dr. Linsmeier’s) presentation was more of a dialogue than a presentation,” said Shannon Muldoon, a Business School undergraduate student.  “I found his career advice most useful.  Most presenters tell us to be successful you have to be passionate about what you are doing, but his advice on embracing change in addition to passion is something I feel we can actually apply.”

“I think (Dr. Linsmeier) is one of the best speakers I have heard from during my time at UVM,” said Eric Baral, a Master of Accountancy student.  “I really enjoyed his talk about the boom and bust cycle.  I also enjoyed how he challenged us to think outside the box when assessing our career thoughts and to view every situation as a potential learning opportunity.”

“He was incredibly open about the FASB’s processes and challenges, directly responded to every question asked by our students, and willingly committed a lot of time to the UVM community,” said Dr. Glenn Walberg, of the School of Business Administration.  “I believe everyone was impressed by the knowledge and candor he exhibited throughout each session on campus.”

“Having Tom Linsmeier on campus, talking directly to students, provides them with insights into how financial accounting standards are developed, and the difficulties standard setters face as they work to resolve conflicting points of view that are impossible to capture through reading a textbook or other materials,” said Dr. Susan Hughes, director of the MAcc program at the School of Business Administration.  “He illustrated his advice with his personal experience of the time he was at the SEC and spent a year learning all there was to know about derivatives.  The knowledge he gained led to a two-year appointment at the Commission, and his current reputation as an expert in the area of derivatives.”

The team members, Ryan Little, Harrison Gessow, Jenny South, Kristen Caron, Jack Sadowski, Amelia Traynor and James Holman, are part of the Enactus Club.  Enactus is a community of student, academic and business leaders committed to using the power of entrepreneurship action to enable human progress.  Enactus students apply business concepts to develop community outreach projects, transform lives and shape a better, more sustainable world.

There are 535 active Enactus teams in the United States.  The New York Regional Competition featured 32 teams from the northeast.

The national competition will be held in Kansas City, Missouri on May 21-23, 2013.  The overall winner will represent the United States at the Enactus World Cup where they compete against the national champion teams from approximately 38 other countries.

“It was obvious to me that unless Jay Peak became a year-round resort, we would not survive,” said Bill Stenger, President and Chief Executive Officer at Jay Peak Resort.

Stenger spoke to a crowd of students, faculty and staff on Tuesday, March 26 as part of the Hoffman Family Business Lecture Series, hosted by the School of Business Administration.  The Hoffman Family Business Lecture Series was created to assist the School in providing opportunities for students to learn about innovative business policies and practices from leading scholars and practitioners.

Jay Peak has made local, regional and national headlines for its innovative business practices.  Stenger tapped into a federal program called EB-5, an immigration program for immigrant investors that provides a method of obtaining a green card for foreign nationals who invest money in the United States. 

“The ideas we had for Jay Peak were really good ideas that would have remained on paper without capital,” Stenger told the audience.

With help from the EB-5 investors, Jay Peak is now a four-season destination complete with an indoor waterpark, state-of-the-art ice arena, championship golf course, conference center and of course, plenty of skiing and riding.

“It was amazing to hear Bill Stenger talk about the history of skiing in Vermont and to learn how Jay Peak has come to be a year round destination,” said David Ramada, a senior Business School student.  “His use of EB-5 visa funding was a concept I have never heard of and it was amazing to hear how much capital he was raising for not only Jay Peak but for the surrounding rural community.”

Stenger is now spearheading a $600 million effort to bring EB-5 money into the Northeast Kingdom.  His plans include a new factory for a German window manufacturer, a South Korean biotechnology company, new retail shops and a 200-room waterfront hotel and conference center in Newport. 

“I really enjoyed hearing Mr. Stenger’s thoughts and plans for Jay Peak and the Northeast Kingdom,” said Nicholas Monteforte, a senior Business School student.  “It’s always great to hear about real life business examples put into place and to learn about how that is done.  I have skied at Jay every year I have been at UVM and it has been fun watching the resort grow like it has, that’s something unseen in the ski industry right now.”

AACSB Accreditation is the hallmark of excellence in business education, and has been earned by less than five percent of the world's business programs. Today, there are 650 business schools in 50 countries and territories that maintain AACSB Accreditation.

“It takes a great deal of commitment and determination to earn and maintain AACSB Accreditation,” said Robert D. Reid, executive vice president and chief accreditation officer of AACSB International. “Business schools must not only meet specific standards of excellence, but their deans, faculty, and professional staff must make a commitment to ongoing continuous improvement to ensure that the institution will continue to deliver the highest quality of education to students.”

“The School of Business Administration is extremely pleased to maintain our prestigious AACSB accreditation,” said Dean Sanjay Sharma, of the University of Vermont School of Business Administration.  “AACSB accredited institutions are known for having the highest quality faculty, a relevant and challenging curriculum, and provide excellent educational and career opportunities for students.  The School of Business Administration will work hard to ensure we continue to be recognized as one of those schools.”

To learn more about the University of Vermont School of Business Administration, visit www.uvm.edu/business.  Or to learn more about AACSB International accreditation, visit the accreditation section of the AACSB International Web site at: http://www.aacsb.edu/accreditation/.

Dr. Linsmeier will spend time with Master of Accountancy (MAcc) students, undergraduate accounting students, faculty and local business leaders.

“Accounting students spend many hours studying the financial accounting standards developed by the FASB,” said Professor Susan Hughes, director of the MAcc program.  “The standard setting process is often long and complex.  Mr. Linsmeier’s visit gives students, faculty and local business leaders an opportunity to hear from one of the individuals instrumental in the development of current standards. First hand, they can learn about the standard-setting process, how the Board works through the difficult decision making, and where Mr. Linsmeier believes U.S. accounting standards will head in the future.”

Dr. Linsmeier was appointed as a member of the Financial Accounting Standards Board in July 2006.  He is an award-winning teacher and researcher with particular expertise in financial reporting for derivatives and risk-management activities and was formerly the Russell E. Palmer Endowed Professor and Chairperson of the Department of Accounting and Information Systems at Michigan State University.

Dr. Linsmeier has served as academic fellow and special consultant to the Office of the Chief Accountant at the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) where he was responsible for developing U.S. financial reporting disclosure rules relating the market risk inherent in derivatives and other financial instruments. 

A reception and remarks featuring Dr. Linsmeier will be held on Monday, April 1 in Kalkin 110 from 4-6pm.  RSVP- lkruger@bsad.uvm.edu.

Membership in Beta Gamma Sigma is the highest recognition a student can receive in an undergraduate or master's program in business schools accredited by the International Association to Advance College Schools of Business or AACSB.  Only the top 10% of juniors and seniors and the top 20% of graduate students are eligible for membership into this prestigious society.  The students' selection not only recognizes academic achievement, but it also expresses confidence in the students' abilities and promise to become responsible leaders in the future.

This year's ceremony featured Damon Gregoire ('92), the Senior Vice President of Global Operations and Chief Financial Officer at 3D Systems Corporation.  Mr. Gregoire is a School of Business Administration alum and member of Beta Gamma Sigma.

"Be hard on problems, soft on people," Mr. Gregoire told the new inductees.  

The School of Business Administration was recently named an "Exemplary Beta Gamma Sigma Chapter" for the 2011-2012 year.

The thirty new members are:

Timothy Andreasen

Craig Bolio

Michelle Cann

Haley Cantone

Alessandro Carissimo

Eva Maria Carreira Ramos

Nicholas Cianci

Bela Dobkowski

Steven Doyon

Danielle Francis

Sarah Gibbs

Emily Gutman

Patrick Halfmann

Todd Kinneston

Kevin Kohlmorgen

Megan Lori

Laura Macuga

Justin Marquis

Patrick Marshall

Brandon Mason

Zachary Pion

Hailey Ronconi

Eric Rumbaugh

Kate Ryley

Margaret Schirmann

Amy Tomas

Meghan Weinheimer

Madelaine White

Kevin Whitehead

Elena Yakimova

His findings, based on a statistical analysis of campaign contributions by U.S. electric utilities from 1998-2006, were recently published in the Strategic Management Journal in the article “Integrated Market and Non-Market Strategies: Political Campaign Contributions Around Merger and Acquisition Events in the Energy Sector.” Vanden Bergh and Guy L. F. Holburn, associate professor of business at the University of Western Ontario, found that utilities increased contributions in the year prior to announcing a merger in hopes of preventing state level regulatory agencies from imposing costly merger conditions such as consumer rate reductions, which negatively affect shareholder gains.  

The study specifically targets utilities’ financial contributions to campaign funds of state politicians because, in certain political contexts, they have an incentive to exert indirect influence on legislative committees and state governors who oversee agency decision-making, appointments and budgets. The study’s general thesis and methodological approach has broader implications, however, because it can be applied to other regulated industries such as telecommunications, pharmaceutical or banking.

“When mergers are announced, utilities evaluate the conditions imposed by regulators before making a decision to complete the merger,” says Vanden Bergh, who estimates that about 30 percent of proposed mergers from 1998-2006 didn’t go through. “The politicians get involved and they want to know what the savings are going to be and how they can capture some of them for rate payers by reducing rates instead of benefitting investors. Almost always there’s a sharing of the savings between rate payers and investors. The question (for utilities) is how much savings for the rate payer is too much before a merger is no longer justifiable. This paper isn’t about whether this is good or a bad thing. We don’t make any sort of normative claims about what they should or shouldn’t be doing.”

Immersed in 50-state data

The sheer amount of data Vanden Bergh and Holburn culled over after purchasing it from the Institute for Money in State Politics, a non-profit, non-partisan data warehouse of sorts that gathers campaign contributions at the state level, is mindboggling. It included one million observations and required connecting each campaign contribution by an individual or Political Action Committee (PAC) to a politician, and then tying it to the specific electric utility.

“A lot of my research looks across 50 states, which makes data gathering quite intense,” says Vanden Bergh. “We had to put it in a form we could analyze, so we could say, ‘Here are contributions made by those affiliated with a single utility to all the legislators in that state,' and take it to a more aggregated level. Every state has basically the same regulatory approval process with governors, legislators and public utility commissions, but some are controlled by democrats and republicans and different degrees of competition for power. Our model allows us to sort of isolate these features of the political environment to see if they have an effect on campaign contributions.”

Even in Vermont, where Vanden Bergh says there are very few campaign contributions, tensions ran high when Vermont State utility regulators approved a merger in 2012 between Green Mountain Power, which doesn't make political contributions, and Central Vermont Public Service – the state’s two largest utilities. The Public Service Board assured customers they would share in millions of dollars of savings from improved operational efficiencies, despite rejecting a proposal that would have given customers a direct refund of $21 million.

“There was a big fight over the conditions of the merger; it was very controversial,” says Vanden Bergh. “The uncertainty around these types of conditions creates a lot of political risk. There’s also market risk with mergers because utilities like GMP and CVPS think they’re going to be able to consolidate costs and other reductions. If they don’t realize cost savings but are still required to meet the regulatory approval conditions, they will take a loss. This is why it’s such an interesting phenomenon and why so many utility deals don’t go through. Sometimes the regulatory conditions are so high and so expensive that it makes it untenable to bear the market risk of realizing the benefits.”

Vanden Bergh’s paper also makes a contribution to political strategy research by providing fresh evidence that firms integrate market and nonmarket strategies, defined in this case as interest groups trying to influence the public policy process and the tactics and strategies they use to bring about favorable policy. Vanden Bergh says he and Holburn brought together a market investment with a non-market strategy scientifically to see if utilities were successful at creating the merger simultaneously with the policy process.

“Our research on non-market strategy provides new evidence on how firms proactively manage their external political environment to protect their resources from dissipation by agency regulation.” says Vanden Bergh, who teaches a course on the political environment of business. “The types of models we try to develop would apply to any interest group, not just business. I tell my students that whether you are going to work in business or for a non-profit or an advocacy group, what we’re developing in the course is useful for designing political strategy.”

The intrigue of business and politics

Vanden Bergh’s current research builds on a frequently cited 2006 paper in the Academy of Management Journal that examined whether requested rate increases during more friendly political environments by utilities across 50 states from 1982-1992 translated into differential allowed rates of return. It’s also an outgrowth of a study about accounting firms trying to influence regulation coming out of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The SEC was concerned that accounting firms were not producing objective financial statements for companies where they were also providing consulting services, which is far more lucrative than the auditing business.

The next phase of research will require even more detailed data analysis and could make some executives a little nervous.

“We’ve expanded the data set so we can look specifically at the executives,” he says. “Since we have all the merger events, we can look at the patterns of their contributions around these mergers and can compare them to both when they weren’t executives, as well as any patterns of contributions for executives who aren’t involved in merger events. The campaign contribution literature has struggled to identify whether contributions are investments or consumption goods, so that’s one area where we hope to make a contribution."

Jay Peak is a four-season resort in Northern Vermont, close to Canada and Burlington.  It features a year-round indoor waterpark, ice arena, championship golf course and plenty of skiing and snowboarding.

Mr. Stenger has been President and Chief Executive Officer of Jay Peak, Inc. since July 2008.  He is currently spearheading an effort to bring $600 million of EB-5 money into the Northeast Kingdom. EB-5 is a federal immigration program for immigrant investors that provides a method of obtaining a green card for foreign nationals who invest money in the United States.

“I am delighted to welcome Bill Stenger to speak as part of the Business School’s Hoffman Lecture, which focuses primarily on business innovation,” said Dean Sanjay Sharma.  “We believe Mr. Stenger’s experiences in continuing to develop one of the most popular ski resorts in the northeast while stimulating the local economy and creating jobs in the Northeast Kingdom serves as a great example for our students as we help them develop the knowledge required for success in today’s complex global economy.”

Before becoming President and Chief Executive Officer at Jay Peak, Mr. Stenger served as President and Chief Operating Officer of Jay Peak Ski and Summer Resort from April 1985 to June 2008.  He also has been a Director of Mont Saint-Sauveur International and has served as a Director of Central Vermont Public Service Corporation. Mr. Stenger earned an Associate of Science Degree from Corning Community College and a Bachelor of Science Degree from Syracuse University.

The Hoffman Family Business Lecture Series was created to assist the School of Business Administration in providing opportunities for students at the University to learn about innovative business policies and practices from leading scholars and practitioners. 

Teffner was recently appointed the Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer at PetSmart, Inc., effective June 3, 2013.

Teffner brings more than 20 years of management experience to PetSmart, most recently serving as the Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer for Weber-Stephen Products LLC, a manufacturer of charcoal and gas grills, grilling accessories and other outdoor room products that currently operates in 30 countries worldwide.

Prior to Teffner’s role at Weber, she served as Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of The Timberland Company from 2009-2011 when the company was sold to VF Corporation.  Prior to joining Timberland, Teffner spent 21 years with the Sara Lee Corporation in a variety of financial roles including Senior Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Sara Lee International Household and Body Care, based in the Netherlands.

“We are thrilled to welcome Carrie Teffner as this year’s Commencement Speaker,” said Dean Sanjay Sharma.  “We believe Carrie’s education, background and global work experience will resonate well with our graduating students.”

Teffner received her Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (BSBA) and her Master of Business Administration (MBA) from the University of Vermont School of Business Administration.  She currently serves on the National Board of Rebuilding Together and her prior board services included The Girl Scouts of Chicago, De Paul University Finance Advisory Board and the Ancona School Finance Committee.

The University of Vermont School of Business Administration Commencement Ceremony will be held on Sunday, May 19 at the Flynn Theater.  The ceremony begins at noon.

Eight colleges and universities participated in the daylong event that featured three different competitions: Free Enterprise Speak-Off Competition, Lunchtime Mini-Creativity Challenge, and the Creativity & Innovation Challenge – Muller’s Smart Carts.

Diaz finished second in the Free Enterprise Speak-Off Competition, behind Bryce Bandish from Clarkson University.  Alexandra Brenock, from St. Michael’s College, finished third.

"I thought the competition was pretty tough and I was nervous," said Diaz.  "It was one of the few times during school where I had to present by myself.  It felt great to come in second but there is always room to improve."

"Mo Diaz delivered a very passionate speech about the power of Entrepreneurship in a free enterprise economy," said Thomas Chittenden,  UVM team coach.  "His speech was from the heart and he was the only student to cose with a poem that he wrote himself.  Judges afterwards commented on how he had the most polished, well-prepared and structured speech.  It was clear how much effort Mo put into this speech and I was very proud of his performance."

Three other UVM School of Business Adminsitration students participated in the event: Kyle Chu, Nick Cianci and Robyn Worrall.

Here are the results from the other competitions:

Lunchtime Mini-Creativity Challenge

1^st Place – SUNY New Paltz

2^nd Place – Clarkson University

3^rd Place – SUNY Albany

Creativity & Innovation Challenge – Muller’s Smart Carts

1^st Place – St. Michael’s College

2^nd Place – SUNY Adirondack

3^rd Place – Clarkson University

The team, comprised of Kelby Benson, Ben Jacobson, Alexis Reed and Brendan Stripling, presented their cases on February 26, 2013 at St. Michael’s College in Colchester. 

"This experience challenged my moral reasoning, provided a wonderful networking opportunity and in the endm raised my awareness of the importance of corporate social responsibility," said Alexis Reed, a senior at the School of Business Administration.  "Others should get involved in these types of competitions because it will give them a chance to collaboratively analyze a case with their peers and address its key issues, present, and respond to questions posed by a panel of judges.  They probably won't get an experience like this in a class room, it's an invaluable learning opportunity."

UVM finished second, behind SUNY Plattsburgh.  Champlain College, St. Michael’s College and New England College also participated in the event.

Sixty business students put their dining skills to the test during the annual Business School Etiquette Dinner.  The four-course meal, which was sponsored by the School of Business Administration, was hosted by Anna Post, of the Emily Post Institute.

“I learned that it’s ok to have your elbows on the table,” said Anna Bassford, a senior Business School student.  “I believe it’s important to learn these skills so you can better focus on the subject at hand, which just like Anna Post said, is building a relationship with your coworker or client, not remembering which fork to use.”

The dinner focused on more than table manners, students also learned key interview, business and social media etiquette tips.

“In my experience, having good manners, which translates to being respectful towards the people around you won’t necessarily be the deciding factor in getting a job,” said Sue Schlom, career and professional development advisor at the School of Business Administration.  “However, bad table manners or disrespectful behavior can certainly cost you one.  The biggest takeaway for me is that if you are comfortable at a business meal, you can relax and focus your attention on the host and guests.”

Shanna Clement, Harrison Gessow, Patrick Halfmann and Henry Sinkula represented the university in the weeklong, student-run competition.  In all, 24 teams from internationally renowned business schools participated in what is called one of the world’s most prestigious international case competitions at the undergraduate level.

“Case competitions are a great way to apply classroom concepts to real-world situations presented in business cases,” said Henry Sinkula, a sophomore Business School student.  “I decided to accept the invitation to participate in the JMUCC largely due to the amazing experience I had as a student ambassador at the UVM School of Business Administration’s Family Enterprise Case Competition (FECC).”

In the end, the University of South Carolina placed first, with the Queensland University of Technology and the National University of Singapore finishing second and third respectively.  While the UVM team did not make the final round, they still gained tremendous experience that will follow them after graduation.

“UVM’s team represented the school and university well during this weeklong event,” said Professor Rocki-Lee DeWitt, of the School of Business Administration.  “I was most impressed by how they kept pushing to improve even though they were mathematically out of the running for the final round.  They presented a clear, innovative, compelling strategy.  It was clear that they were going to see the competition through to the best of their ability.   Their performance earned them a second place for that round and respect from the coaches of the competing teams in their division for their continuous improvement.”

"For me, the best part of JMUCC was watching the winning presentations on the day of the finals," said Harrison Gessow, a sophomore Business School student.  "It was amazing to see how good the competition was and it definitely gave me something to aspire to."

“The best part was going in relatively inexperienced and coming out feeling accomplished and knowing that we improved our skills infinitely over a 7 day period,” said Sinkula.

“The best part of participating in JMUCC was the networking opportunities,” said Shanna Clement, a senior Business School student.  “ We were encouraged to use the social events to meet the other competitors, coaches and judges.  This really made the competition friendly and beneficial to everyone involved.  I am happy to say that I have great expanded my network to Singapore, Hong Kong, Finland and Germany.”

Businesses will be recognized in four categories:

• 1st Gen: UVM graduate led start-up or purchased firms with multiple family members in ownership or operations,
• Multi-Gen - U.S Based Enterprise: UVM graduate led firm tha thas completed at least one generational transfer within the familiy,
• Multi-Gen - Global Enterprise: UVM graduate led firm that has completed at least one generational transfer with in the family,
• Vermont Legacy Achievement Award: Vermont-based family business recognized or outstanding and long lasting success.

Learn More

Last year's ceremony

Some of the younger children made a video asking the UVM players to skate with them at the rink, and they sent it to junior captain H.T. Lenz, a School of Business Administration student, on Sunday. Within hours, Lenz responded and organized a group of players that would make the trip to Shelburne later that night.

“The kids were beside themselves with anticipation, and when the two cars of hockey players pulled in, I thought a few of them might just pass out from excitement,” said local parent and School of Business Administration Assistant Professor Allison Kingsley. “It had a few of us parents tearing up, and everyone smiling and cheering.  I'm pretty sure it was the best day of our year.”

Lenz led a group that included Anthony DeCenzo, Mike Montagna (a Business School studnet), Yvan Pattyn, Ryan Rosenthal (a Business School student), Jonathan Turk (a Business School student) and student manager Ryan Jordan.  The Catamounts began by playing a 3-on-3 exhibition game for the kids and then organized games for the various age groups.

“We all had a great time skating in Shelburne last weekend,” said Lenz. “It is always fun for us to give back, especially to the local kids in the area for whom we know we are role models. It was a great night for us as well as we don't get many opportunities to skate outdoors, so it was something we were very grateful to do.”

The Farmstead neighborhood has been building an outdoor rink as a community for the last 11 years. Throughout the winter, parents shovel snow and prepare the ice for skating and games the next day. Many of the local kids learn to skate and play hockey at the rink. 

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The team, comprised of Chloe Cangardel, Erin Creley, Jennifer Swain, Katharina Regina Schaal and Patty McShane, traveled to Montreal, Quebec earlier this month to participate in this international competition, which is recognized as the largest competition of its kind.  Thirty-six schools from five continents and 14 different countries were represented.

“Every part of my MBA studies was augmented by the process of participating in this competition,” said Chloe Cangardel, a MBA student and member of the case competition team.  “We trained for up to 8 hours a week during the semester before the case competition, by simulating the whole process as much as possible: we would take business cases, lock ourselves in a room for 3 hours, then present to faculty of different disciplines (posing as judges) for feedback and guidance. The school was exceptionally supportive of our training - we had some fantastic feedback and help from many different faculty members.”

The competition format is a round-robin tournament consisting of five business cases.  The cases are selected from among the top entries in the annual Case Writing Competition.  One of the cases is a live case presentation by a major company about a real-life business challenge that they are currently facing.

“All five of them (4 team members, plus an alternate) put in a great deal of hard work to prepare, and then remained focused, determined and enthusiastic throughout the competition,” said John Monahan, team coach and full-time lecturer at the School of Business Administration.  “Their case analyses were solid, their presentations were smooth and convincing.  After 4 of the 5 rounds leading to selection of semifinalists, UVM was in 4^th place overall (out of 36 teams!). A win in the 5^th competition would have propelled them into the semifinals, but an unfortunate loss dropped them into a tie for 11^th place;  only 9 teams advanced to the semifinals.  Still, by this time UVM had been identified as a serious contender. ”

“The John Molson MBA International Case Competition is highly regarded and valued by students, programs and employers,” said Jennifer Swain, an MBA student and member of the case competition team.  “It provided an opportunity to put to practice the skills and knowledge that I've acquired in my first semester as an MBA candidate.  It also allowed me to network with students from around the world, and to broaden my ideas of which industries and regions I might pursue employment in.”

In the end, the team from the University of Technology, Sydney, Australia took home the $10,000 (CAD) prize. 

“Case competitions are one of the most rewarding parts of MBA studies, in my opinion,” said Cangardel.  “Here are the top five reasons to get involved (in a case competition):

1. Your self-driven learning will be wider and deeper than what you cover in classes

2. You will develop time management skills you never knew you had

3. You will grow your network to encompass people in many fields, from all over the world

4. You will learn to confidently defend a course of action that you just developed

5. Your teamwork skills will shine

Finally.... you can showcase all of these skills to future employers!”

A few years from now if Luke Apfeld fulfills his dream of becoming a civil rights attorney on his way to a second career as an English professor, and Sandro Carissimo is a successful investment banker back home in New York City, it will come as no surprise to their teammates on the men’s basketball team or their classmates in UVM’s Honors College. 

The close friends and junior roommates, who helped lead the Catamounts to an NCAA Tournament win last season, are a rare college basketball tandem: teammates who lead their program in both scoring and grade point average. Apfeld, a 6-foot-7 forward with a double major in English and sociology, owns a 3.8 GPA to go along with his 10.3 scoring average, while Carissimo, 6-foot-2 point guard with a 3.6 GPA in accounting and finance in the School of Business Administration, averages 9.3 points per game.

“We have a lot of common interests, we’re both pretty low key and take our academics seriously,” says Apfeld, one of only eleven players in the nation named to the 2012 Division I-AAA Athletics Directors Association Scholar-Athlete Team. “It’s nice to know that when you come back to the apartment you’ll be able to study, and it will be pretty clean. It’s a productive environment.”

For both members of the All-Academic America East team (only five are selected from the conference each year), success in academics came long before it did in basketball, especially for Apfeld who was a late bloomer on the court. He focused instead on his studies and playing classical piano two hours a day while growing up in Chattanooga, Tennessee, driving with his mother to Atlanta for lessons and to participate in competitions. Apfeld’s passion switched to basketball as he began to excel at the sport in middle school about the time his family moved to New England. He enrolled at Brewster Academy in New Hampshire, where he would become a star player, class president, and an accomplished jazz pianist. (Assessing his roommate’s keyboard prowess, Carissimo makes it plain: “He’s really good.”)

“My parents always stressed academics,” says Apfeld, who lived in Switzerland as a young child and has an older brother who went to Brown and a sister at Rice University. “Since an early age basketball wasn’t my focus, so when it became a possibility I already had the academic foundation.”

Apfeld’s hoop dreams almost came crashing down after tearing his ACL twice within a sixteen-month stretch before graduating from Brewster. Some schools backed off, but UVM made good on its full scholarship offer and supported Apfeld after a third ACL surgery and a medical redshirt season in 2009-2010. “It’s pretty amazing what he’s been able to accomplish considering that he’s blown out his ACL three times,” says UVM Head Coach John Becker.

Carissimo also experienced a setback in high school at high-powered Iona Prep when he suffered an illness before his senior season. He’d already built a reputation as a solid shooting guard on New York City’s legendary Riverside Hawks AAA program (producer of more than ninety NBA players), and later with the famed New York Gauchos.

“For a while my life was academics and basketball,” says Carissimo, who has applied for internships at Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Merrill Lynch after reaching out to UVM alums at each financial institution. Looking back on his college choice, he says, “I visited Yale and some other Ivy League schools, but I knew that UVM was a Public Ivy and that if I applied myself here I could do anything I wanted after graduation.”

Not long after arriving on campus, Carissimo was asked to make the difficult transition of playing the two-guard position to running offense as the team’s point guard. Becker says he seamlessly took over the position and promptly guided the Catamounts to ten straight wins as a freshman. Carissimo, who holds Italian citizenship and would like to play there professionally after graduation, continues to improve at the position and is continuing UVM’s tradition of producing point guard prodigies such as Howard Hudson ’86, Kenny White ’92, Eddie Benton ’96, David Roach ’00, T.J. Sorrentine ’05 and Mike Trimboli ’09.

“We get notes from professors telling us how well Luke and Sandro do in their classes,” says Becker. “It’s been a pleasure having them on the team and watching them set a positive example for our younger players. I think their best is yet to come.”

"As you can imagine, we are very, very happy to have been so successful," said Alberto Gimeno, of ESADE Business School.  "This has been the last, or almost last academic activity for our team members, so it cannot have been more enjoyable."

The second, third and fourth places went to Wilfrid Laurier University Canada, the John Molson School of Business Cananda, and Jonkoping International Business School Sweden respectively.  While ESADE Business School was the overall winner of the cup and $2500 in prize money, the teams from Wilfrid Laurier, John Molson School of Business and Jonkoping International Business School were awarded $1000 each for being the divisional winners.

The four divisions were named after major sponsors of the competition: Robin and Charles Tauck (UVM Class of 1976 and 1977 respectively and members of the Tauck Tours family enterprise), Stephen Ifshin (UVM Class of 1958 and Chairman, DLC Management in New York), Jim Keller (UVM Class of 1972 and President, Green Mountain Business Consultants), and Cindy Lombardo (3rd/4th generation family member).

This first-of-its kind competition focused solely on issues that impact family businesses, something that many competitors know about first hand.  Forty out of the 60 competitors had family business backgrounds.

"The School of Business Administration is proud to be a leader in the field of family enterprise and be a pioneer in hosting this first ever global event," said Dean Sanjay Sharma, of the University of Vermont School of Business Administration.  "The Family Enterprise Case Competition highlighted that the isses that affect family businesses know no boundaries.  This will be an annual event and we are already looking forward to next year's competition.  This competition has put the School of Business Administration on the global map."

The four cases used in the competition were selected based on the top entries in the first annual Family Enterprise Case Writing Competition organized by the UVM School of Business Administration.  The authors of the selected cases each received $2000.

Along with the overall and divisional winners, the following awards were also handed out:

Most Creative Team Award - Windesheim University of Applied Sciences, Netherlands

Team Spirit Award - Universiti Tun Abdul Razak: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Team Advisor Award - Luis Diaz-Matajira, Universidad de los Andes School of Management, Colombia

Best Overall Individual Presenter at the Competition - Daniel Figuroa, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

Divisional Best Presenter Awards

-Scott Carr, John Molson School of Business, Canada

-Benele Levin, ESADE Business School, Spain

-Mallory McKewen, Wilfrid Laurier University, Canada

-Matthias Waldkirch,  Jönköping International Business School, Sweden

Student Ambassador Awards

-Arran Joyce

-Emily Bates

Case Winners  

QADRI-Group: Sustaining Growth for Another 100 Years

-Muhammed Shakeel Sadiq Jajja - Ph.D. candidate at the Suleman Dawood School of Business at Lahore University of Management Sciences in Lahore, Pakistan, and now an Assistant Professor at the Institute of Business Administration in Karachi, Pakistan

-Dr. Syed Zahoor Hassan - Professor at the Suleman Dawood School of Business Administration

Ruma's Fruit and Gift Basket: Will Dad Ever Retire?

-Edmund (Ted) Clark and John Friar fromNortheastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

The American British University

-Josiane Fahed-Sreih, Associate Professor of Management, Lebanese American University, Beirut, Lebanon

Mid-State Trucking & Storage

-Edmund (Ted) Clark and John Friar of Northeastern University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA

Sixty family business leaders and advisors from the U.S., Canada and Germany volunteered to sit on the 21 judging panels.  Each panel was a mix of family business owners and managers, advisors and service providers, and educators and scholars.  The final judging panel consisted of:

-John Ward, Co-founder of Family Business Consulting Group & Professor at Kellogg School, Northwestern University, Chicago

-John Hall, COO, Rachael Ray Inc./Watch Entertainment

-Stephen Ifshin, Chairman, DLC Management Corporation

-Cindy Lombardo, 3rd/4th Generation Family Member

-Pascale Michaud, President, Business Families Foundation

The FECC was made possible thanks to 30 individual and business sponsors, many of whom donated their time and money to help make this event a success.  

There are seven open spots for the 2014 competition, which will be expanded to 25 teams.  Contact fecc@uvm.edu for more information.