Gary Green, UVM '88 alum, CEO of Alliance Building Services, one of the largest privately held building service providers in North America, spoke to a packed Billings Library crowd, about his life, career influences and how he found a way to marry his love of baseball into a business.

Green spoke to a crowd of students, faculty, former professors and staff on Wednesday, April 1 as part of the Hoffman Family Business Lecture Series, hosted by the School of Business Administration.  The Hoffman Family Business Lecture Series provides opportunities for students to learn about innovative business practices from leading scholars and practitioners.

While his speech covered his journey from UVM, complete with a diverse cast of characters including Richard Branson, the Steinbrenners, Warren Buffet and reggae star Peter Tosh, his insights into life, business philosophy, being an entrepreneur and the world of baseball, held the audience rapt as he outlined his keys for success. 

Keys that included stories of learning from failure, from mentors, how entreprenurial ideas and innovation are born from frustration, trusting your gut and vision and getting out of an ivory tower, were all woven together to provide a fascinating portrait of his journey. 

The 2 things he traced back to UVM, “having a great work ethic in spite of all the diversions here, and likeability. People do business with people they like,” said Green. “The social skills I learned here proved to be invaluable.”

“It was inspiring to hear Mr. Green talk about his extraordinary journey from UVM and learn how he created his businesses and approaches his work,” said Kane Tobin, a senior Business School student.  “The insights he shared into how he understands his consumers, develops new experiences and then markets them was fascinating.”