Success for SBDC

 

SBDC - " 2006 by the Numbers"

 

• 137 client companies assisted
• 2,429 hours spent on clients
• 36 training workshops/seminars conducted with 433 participants
• 11 start-ups created as a result of our help
• 141 new jobs created
• 427 existing jobs retained
• $1,592,500 in debt financing secured
• $1,320,100 in equity obtained

 

SBDC – "The Word on the Street"

 

"I would highly recommend the SBDC to anybody who is thinking about getting into a business venture of any kind."

Kelly Mathy owns Kelly's Bakery and Cafe.

"SBDC is a wonderful resource.  The free services they offer are ideal for a small business wanting to grow, yet on a limited budget.  I know if I need help or have a question the SBDC is only a phone call or email away!"

Julie Kubsch is the owner of optical boutique, Specs Around Town.

 

"Three management employees from Brad Barker Honda have utilized training from the Illinois SBDC at ISU. The Certificate in Small Business Management has refreshed our overall management skills, particularly in the areas of human resources and marketing. The information presented gave our management team fresh ideas for overall dealership improvement as well as planning ideas for future growth. Large or small, every business can benefit from the ideas presented through the SBDC training program."

Julie Spaulding is Service Manager for Brad Barker Honda.

"Everyone at the SBDC at ISU has been great to work with. They have helped me narrow my focus onto those things that are important to grow the business more rapidly and efficiently.  After working one-on-one with Elizabeth and Autumn, we have started working with a group of Entrepreneurship students from the College of Business. It’s good to know that the SBDC is there to help us along every step of the way. Thanks for the continued suppor!"

Russ Berndt is the owner of Rising Stars Academy, which offers instruction in gymnastics, tumbling, trampoline and cheerleading, as well as birthday parties and day camps for area youth.

  

 "SBDC helped a great deal with putting together our business plan.  We appreciate the time and quality we received from our friends at SBDC.  We would recommend SBDC to any organization, I know we wouldn’t be were we are today without them.  Special thanks to Elizabeth Binning and Autumn Laube."

Francisco Petinga is a Managing Partner of Cosi, a premium convenience restaurant specializing in artisan bread baked daily in open-flame hearth ovens.

 

The Katie School - PSI Partnership

Since 1878 The Rough Notes Company, Inc. has been a leading insurance publisher. More than 40,00 insurance executives, agents and brokers read its monthly magazine. A testimonial about the specialized training offered by the Katie School in conjunction with the Professional Sales Institute constituted a large part of a recent feature article on the Pitcher Insurance Agency of Palatine. The excerpt below is adapted from an article by Elisabeth Boone, and used with the permission of Rough Notes.

New producer school

For Sharon Waldvogel, new career opportunities required additional specialized training. She attended the Professional Insurance Sales Associate (PISA) Producer Development Program offered by the Katie School of Insurance and Financial Services at Illinois State University (ISU). The program was created in conjunction with the Professional Independent Insurance Agents of Illinois to meet the needs of producers with less than two years’ experience. The training helps new producers learn how to understand customers and to initiate and develop customer relationships. Actual course design and instruction was provided by the Professional Sales Institute.

The PISA program begins with a one-week sales training program. Next, the new producer undergoes eight weeks of on-the-job training with weekly follow-up by a sales manager from ISU. The producer then goes to ISU for four days of advanced training and on-site mentoring, after which he or she returns to the job and is monitored by ISU sales managers until the producer’s pre-set goals are met.

“I was in the first class that went through the program,” Sharon says. “The most important thing we learned was how to probe the prospect—not necessarily to sell something, but to find out what he or she needs.” She offers an example: “I can sell someone a pen without ink, but once that person finds out that the pen has no ink, he’ll drop me fast. But if I find out what kind of ink the prospect needs in the pen and I give him that, he’ll be my client forever. As our clients’ trusted insurance adviser, we are always selling them something they need, and something they can count on us to provide.”

Another key component of the PISA program is role playing. “We role played with our classmates, and the Katie School also brought in company underwriters and marketing reps so we could role play with them,” Sharon
says. “That was really good training.”

The program also offered participants an invaluable opportunity to network. “Every year, the producers who attended the class get together,” Sharon says. “We’ve become friends, and we share what we’ve learned and what we’re achieving in our careers.”

With the knowledge and skills she gained through the PISA program, Sharon was ready to launch her career as a producer. Her extensive background as a CSR and account manager, she believes, serves her well in her new role. “I approach a client or prospect from a customer service perspective,” she says. “My goal is to explain how I can offer a service to the client, rather than trying to sell something.”

The Katie School and PSI will present the Producer Development Program to a new cadreof agents in May.

New Priorities Discussed in Finance

In response to major changes in the industry, members of the Finance Adivsory Board and those serving on the Educational Investment Fund board, are helping the Finance Department do some proactive planning. Both boards engaged in strategic planning over the past year.  The process culminated in last week’s board meetings with a set of recommendations being made to the finance program.  Bill Scott said, " While I will be leaving the chair position on July 1, I nevertheless suspect that the department will begin to consider the planning recommendations next fall when faculty members have returned to campus."

Motivation for Strategic Planning

The initial goal of the EIF was to review the structure and objectives of the EIF and come up with ideas to attract more students to the course.  However, as the conversation developed, it became clear that some larger issues loomed for discussion.  First, since the EIF had become a distinctive feature of the finance program, the board decided to explore the idea of moving the EIF from being just a “course” to being a “program”.  How could its benefits accrue to the entire finance major rather than only to students enrolled in the EIF course?   Second, major changes in the financial industry have dramatically affected the future career paths of new college graduates.  How could the EIF and the finance program in general become more contemporary and relevant?

The FAB structured its deliberations around the changing industry theme as well.  In its fall 2005 meeting the discussion topic was trends in the finance industry and what they imply for the skill sets of new finance graduates.  In the next fall 2006 meeting, the board discussed how the ISU finance program could add value to its graduates who would enter this new industry environment.

General Outcomes

The EIF has submitted to the Finance Department a document entitled, “Strategic Planning Outcomes and Recommendations”. It clearly lays out the motivation for planning, the changes in the financial industries and what they mean for future careers.  Given this background, the document spells out some specific recommendations for the finance program regarding curricular and extra curricular elements.

The EIF planning document was presented and discussed at the April 27 meeting of the FAB.  The FAB moved to endorse these EIF recommendations. " Both groups took their own paths in the strategic planning process, but nevertheless arrived at substantially the same point of view," said Scott.

Synopsis of Recommendations

Develop four tracks of study.  These would be “sequences” of specified courses that would be duly noted on students’ transcripts.  There would be a common body of financial knowledge that would overlay all of the tracks. 

• Corporate Finance – Finance functions within the non-financial firm; traditional financial theory and analysis.  This track would point students toward the Certified Treasury Professional (CTP) certification.

• Investment “Production”—Traditional “backroom” financial analysis and portfolio management approach with emphasis upon “hard skills”.  This track would point students toward the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) certification.

• Investment “Distribution” -- New client-oriented, consultive selling and transactional approach with more emphasis upon “soft skills”.  This track would point students toward the Certified Financial Planner (CFP) certification.

• General Finance – this track was suggested by the FAB to be a means to accommodate undecided students and those who want a more general financial education.

• Give coverage somewhere in the curriculum of the new alternative investment formats—i.e., hedge funds, real estate investments, commodity trading advisories.

• Help students develop “soft skills”— technical writing, making presentations, interpersonal communication, job interviewing, resumes, professional selling.

• Help students gain a greater awareness of the financial industry—i.e., internships, mentorships, professional speakers, job shadowing, contacts with alumni.

• Improve alumni networking.  There are almost 400 alumni of the EIF program.  How could these alumni be networked with each other as well as with current students in order to provide benefits to all?

• Find ways to use the EIF portfolio as a “laboratory” for other classes.

• “Brand” and market the finance program as being contemporary and distinctive.  Find ways to increase resources for the department and career employment opportunities for students.

Faculty Abroad

Many international connections are slated for the summer. Below are thoughts from some faculty members about their upcoming work overseas.

 

Jay Rich ( ACC) – Germany – “My areas of expertise are financial reporting and auditing.  As the economy has become more global, so have financial markets.  As such, there has been a push for harmonization of US generally accepted accounting standards (GAAP) and generally accepted auditing standards (GAAS) with international standards.  I hope to learn more about international (and European, in particular) GAAP and GAAS.  I hope this may spark some research ideas and possible collaboration with faculty at Paderborn.

 

Katrin Varner (FIL) – China – “I’ve just been accepted for a faculty internship at United Family Hospital in Beijing, the only foreign full-service hospital in China.  I’ll be working with their VP and Director of Human Resources and focusing primarily on employment and insurance issues as they relate to the expatriate community in China. It is an exciting opportunity.”

 

Steve Taylor (MKT) – Japan – “I hope to continue to gain a greater appreciation of global business phenomena. Not only will I have the opportunity to gain a greater familiarity with another Asian culture (I visited China two years ago), I will also have the opportunity to interact with students and faculty colleagues from a collectivist society. I hope to in the end gain a greater appreciation of our similarities and differences as societies."

SJ Chang’s (MBA) work will take him to Korea, China and China. Dan Goebel (MKT) will work with the travel abroad program in England.

 

 

Looking Ahead - Business Week 2008

Please mark your calendars. Business Week 2008 is scheduled for March 24-27, 2008 and we hope as arrangements are finalized, you can encourage student participation and tie various events to your coursework and class expectations. The Steering Committee includes the following students:

President - Laura Kane

 Secretary -Vanessa Contreras

 Vice President & IMC Coordinator - Lauren Mason

 Campus IMC Coordinator - Rachel Cobb

 COB IMC Coordinator - Mallory Guymon

 Catering Coordinator - Howard Gross

 Social Coordinators - Jessica Sieberns and Liz Thonn

 Mock Interview Coordinators Candice Warren and Alec Lance

 Alumni Day Coordinator - Ben Stickley