Prospectus - Spring 2006

PROSPECTUS COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

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ALUMNI MAGAZINE

SOWING THE SEEDS

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LAND-GRANT GOALS REVISITED

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POINT/COUNTERPOINT

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ISU WEEK A SUCCESS

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G R O W I N G I O W A’ S N E X T G E N E R AT I O N E C O N O M Y

Features

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Glass Half Full ■

John Pappajohn believes

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that creating entrepreneurs is critical to Iowa’s

Dean . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Labh Hira

future. And he puts his Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Dan Ryan

money where his mouth is.

Photo Editor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Amy Heesch Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mauck • Groves Branding and Design Writers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Brian Campbell Mary Jo Glanville Charles Handy Dan Ryan Brian Scrimager Dennis Smith

4 Stay or Leave

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Tick Tock Mark Drabenstott thinks Iowa can reinvent itself. But it will take a new line of thinking— and time is precious.

Iowa State’s business graduPhotographers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Farshid Assassi Jim Heemstra Amy Heesch

ates face tough decisions on

where to begin their careers.

Printing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Acme Printing Contact College of Business Iowa State University 2200 Gerdin Business Building Ames, Iowa 50011-1350 Phone: 515 294-3656 E-mail: business@iastate.edu Web: www.bus.iastate.edu

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Mutual Beneficiaries Partnerships with industry benefit both students and businesses.

Prospectus is prepared twice per year by the College of Business at Iowa State University. It is sent without charge to alumni, friends, parents, faculty, and staff of the College of Business. Third-class bulk rate postage paid to Ames, Iowa, and at additional mailing offices.

The views and opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily represent official statements or policy of Iowa State University but are the personal views and opinions of the authors.

Prospectus welcomes correspondence from alumni and friends. Send your comments to Dan Ryan, editor, at the above e-mail or postal address. Prospectus reserves the right to edit all correspondence published for clarity and length.

Iowa State University does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, age, religion, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, sex, marital status, disability, or status as a U.S. veteran.

Inquiries can be directed to the Director of Equal Opportunity and Diversity, 3680 Beardshear Hall, 515 294-7612.

ON THE COVER

Departments

THIS ISSUE EXAMINES IOWA’S ECONOMIC CHALLENGES AND HOW THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

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Message from the Dean Briefs Alumni News

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Faculty and Staff News Development Dr. Charles Handy

HELPS THE STATE.

MESSAGE FROM THE DEAN

Entrepreneurs are the economic lifeboats that will carry us to a new world of prosperity.

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Navigating the New Economic Mainstream

Harvesting a Healthy Iowa

Older friends and alumni will recall the demise in the last half of the twentieth century of the basic industries much of this

It was no surprise last fall when the Iowa Department of Economic Development (IDED) jumped on preliminary reports

nation’s wealth was built upon. Steel, chemicals, manufacturing—these and other pillars of American economic power began to crumble in the 1970s and 1980s; some, as in the case of steel, vanished altogether.

Thus an entire region of America, from Chicago to New Jersey, lost jobs, and opportunity and came to be known as the Rust Belt. Certainly, there were many smaller businesses in those states. But without steelworkers, chemical workers, and automakers to buy their goods and services, “mom” and “pop” eventually closed up shop and joined the migration south.

Why did this happen? And how does it speak to Iowa’s experience? Are there any connections between the fates of regions dependent on heavy industry in the 1960s and those that rely on big agriculture today?

Some might think that globalization sprung from the soil of NAFTA and the World Trade Organization in the 1990s. But much of today’s economic climate was driven by international agreements implemented as early as the 1950s that soon made the old mainline industries unprofitable for America. Indeed, the formation of today’s trading blocs among the world’s developed economies is, in part, a response to and a continuation of the leveling effects of those earlier agreements.

As then with steel, so now with corn and soybeans. No, we’re not going to stop farming in Iowa. But, as Mark Drabenstott notes later in this magazine, our agricultural sector continues to consolidate in response to global competition, radically reshaping rural economies and pressuring Iowa’s towns and cities to create jobs to stop the flow of human capital out of the state.

from the U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis (USBEA) showing an 8.1 percent increase in gross state product (GSP)—nearly twice the national average—to trumpet Iowa as the “fastest growing state in the U.S. for 2004.” Yet those figures concealed as much as they revealed: according to the USDA Economic Research Service, Iowa’s crop and animal production accounted for fully 60 percent of the increase in GSP. It’s the job of policy makers to put economic statistics in their best light, and no one would challenge the inclusion of farm output in general productivity figures. However,

by January 2006, IDED published revised USBEA statistics showing a more modest 5.5 percent increase against a national average of 4.3 percent.

Factoring out the spike in agricultural commodities, Iowa’s non-farm economy arguably underperformed the rest of the nation. Still, said IDED, the new numbers made Iowa “the fastest growing state economy in the Midwest and the 8th fastest growing in the United States for 2004.”

But the good news about Iowa’s farm-fueled spike in GSP was offset by troubling developments elsewhere. In December, Maytag shareholders approved the sale of the Newton-based manufacturer to out-of-state rival Whirlpool. In January, Education Week’s annual “Quality Counts” survey

The question is, how?

“Entrepreneur” was a somewhat foreign notion back in the 1960s when John Pappajohn, Iowa’s entrepreneur extraordinaire, was getting his sea legs. In the popular imagination, the term connoted a relative handful of swashbuckling capitalists trolling the margins of the mainstream American business culture for opportunity.

Well, welcome to the new economic mainstream.

On an inland sea of corn and soybeans, where small operators and many of the businesses that supported them are increasingly out of their depth, entrepreneurs are the economic lifeboats that will carry us to a new world of prosperity. No longer few in numbers, today all Iowans have a stake in those boats. And responsibility for helping to launch them falls to Iowa State University and the College of Business, as we revisit the fundamental assumptions of our land-grant mission to the people of Iowa.

Whether or not Iowa repeats the history of the Rust Belt states is in our own hands. I’m convinced that, working together, we’ll see an outcome very different from the last century— but only if we act now. ■

gave Iowa’s K-12 schools a grade of ’ for their lack of standards and accountability and a C– overall— a public relations black eye for a state with “Foundation in Education” stamped on its quarter.

If those flashy GSP numbers paint too rosy a picture of Iowa’s economic situation, then perhaps the Maytag and education stories whipsaw perceptions too far in the direction of gloom and doom. The fact is that all three are merely snapshots in time of limited sectors of the state’s economic activity.

But it’s not enough to say that Iowa’s economy is simply “in transition” either. Modern economies are always in transition; those that are not are flatlining. And while it may be easier to distinguish death throes from growing pains in a limited business sector, the overall health of economies is far more difficult to diagnose, let alone prescribe for.

Ultimately, though, the economic health of the “patient” lies primarily not with the physician but with the patient itself.

Iowa’s future is a challenge not just for state economic development officials, educators, or even the business community, but for Iowans from all walks of life.

And, most emphatically, it’s a challenge for Iowa State University and the College of Business. This issue of Prospectus discusses Iowa’s economic future with some of the people who will shape it for decades to come. People who have made it their careers to tackle firsthand the kinds of challenges the state faces. People who help build Iowa businesses. People who want to make a life here, and some who don’t.

All of them are critical to ensuring a prosperous economic future for Iowa. ■

Iowa’s economic development is, emphatically, a challenge for Iowa State University and the College of Business.

Labh S. Hira, Dean VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1

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rabenstott, vice president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, is a veteran of these discussions. He earned his master of science and doctorate degrees in agricultural economics from Iowa State and now directs the Fed’s Center for the Study of Rural America.

Part of the challenge is the past itself and the power it has over the imaginations of Iowans who, in Drabenstott’s view, still see their state primarily as a producer of agricultural commodities. The persistence of this self-image explains, at least in part, the staying power of institutions that once served Iowans well, but today place both mental and material roadblocks on the path to progress.

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IOWA’S CLOCK IS TICKING

Stafford Lecturer talks about how to transition Iowa’s economy

“CAN IOWA’S ECONOMY REINVENT ITSELF?” ASKS DR. MARK DRABENSTOTT, WHO IN NOVEMBER POSED THAT QUESTION AT THE COLLEGE OF

PART OF THE CHALLENGE IS THE POWER

BUSINESS’ ROBERT STAFFORD

THE PAST HAS OVER THE IMAGINATIONS

LECTURE ON BANKING FOR 2005.

OF IOWANS WHO STILL SEE THEIR

“MY ANSWER IS AN EMPHATIC ‘YES.’

STATE PRIMARILY AS A PRODUCER

BUT TO DO SO IS GOING TO TAKE

OF AGRICULTURAL COMMODITIES.

A VERY DIFFERENT APPROACH TO

“Iowa’s topography of county seat towns was essentially designed for nineteenth century farming practices,” Drabenstott offers. “The twenty-first century economy represents a much different economic geography.”

IOWA’S ECONOMIC FUTURE THAN IT HAS TAKEN IN THE PAST.”

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MARK DRABENSTOTT, DIRECTOR OF THE FEDERAL RESERVE BANK OF KANSAS CITY’S CENTER FOR THE STUDY OF RURAL AMERICA, GIVES THE ROBERT STAFFORD LECTURE ON BANKING IN NOVEMBER 2005. AN ISU ALUMNUS, DRABENSTOTT IS AN EXPERT ON RURAL ECONOMIES SUCH AS IOWA’S AND HOW THEY CAN BEST POSITION THEMSELVES TO COMPETE GLOBALLY.

A CHANGING ECONOMIC LANDSCAPE

Drabenstott isn’t taking sides in Iowa’s perennial debate on how many counties or school districts Iowa needs. That debate begs the larger question of how many people will be left for those institutions to serve, absent an economic renaissance to reverse the flow of young people from the countryside to the cities—when they’re not leaving Iowa altogether. Rather, he suggests, the state’s political topography is merely a symptom of the inertia that, until recently, has characterized debate about Iowa’s economic future.

“Iowa has long viewed itself as an agricultural commodity state,” Drabenstott says. “It has always put a lot of emphasis on farm bills and exports. But even if everything goes right

in the commodity business, we’re going to continue to see a changing landscape across Iowa.”

Indeed, the agricultural commodity sector itself has changed radically in the past half century, as smaller, lessefficient operators have been bought out by larger operators in a process of consolidation that continues unchecked. And it’s not just agriculture: the Whirlpool Corporation’s pending buyout of Maytag reflects the kind of industrial consolidation that has leapt state and even national borders to drive entire industrial sectors overseas—and with them the jobs that keep local economies vital.

Global markets and lower transportation costs drive down prices, causing production to find the lowest-cost home. This, Drabenstott notes, 5

IOWA’S CLOCK IS TICKING

puts constant pressure on U.S. farms and factories to squeeze out costs. In most commoditybased industries that means getting bigger, inevitably resulting in a landscape with fewer farmsteads and factories. In turn, this consolidation challenges a core assumption of Iowa State’s original land-grant mission (page 11), premised on a model of service to small farm operators through county extension offices.

REDEFINING REGIONS — AND A UNIVERSITY’S MISSION

The best response to change in Iowa’s agricultural and industrial sectors, says Drabenstott, might be for Iowans to undertake some consolidation of their own, a kind of economic

regionalism that looks beyond both the artificial political boundaries of the state and the narrower interests of towns and counties. And while that might occasionally involve incentive packages to recruit industries, Drabenstott feels that a better approach is for regions to instead identify and exploit their native assets.

“There’s no longer a onesize-fits-all approach for Iowa or any other state, for that matter,” Drabenstott insists.

“Iowa is probably four or five or six regions, not one.”

Just what those regions are remains to be defined. While northeast Iowa might take advantage of its physical beauty to develop tourism, for example, the Ames-Des Moines and

Iowa City-Cedar Rapids corridors are well positioned to foster growth in technology, medicine, and business services in partnership with Iowa State and the University of Iowa— growth that can extend well into contiguous counties and the larger region beyond.

Not so obvious are solutions for areas of the state with neither the natural beauty of Iowa’s northeast nor the intellectual and business capital of the state’s two major research corridors. Answers for these regions, Drabenstott suggests, might be just one part of the new land-grant mission for institutions such as Iowa State.

“The approach in the past was, if we create a vibrant agriculture, we create a vibrant

“THERE HAS TO BE A CONCERTED DIALOGUE AMONG BUSINESS, HIGHER EDUCATION, AND PUBLIC OFFICIALS ABOUT THAT REGION’S FUTURE FOR

“THERE’S NO LONGER A ONE-SIZE-FITSALL APPROACH FOR IOWA OR ANY OTHER STATE, FOR THAT MATTER. IOWA IS PROBABLY FOUR OR FIVE OR SIX REGIONS, NOT ONE.” — MARK DRABENSTOTT

Iowa,” Drabenstott says of Iowa State’s historical identification with agricultural extension. “I don’t think that model works anymore. The answer lies in the university engaging the state in terms of thinking about the various regions instead of thinking about a single sector.”

EVERY REGION OF IOWA TO REINVENT ITSELF,” DRABENSTOTT SAYS.

A MODEL MADE AT I O W A S TAT E ?

Drabenstott acknowledges the challenge of transitioning Iowa State’s focus to an even more direct and diverse involvement in the state’s economic development. Yet, he notes, other states are moving aggressively to answer some of the same challenges Iowa faces. Take Drabenstott’s home state of Indiana, where in 2003 Purdue University launched a $500 million university-business development partnership called “Discovery Park,” an initiative spearheaded by none other than former Iowa State President Martin Jischke.

It’s too early to predict whether Purdue’s bold venture will meet its objectives. It’s enough for now, Drabenstott offers, that Indiana has forged a working model for closer collaboration among government, private industry, and Indiana’s premier research university that other states might study, if not emulate.

Ironically, as venture capitalist John Pappajohn suggests (page 8), Iowa State’s Research Park may well have been the incubator and original model for Jischke’s larger project at Purdue. And with offices such as ISU Extension, the College of Engineering’s Center for Industrial Research and Service, and the College of Business’s Small Business Development Centers—not to mention the John Pappajohn entrepreneurial centers—the university already has in place a network for supporting both entrepreneurs and established industries across Iowa.

taking responsibility for one’s own destiny, but literal ownership as well, as Iowa’s regions brace for a massive transfer of wealth between generations in the form of perennially appreciating agricultural land.

In the September 2005 issue of the Main Street Economist, Federal Reserve Research Analyst Sarah Low—herself an Iowa State alumnae, with a degree in public service and administration in agriculture—writes that “regions such as Iowa have suffered waves of outmigration and slow economic growth, yet have lots of wealth stored in agricultural real estate.” This, Drabenstott suggests, presents a twofold challenge: first, unlocking value from land assets for “THE APPROACH IN THE PAST WAS, IF WE CREATE A VIBRANT AGRICULTURE, WE CREATE A VIBRANT

A QUESTION OF OWNERSHIP

The ultimate responsibility for a region’s development, however, lies with a region itself.

Fundamentally, it’s a question of who best knows a region’s problems and promise— Drabenstott cites the central role of bankers not only as brokers of capital, but as leaders with their fingers on the pulse of the region’s entrepreneurial activity.

It’s also a question of ownership, not only in the sense of

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IOWA. I DON’T THINK

BUILDING

THAT MODEL WORKS

‘ I N N O VAT I V E C A PA C I T Y ’

ANYMORE.”

“There has to be a concerted dialogue among business, higher education, and public officials about that region’s future for every region of Iowa to reinvent itself,” Drabenstott insists.

“State and university officials can do two helpful things in the regional governance process. One is helping a region map its economic assets: what does a region really have

— MARK DRABENSTOTT

regional economic development; and, secondly, retaining at least a portion of that wealth locally, as land ownership increasingly transfers to non-farming heirs who have left Iowa in the face of agricultural consolidation.

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How state and regional leaders negotiate this transition can have significant implications for the future of Iowa, especially in areas without significant resources beyond their agricultural heritage. Others are doing this successfully, Drabenstott says, and points to the Nebraska Community Foundation as one example of a successful partnership for turning around the economic futures for rural areas. The key to building such partnerships, he adds, is a new process loosely described as “regional governance.”

PROSPECTUS

going for it, especially through the lens of the future?

“Second,” he continues, “does the region have public and private leaders with the skill sets and the capacities to handle that transition? I call that ‘innovative capacity.’

There’s a great opportunity for an institution like Iowa State to help lift that capacity over time.”

But not too much time: unless leaders at the regional level begin the necessary dialogue and take action soon, Drabenstott warns, rural areas especially will increasingly risk losing what he calls the critical mass of assets and institutions—schools, hospitals, etc.—that are a precondition for creating a new economic future in the first place.

“That is the clock ticking in the background,” Drabenstott cautions. “All of that said, I am constantly impressed at the ability of rural regions to reinvent themselves when they engage the sheer determination of the leadership in the region to do so.” ■

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For John Pappajohn, values start with attitude

Got a million bucks? Congratulations—you’re a millionaire. Got a million ideas?

You’re a dreamer. But got a million-dollar attitude? Then, maybe, you’re an entrepreneur.

John Pappajohn is an entrepreneur.

JOHN PAPPAJOHN ADDRESSES

’ve never been depressed in my life,” Pappajohn says as he surveys downtown Des Moines from his offices on the twenty-first floor of the Financial Center. “I just look at the glass as half full rather than half empty.”

It’s no secret that Pappajohn has a million bucks. And while he might not have a million ideas, he’s probably heard nearly that many pitched by others, in the process developing an uncanny talent for picking winners from losers (he prefers to drink from the half of the glass with the wine in it, thanks).

Yet the critical difference between Pappajohn and your average tycoon wannabe is a relentlessly upbeat attitude and an irrepressible confidence in the future. And for the last ten years, that attitude has been making a critical difference in Iowa’s economic future, as the state’s most famous entrepreneur and his wife, Mary, have endowed a network I started the of incubators to create new entrepreneurs across the state. entrepreneurial

centers to try and change the mindset of college kids; they’re not so set in their ways.

THE AUDIENCE AT IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY’S

A changing mindset

But though he’s drunk deeply from the cup of success, Pappajohn doesn’t look at the world through any rosé-colored wine glass. From struggling schools to consolidation in agriculture and industry to an aging population and continuing exodus of young people, he —JOHN PAPPAJOHN knows Iowa faces serious challenges.

For Pappajohn, though, Iowa’s greatest challenge is attitudinal— specifically, an aversion to risk that was only aggravated by the farm crisis of the 1980s.

“It’s part of the Iowa mindset,” Pappajohn acknowledges.

“We’re a little conservative. But it’s changing. I started the entrepreneurial centers to try and change the mindset of college kids; they’re not so set in their ways.”

By focusing on education, Pappajohn seeks to create not just a new generation of Iowa entrepreneurs, but one with the skills, values, and confidence to compete with the best anywhere. That means setting our sights high, letting the world know it, and taking the chance we might fall flat on our faces. But entrepreneurship, he reminds, extends far beyond ambition or even a positive attitude.

In the first place, Pappajohn stresses, the job of the entrepreneur requires some of the core values on which Iowans pride themselves, such as value and honesty. “It’s a common-sense world,” he acknowledges. “You have to have something that somebody wants to buy—not just hype.”

And if you think it’s a glamorous lifestyle, think again. Above all, it takes work. Really hard work. “Everybody wants to be rich,” Pappajohn laughs, “but nobody wants to pay the price!

I’m in my office seven days a week, never later than seven in the morning—Saturday and Sunday included. It’s not an easy job.

To make it work is a total commitment.”

DISTINGUISHED AWARDS CELEBRATION IN APRIL 2005.

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JOHN AND MARY PAPPAJOHN WITH THEIR AWARD FOR BEING NAMED HONORARY ALUMNI OF IOWA STATE.

Over his 37-year career as a venture capitalist, Pappajohn has supported numerous individuals who were willing to pay the price. But launching any number of millionaire entrepreneurs is one thing; launching an entire state By investing in is a different proposition altogether, a project surpassing any he had under- human capital, taken before.

Beyond philanthropy, uncommon vision

the Pappajohns would build a foundation for entrepreneurial development that would thrive for decades.

Not content with traditional philanthropy, Pappajohn wanted to make an impact larger than just putting his name on public buildings. So in 1995, he and Mary announced they would give nearly $5 million to develop the entrepreneurial skills of students at five institutions: Iowa State University, The University of Iowa, Drake University, The University of Northern Iowa, and Northern Iowa Area Community College in Pappajohn’s hometown of Mason City.

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Although it’s the topic in statehouses and on campuses nationwide today, Pappajohn says, “entrepreneurialism wasn’t on anybody’s priority list at the time.” Indeed, because of the easy money culture of the 1990s, recognition of the need to foster entrepreneurship—let alone teach it—was uncommon.

After all, America was in the middle of the dot-com boom, with tech startups launching like mayflies in the summer heat: in 1995, entrepreneurship was easy.

But those weren’t Pappajohn’s values. Instead, by investing in human capital, he would build a foundation for entrepreneurial development that would thrive for decades after the dot-com craze imploded. The results, says Pappajohn, have been “extraordinary.”

“We’ve trained over 42,000 students in Iowa in almost ten years,” he remarks. “They’ve started 157 businesses altogether at Northern Iowa Area Community College in Mason City, 30 in the past year alone. Iowa State has an incubator that’s a model of entrepreneurial training. They’ve started 296 businesses in ten years. And 2,900 students took classes at Iowa State last year.”

‘Universities are the ones’ Those are big numbers. But to keep young entrepreneurs in Iowa will take resources beyond education—specifically, venture capital and continuing support from state and university programs Whether they to foster business startups. ever make milEspecially critical for Iowa State, lions or not, if Pappajohn feels, are initiatives to you can get peo- leverage university research into Iowa ple to think more businesses. “The universities are the ones,” he says. “Technology transfer positively, they’re should be creating these high-tech creating value in companies—it’s absolutely the best use of capital.” whatever they But where that capital comes from do, wherever is another question. Pappajohn is a they work. champion of the Iowa Values Fund, but —JOHN PAPPAJOHN acknowledges its limited application

to small tech startups and the kinds of grassroots entrepreneurship his Pappajohn centers were designed to cultivate.

“Money is available,” Pappajohn nonetheless insists.

“Ames, Mason City, UNI, and Iowa City all have their own venture funds now—a million to two million in seed capital.

Entrepreneurs can leverage that. They can go to the [Small Business Administration] and private individuals—angel investors are all over the state now.”

Bringing it back home The capstone to Pappajohn’s project is currently rising in Des Moines, where the latest Pappajohn entrepreneurial center will reach beyond the college and working adult clientele of the university-based centers to include even younger entrepreneurs— some as young as middle school.

“Did you know there are more merit scholars in the Des Moines area than in 19 states?” Pappajohn asks. “We’re taking these kids—smart kids that are going on to Princeton and Harvard. I want to challenge them, tell them ‘Hey, you don’t have to get a job with Citibank or wherever. There’s opportunity here. If you’re an entrepreneur, we’re going to expose you to it.’”

If those “smart kids” don’t return to Iowa from Princeton and Harvard, it won’t be due to any lack of vision, enthusiasm, or commitment on the part of John Pappajohn. With the entrepreneurial centers as launching pads, it’s up to state and university leaders to bring opportunity to Iowa—the kids will follow. And if those leaders are lucky, they may find they’ve created the kinds of “Iowa Values” Pappajohn himself truly relishes.

“I’m an entrepreneur,” Pappajohn says. “I love to help people start businesses. I get letters that make me feel good. People say, ‘you changed my life.’ Now, whether they ever make millions or not, if you can get people to think more positively, they’re creating value in whatever they do, wherever they work—it doesn’t make any difference.”

And even if it doesn’t make you an entrepreneur, that’s the kind of attitude that can make an individual—or even an entire state—feel like a million bucks. ■

THE MISSION GETS

A MAKEOVER Iowa State updates its land-grant purpose for a global economy

S

ay “Iowa” and many people immediately think

immigration. However, the state lost more than

“agriculture.” But while Iowa is a leader in agri-

41,000 residents to other states.

cultural production, the state is focused on

Since the late 1990s, Iowa has redoubled its

developing a more diverse economy that offers

efforts to attract new businesses and expand exist-

high-paying jobs to attract and sustain a well-

ing ones, with Governor Tom Vilsack launching the

educated and younger population.

Vision Iowa Program in 2000 and the Grow Iowa

With housing and industrial centers popping up

Values Fund in 2003 to provide incentives. While

around Iowa’s urban areas, casual observers might

it may be too early to assess gains from these pro-

assume the state is growing, and they’re right—

grams, the new census figures make it appropriate

to a point. According to a December 2005 story in

to reconsider the role of the College of Business,

the Des Moines Register, Iowa’s population did

as part of a land-grant university, in helping Iowa

grow slightly in the last five years, due mostly to

diversify its economy.

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY/UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

PA P PA J O H N S R E N E W E N T R E P R E N E U R S H I P C O M M I T M E N T In 2003, Iowa State also started the

ohn and Mary Pappajohn reaffirmed their

J

for Iowa’s businesspeople. They have been gener-

commitment to the Iowa State University

ously supporting the entrepreneurship centers

Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship with a

since that time, including a $3.5 million renewal

Community (profiled in the spring 2005

$1 million gift in 2005.

gift in September 2000, $1 million of which went to

Prospectus), where students of all ages, majors,

Iowa State.

and areas of interest share living space and

The Pappajohns started entrepreneurship centers throughout the state in the 1990s. The

Iowa State’s entrepreneurship center has flour-

idea, Pappajohn said at the time, was to staff each

ished, attracting many students and the attention

center with professionals who will help train stu-

of publications like Entrepreneurship magazine,

dents in how to run a business and provide advice

which ranks entrepreneurship colleges nationally.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Learning

develop microbusinesses.

ALTHOUGH IOWA STATE’S FUNDAMENTAL LAND-GRANT MISSION—

Iowa State also hosted the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Iowa Conference in early March. ■

TO USE KNOWLEDGE TO MAKE IOWA AND THE WORLD A BETTER PLACE—HASN’T CHANGED SINCE THE UNIVERSITY’S EARLY DAYS, VIRTUALLY EVERYTHING ELSE HAS. IN 1913, THERE WEREN’T EVEN BUSINESS COURSES AT IOWA STATE, AND THE GERDIN BUSINESS

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BUILDING WAS STILL OVER 90 YEARS AWAY FROM OPENING.

According to the university’s 2005–2010 strategic plan, Iowa State “was founded on the ideal that higher education should be accessible to all and that the university should teach liberal and practical subjects.” The university’s land-grant mission is straightforward: “Create, share, and apply knowledge to make Iowa and the world a better place.”

Yet the types and complexity of knowledge needed to drive a twenty-first century economy are far different from the days when farmers and housewives simply consulted the county extension agent for advice on growing corn or preparing a meal. Unlike the past, the university no longer has an effective monopoly on conducting research and disseminating information in Iowa. Corporations, government agencies, nonprofit organizations, and consultants are all part of the mix.

Sanjeev Agarwal, professor of marketing and Dean’s Faculty Fellow in Marketing, served on the university’s strategic planning committee as it wrestled with how to integrate the university’s responsibility to its stakeholders—students, faculty, the state, and the world—so each will prosper.

“Our primary job is to train people who can think on their own so they can go out and find the opportunities they’re looking for. The university is here to create opportunities and to open minds.”

—SANJEEV AGARWAL

“Students are where we make the most impact,” Agarwal says. “Our primary job is to train people who can think on their own so they can go out and find the opportunities they’re looking for. The university is here to create opportunities and to open minds. It shouldn’t be considered a negative thing if some graduates leave to pursue opportunities elsewhere. If you want to make the world a better place, you can’t just limit it to Iowa.”

Although it seldom directly impacts the state’s economy in ways that make news headlines, much the same could be said for faculty research. A critical piece of the academic system, research adds valuable information to the knowledge base, benefiting the researcher, the institution, and the world. So, as a young program in the 1980s and ’90s, the college’s top priority was to cultivate a strong faculty base in order to raise its status in this regard.

THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, ALTHOUGH RELATIVELY YOUNG, HAS BECOME A CENTRAL PART OF THE UNIVERSITY’S LAND-GRANT MISSION. THE COLLEGE NOW HOUSES ABOUT 17 PERCENT OF IOWA STATE’S UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS, AND ABOUT SIX PERCENT OF ITS GRADUATE STUDENTS. LEFT, 1980s BUSINESS STUDENTS UTILIZE EARLY COMPUTERS. RIGHT, SANJEEV AGARWAL PRESIDES OVER A MORE MODERN BUSINESS CLASS. 12

“Our emphasis was to recruit more full-time faculty who could teach and do research. Research and publications are how you earn a national reputation.”

—J. DAVID HUNGER

“We were deluged with students,” recalls J. David Hunger, professor of management. “We hired temporary instructors to help teach, but our emphasis was to recruit more full-time faculty who could teach and do research so we could get accredited and start the MBA program. Research and publications are how you earn a national reputation. That, in turn, helps attract top faculty and students. This was critical to our future.”

During this same period, entrepreneurship started gaining momentum as a means to help Iowa’s economy. Through its connection with the Small Business Development Centers and Iowa State’s John Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship, the college continues to help Iowa State students, faculty, and other Iowans pursue their entrepreneurial interests.

“Small businesses generate 60 to 80 percent of new jobs annually,” notes Hunger. “[But] the faculty felt that majoring in entrepreneurship didn’t make a whole lot of sense. It needed to be tied to a functional area, for example, marketing, horticulture, veterinary medicine, or engineering.”

Hunger, who has served as academic director of the Pappajohn Center, therefore helped develop an entrepreneurial studies minor for students across the university, and today any undergraduate student can minor in entrepreneurial studies.

Course work in the student’s major area of study is complemented

with management courses that focus on the knowledge and skills needed to start and grow new ventures.

While the university strongly supports entrepreneurial activity for students and graduates, Agarwal feels that faculty should be encouraged in business endeavors as well. Not only would ideas move from academia into the marketplace, he says, professors would also get practical experience that could be shared with students. In addition, more opportunities for entrepreneurship would evolve as linkages are made away from campus.

“Economic growth doesn’t come from a single thing,” Agarwal observes. “It takes lots of bits and pieces coming together.”

“We have clients come back for more assistance. In consulting, you can’t get a higher compliment than repeat business.”

—RICK SMITH

Rick Smith, a lecturer in management, exemplifies how some of those pieces came together to help him start a new career at Iowa State. It all began, he says, when he attended an informational meeting for Iowa State’s Saturday MBA program.

“I was in a rut professionally,” Smith recalls. “I’d climbed the corporate ladder, but I didn’t like going to work and doing the same thing every day. Max Wortman, a distinguished professor of management, took an interest in me. He said the program was designed for people like me.”

Smith completed his MBA in 1998, then left his job as an executive vice president to develop a successful consulting business. His practice was based on the premise that companies

regularly evaluate how their suppliers are doing, but the relationship could be improved if the companies would ask suppliers how they (i.e., the companies) are doing as customers.

Three years ago, Smith began teaching Management 415, Managing New Ventures, a class that not only gives students real-world experience, but helps existing and new businesses with everything from business plans to new product launches and procedural audits. Students nearing graduation serve on teams that function as consulting groups to central Iowa businesses. Each semester, seven or eight Iowa businesses with specific issues to be addressed are recruited from either Smith’s network of contacts or referrals from the college’s Business Industry Relations office (page 20).

“We’re under the radar of the Iowa Department of Economic Development, but the fact that companies seek us out shows we’re making a difference,” says Smith. “We have clients come back for more assistance. In consulting, you can’t get a higher compliment than repeat business.”

The services other business faculty members provide often reach well beyond Iowa’s borders. Known worldwide for his international marketing research, Agarwal, for example, contributes to both his community and the world by crafting business and marketing strategies for entrepreneurs and companies. In addition, he works with an interdisciplinary group of Iowa State faculty members through the Center for Sustainable Rural Livelihoods, which seeks to relieve hunger and poverty in developing countries.

Students, Agarwal feels, benefit by seeing and hearing how their professors are involved at the state, national, and international levels. “The culture we need to encourage at the university,” he says, “is that we can do things to make the world a better place.”

And that, one might add, benefits Iowa as well. ■

RITES OF PASSAGE K E E P I N G G R A D S I N I O WA M E A N S M O R E T H A N M O N E Y

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s graduation approaches, seniors in Iowa State’s College of Business do all they can to line up the best jobs possible. For some, that means leaving the state; others will begin their careers in Iowa.

Kathy Wieland can make a good argument for either choice. After all, as director of Business Career Services for the college, she discusses those options with students every day. Graduates give all the usual answers as to why they choose to move—higher salary, more opportunities, the chance to experience something new.

“It’s kind of a rite of passage,” Wieland says. “They want to go to the bigger cities and experience what life is like there. They want to try something new.”

stay in Iowa, according to Mark Peterson, director of Graduate Career Services. In addition to insurance and financial service Many who stay, Wieland offers, say they like Iowa and want to companies, manufacturers such as John Deere, Maytag, and stay close to their families. Since there are plenty of good jobs Pella Corporation are among the businesses with excellent companies available here, they tell her, there’s no reason to look elsewhere.

IT’S REALLY AN INDIVIDUAL that recruit and hire the 20 to 25 MBA graduates who accept positions in Iowa According to the 2003–2004 College of DECISION. THE MOST each year.

Business Annual Report, nearly 60 percent of IMPORTANT THING IS Although employer demand for qualified students who graduated from Iowa State with a business degree from the previous three years HELPING THE GRADUATES information technology workers is beginning to outstrip supply in some sectors of Iowa’s took jobs with companies in the state. Part of FIND THE JOBS THEY’RE economy, graduates of the college’s smaller busithe reason, Wieland notes, is because of a LOOKING FOR. ness M.S. programs—information assurance, tighter job market during that period of time.

—KATHY WIELAND information systems, and human computer “There was more recruitment from out-of-state interaction—still tend to go out of state to find companies five or six years ago,” says Wieland. jobs. “Iowa just doesn’t have many employers in those areas,” “That hasn’t been as prevalent the last couple of years because the Peterson explains. job market was tighter. But I think it’s going back the other way That’s far from the case with MBA graduates, however, who and we could see more graduates leaving the state again.” are increasingly drawn back to their home state. Travis Sullivan While that could be cause for concern for Iowa’s political (’03 Management Information Systems and Finance) moved to leaders, it’s a simple fact of life for the college. As Wieland Minneapolis to take a job with General Mills after finishing his observes, she can’t influence where graduates take jobs. “It’s degree. Sullivan returned to Iowa State when his wife Kristin, really an individual decision,” she offers. “The most important an engineer with John Deere, transferred to Ankeny. He plans to thing is helping the graduates find the jobs they’re looking for.” target his MBA job search in the Des Moines area, with a focus on the financial services industry. “Two years in Minneapolis Information Technology opportunity lags MBAs convinced us we wanted to live closer to family and friends,” For graduate students, that means staying home, as likely as Sullivan says. not: over 50 percent of Iowa State’s full-time MBA graduates

Job market dictates location

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Not just in it for the money While living in bigger cities and earning higher salaries lure young graduates away from Iowa, Peterson has found that these criteria diminish in significance the longer the graduate has been in the workforce. “MBA students, who generally have three or four years’ work experience, conduct very conscientious job searches,” he says. “They look for positions based on whether they think the work will be interesting and if there is potential for career growth.”

International students make up about 25 percent of the fulltime MBA program. Although visa issues can complicate the process, some of these graduates find a home in Iowa. Jindong Lian (’05 MBA), for example, did his undergraduate work in China and worked for 10 years in China, England, and Japan before coming to Iowa State in 2003 to earn his MBA in supply chain management. Lian now works for FarmTek, a manufacturing company located in Dyersville, Iowa, that wanted an MBA to manage supplier relations with its vendors in China.

Whether MBA or undergraduate, however, reasons for staying or leaving the state are as unique as the individuals who pass through the college’s classrooms. And while some seek opportunity in distant states or nations, others find—or make—their dream careers in Iowa.

So Curtis expanded her search to surrounding states.

Responding quickly, Caterpillar brought her in for an interview and made her an offer that day. Hired as an inventory analyst, she will rotate through three project areas to see where she fits best. And though the salary was 50 percent higher than any offered by Iowa companies, says Curtis, other perks convinced her to take the job.

“The company makes an investment in you,” Curtis says.

“They have a relocation service and pay a lump sum to help cover moving expenses. Benefits started the day I began work, and they’ll pay 90 percent of my tuition if I go back for my MBA.”

MEGAN CURTIS: “I could do much better” In January, Megan Curtis (’05 Logistics & Supply Chain Management and Marketing) began her career with Caterpillar, Inc., in Peoria, Illinois. She initially limited her job search to Iowa: she wanted to be near family and friends.

Although opportunities in supply chain management were limited, Curtis received offers from a variety of companies, including the Des Moines firm where she’d done her internship.

But her job there was basically as a dispatcher, and that’s not what she wanted.

Curtis also could have taken a position with a financial services company looking for people with general business degrees for their two-year training program. “I talked to an alum who had given me a scholarship last fall,” she recalls. “He said I could do much better.”

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ABBY REINERT: “I’m always ready to come home” Iowa State women’s basketball fans know Abby Reinert—she’s the one enthusiastically cheering on her teammates every game. A star athlete in high school, Reinert joined Iowa State as a walk-on in 2003 and, though her playing time has been limited, she’s been a valued team member and relishes being on the team.

A lifelong Iowan, Reinert is just as fervent in her loyalty to her home state. “I love Iowa,” she says. “I’ve traveled to a lot of

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different places, both with the team and as an intern with Pella Corporation last summer,” she explains. “But no matter where I’ve been, I’m always ready to come home.”

An accounting major, Reinert will complete her B.S. in 2007 and her master of accountancy in 2008, enabling her to take the CPA exam before she leaves Ames. Through membership in Beta Alpha Psi, an accounting club, she’s made contacts with a variety of professionals in the field. This summer she has an internship lined up with Fisher Controls in Marshalltown.

While Reinert is optimistic about accounting opportunities in Iowa, she’s leaving her options open for the first five years of her career. “I know I’ll stay in the Midwest, but it may not be Iowa at first,” she says. “My goal is to get a good start on my career and that may mean leaving for a while.

“But,” she adds, “Iowa is where I want to end up.”

TIM HACKBARTH: “A good place to start” Tim Hackbarth, a junior marketing major from Cedar Rapids, says there’s a good chance he’ll stay in Iowa after graduation.

However, he sees Iowa as a great place to start a career—not necessarily finish one. So he’s making no guarantees that he’ll stay here forever.

“I think there are more upper-level marketing positions in other states and larger cities,” he says. “A lot of people move out of state right away, and then come back to raise a family. But I look at Iowa as a good place to start and use the things you learn here as a stepping stone to a better position in a larger city.”

Hackbarth admits that Des Moines won’t offer as many opportunities as cities such as Chicago, Milwaukee, or Minneapolis/St. Paul, but he’s confident he can land the perfect position at home.

“Sure, Chicago is a place where the sky is the limit, with the larger job pool and more opportunity to climb in the business world,” he says. “But I don’t think a city the size of Des Moines would limit you too much. Plus, I think living in Chicago would be a lot more stressful compared to Iowa.”

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CHRIS CLOVER: “An Iowan looking to buy, not sell” Chris Clover thinks Iowa is a great place to start and run a business—and he should know.

Clover earned his MBA in 1992 from Iowa State. Then, after picking up his Ph.D. in mechanical engineering in 1996, he founded Mechdyne Corporation in Marshalltown, Iowa, a firm that grew rapidly into an industry leader in virtual reality systems.

Instead of cashing out, as do many successful entrepreneurs, Clover expanded, acquiring FakeSpace, Inc., a Toronto-based virtual reality provider, in 2003. Then in 2005, he made another acquisition when his company combined with VRCO Inc., a developer of interactive 3D visualization software.

He’s had several offers to move his company out of state, but Clover has never seriously entertained them. He was born and raised here and wants his company to stay—and grow—in Iowa.

“I’m looking to buy, not sell,” Clover says. “We’re growing rapidly, and I would like to have 1,000 employees in Iowa in the next 15 years. That’s what keeps me coming to work in the morning.”

But Clover doesn’t believe it’s necessarily a bad thing when students leave Iowa for a while and thinks political leaders should focus on getting these people eventually to come back from other places to share their expertise and experience. After all, he notes, Iowa can offer a lot to those who return: a short work commute, reasonable real estate prices, and a safe place to raise children.

Besides, Clover says, people who leave often appreciate Iowa much more once they’ve seen other places. “I’ve never lived anywhere else,” Clover acknowledges. “But I travel all over the world, so I’m reminded daily of what to be thankful for while living in Iowa.”

MARAH BRAIMAH: “It’s not fast-paced like out East” Marah Braimah isn’t your typical Iowa State freshman. She’s a Canadian citizen, and her international heritage doesn’t stop there: her father is Nigerian and her mother Ukrainian. Her family moved from Canada to Baton Rouge in 1999. But after graduating from high school last May, she longed to move back north to attend college.

“My parents weren’t keen on the idea,” Braimah explains.

“But they suggested Iowa State because my brother Elijah was already here on a track scholarship.”

Braimah determined that the College of Business had the kind of accounting program she wanted, and last August she joined VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1

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her brother, a junior in aerospace engineering, in Ames.

But while she’s adapting to Iowa, she doesn’t see her long-term future here.

“It’s not fast-paced like out East, where the economy is moving and things keep up-to-date,” Braimah explains.

Even though she considers it only a temporary home, Braimah’s making the most of her time in Iowa. She’s on the Business Leadership Team and attended last fall’s Business Career Day. “Not many places consider freshmen for accounting internships,” she notes. “But I got to look at all of the different kinds of companies that recruit here. I’ve got some leads for this summer, and hopefully next year I’ll get an accounting internship.”

Braimah wants to complete both her bachelor’s and master’s of accounting at Iowa State before starting her career at a smaller firm in order to familiarize herself with all aspects of accounting.

After a few years, she’ll decide whether to work her way up the corporate ladder or start her own business.

“They don’t have anything like that in California,” she notes.

Finocchioli plans to study finance and international business, which, she hopes, will eventually lead to a career in the entertainment industry. Her dream job, she says, would be working on the budgets for blockbuster movies.

Of course, that means leaving Iowa when she’s done with college. “I’ll probably go back to California,” Finocchioli says.

ANA SULLIVAN: Keeping her options open Marketing student Ana Sullivan is keeping her options open when it comes to where she’ll start her career. With her focus on getting something appealing in terms of corporate culture and salary, she hasn’t restricted her job search area.

“If I get something I like in Iowa, that will be nice,” says the senior who grew up near Cedar Falls, Iowa. “But if not, that’s fine too.”

KATELYN FINOCCHIOLI: “I’ll probably go back to California” Katelyn Finocchioli, a freshman in pre-business, admits that she probably won’t stay in Iowa after she graduates.

Finocchioli’s father transferred to Ames for his job in August, and Katelyn moved with her family from Newport Beach, California. Iowa State wasn’t on her list of colleges while in high school. But despite being unenthusiastic about the move at first, Finocchioli now thinks Ames is a great place to live.

Moreover, Finocchioli says she’s astonished by the opportunities available at Iowa State.

She’s already joined the Languages and Cultures for Professions program, which integrates extensive training in languages and cultures with professional curricula to foster global literacy among Iowa State students.

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On track to graduate in May, Sullivan is exploring event planning as a career possibility. This spring, she’s getting handson experience as an intern in Ames with the Iowa Sports Foundation, a nonprofit group that promotes and organizes major amateur sporting events such as the Iowa Games. And Sullivan’s involvement in Iowa State’s marketing and entrepreneur clubs has raised her awareness of the variety of opportunities available in Iowa for business graduates.

“I’ve met lots of interesting people who are in the marketing field or who have started their own businesses,” she says. “There are more opportunities in Iowa than I had thought.”

But no matter where her first job takes her, Sullivan knows it’s only the beginning. For now, she’s just excited to see what’s out there and get a good start on her career. ■

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POINT/COUNTERPOINT

Should Tax Dollars be Used to Support Economic Development? skills would help business owners stay in business.

GOVERNMENT AIDS SMALL BUSINESSES The government can play an important role in helping start new businesses and improve the According to the United States success rate of small firms. Research has shown that specific government programs that assist small Labor Department, 212,704 firms provide a significant return on taxpayer jobs were eliminated in January dollars. These programs can provide important business skills in finance, marketing, accounting, 2006—up 32 percent from human resources, legal issues, and other areas.

December 2005. Large companies continue to Government agencies can also provide imporannounce layoffs. Kraft foods: 8,000 employees. tant networking opportunities that lead to access Ford Motors: 30,000 employees. Lear to a wide range of useful professional Seating: 6,500 employees. Gateway contacts that can help develop business computers: 2,250 employees. strategies, raise capital, manage risk, and What happens to people who lose build organizational skills. The benefit to their jobs? While some find other taxpayers is that these businesses create jobs, many start their own businesses. high-quality jobs and generate important Currently there are at least 15 million tax revenues. small firms in the United States, and as Perhaps the best example of this is in many as 1 million new firms launched the development of new technology. This HOWARD VAN AUKEN each year. It’s the push-pull concept in remains a competitive advantage for the action: some are pulled into starting a new busiU.S. economy, and businesses that introduce new ness because of a wonderful opportunity, while technology are especially important in maintaining others are pushed because of a disruption in their our economic competitiveness and producing jobs. lives, such as a layoff.

But the process through which it is introduced is The importance of small firms in the United complex, expensive, and time-consuming—often States is evident in that they create almost all new seven to ten years. Most owners of these compajobs and most innovations. Unfortunately, most nies are scientists trying to commercialize a newly new companies fail within a relatively short time: discovered innovation and who have no business 50 percent are no longer in operation after three training. They may need the greatest amount of years. That number jumps to 80 percent after five government assistance. years. Distressed or failed businesses result in In the end, government-sponsored assistance significant personal stress for the owner, the loss programs are cost effective. The costs of governof jobs, and elimination of tax revenues. ment-funded programs help save businesses, create Recent evidence suggests that business failures jobs, generate tax revenues, and contribute to are increasing, and a primary reason is a lack of economic development. Small firm success is business skills. Many business owners simply critical to U.S. economic vitality. ■ do not have the training or skills necessary to successfully operate a business. A recent study Howard Van Auken is a professor of management. He has

by Professor Rick Carter and myself of small firm published more than 50 papers on entrepreneurship and failures in Iowa suggested that improved business small business.

VA N A U K E N :

Research has shown that specific government programs that assist small firms provide a significant return on taxpayer dollars.

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CARTER: B U S I N E S S F A I L U R E N O T A LW AY S B A D

While it is a fact that only about 50 percent of small businesses are still trading after their first three years, this does not mean that the loss of the other 50 percent is without value. In the words of George Bernard Shaw, “Success does not consist in never making mistakes, but in never making them a second time.”

Successful entrepreneurs learn from their failures. Do we want to use government handouts to prop up bad businesses? The churning of businesses in the United States through fail can be good for our economy. Inefficient firms failure RICK CARTER while efficient firms succeed.

In a study of thousands of firms from 1953 through 1993 by William O’Neil, founder of Investor’s Business Daily, he discovered that more than 95 percent of the successes in American industry had a major new product or service.

Many of these were simply small businesses with a big idea. Jim Collins, author of Good to Great, found that strong ambition channeled into the company, is an important characteristic of the leadership of great companies.

These leaders identify what the company can be best at, and that is what drives their success.

J. Morton Davis, from Blair Capital Management, a longtime provider of capital for small firms, says that he always bets on the management. He believes he can spot a good manager, one with visions and adaptability—a survivor.

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There are two lessons here. The first lesson is that the infusion of capital is best provided by someone, like Morton Davis, who is trained to identify winners. One whose incentive is to find the best use of their money—otherwise he or she will not be in business very long either. Governments have no incentive nor training to separate good firms from bad; they don’t go out of business just because they gave money to a losing cause.

The second lesson is that ambitious leaders with good ideas and plans are motivated to develop the successful product and locate sources of capital. And if they don’t know how, they will learn where those sources are and how to best employ them.

But does this mean that governments should stay clear of economic development? No. By providing educational opportunities through support of public universities and their outreach programs, managers can be trained to develop viable firms and to find appropriate sources of capital. Governments can also provide seed money for venture capital and other equity funds so that fund managers can provide capital to fledgling and growing firms.

This provides two benefits: first, it diversifies government investment via fund portfolios.

Second, it places the decision-making into the hands of those with the incentive and training to identify potential business successes.

Our small business economy does not need handouts for potential failures, but encouragement for success. ■

Government should place decision-making into the hands of those with the incentive and training to identify potential business successes.

Rick Carter is the chair of the accounting and finance departments. His research has focused on investment banking activities and raising capital.

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P R O G R A M S M AT C H B U S I N E S S E S W I T H S T U D E N T I D E A S , F A C U LT Y E X P E R T I S E

Giving a Boost to Iowa Businesses particular business and determines which projects could be incorporated into existing courses or developed on a fee-for-service basis. Along with chosen faculty, she then employs students eager to apply their knowledge to a specific problem.

Mike Crum, associate dean for graduate prowith customers in west-central Iowa and grams and professor of logistics and supply want to expand your market to cover the chain management, says the program entire state, but aren’t sure how to do that. allows students to show their capabilities Or perhaps you’re an aspiring entrepreand get valuable hands-on experience. “We neur, just out of college, with an unlimited like to push experiential learning opportuimagination and countless ideas about nities like this,” he says. “Companies that products you think would revolutionize use these services get real value from what the car wash industry.

MIKE CRUM our faculty and students deliver.”

Where do you get help to turn your Services range from marketing and abstract ideas into tangible products promotional strategies to pricing and or solutions? supply chain management, an Iowa State Iowa State’s Business and Industry specialty. With 10 faculty members, two Relations (BIR) program—formerly undergraduate degrees, and an MBA speknown as the Business Partnership and cialization, Iowa State’s supply chain manDevelopment program—might be the agement program is by far Iowa’s largest. perfect answer. Launched in May 2003 “Our program encompasses the whole TOM DECARLO through the College of Business, BIR progamut,” Crum says, “from acquiring raw vides Iowa companies with customized, materials and supplies to converting those high-quality faculty consultation services materials into finished products to distribin areas such as business strategies, uting those products to the end user. financial services, and human resources You’re looking at purchasing, inventory management. management, transportation, and production or operations management. We can P R O V I D I N G A V I TA L C O N N E C T I O N even help with product disposal or material ROBIN HABEGER recovery at the end of the life cycle.”

Director Robin Habeger feels BIR is critical to providing a vital connection between the OUTSIDE THE ACADEMIC COMFORT ZONE College of Business and the business community.

“Companies can come in and tap our expertise,” Part of what makes BIR successful is the new she says. “Whether it’s customized training for Student Business Laboratory (SBL), where undercompany leaders, a detailed marketing plan, or a graduate and graduate students from all over human resources manual, we have that expertise.” campus work together to solve real-world business Serving as liaison between the college and problems. In addition to the College of Business, companies seeking assistance, Habeger identifies students also come from engineering, education, faculty members who might be able to help a the life sciences, and many other fields.

Say you manage a mid-size manufacturing plant that wants to go global with its products. Or maybe you own a small business “We like to push experiential learning opportunities.

Companies that use these services get real value from what our faculty and students deliver.”

—MIKE CRUM

THE STUDENT BUSINESS LABORATORY BRINGS STUDENTS FROM ALL OVER IOWA STATE TOGETHER TO SOLVE REAL-WORLD BUSINESS PROBLEMS. FROM LEFT, SONIA KALRA (SECOND-YEAR MBA STUDENT), TIM HACKBARTH (JUNIOR IN MARKETING), STEPHANIE OSBY (SENIOR IN FINANCE), AND SACHIN SULAKHE (FIRST-YEAR MBA) DISCUSS A POTENTIAL SOLUTION FOR A CORPORATE PARTNER.

According to Habeger, who oversees the lab, the SBL provides students with practical business experience that benefits both them and their corporate partners. For example, a company that hadn’t changed prices in more than ten years recently came into the lab for help. As part of a class project, students wrote a business plan and built a new Web site for the company. As a result, they adjusted their prices, which allowed them to more easily determine their profits each month without the help of their accountant. Another business changed the look of its promotional materials because of recommendations made by students through the lab and BIR. The SBL, Habeger adds, also exposes students to the cross-functional nature of real projects, putting them in situations that require them to move outside of their academic comfort zones. Secondyear MBA student Sonia Kalra is teamed with two undergraduate business majors and a first-year MBA student. They meet every Wednesday to discuss the progress on their projects, which will take about a year to complete.

The SBL, says Kalra, is a fantastic opportunity for students to get firsthand knowledge about consulting. “It’s a great experience because you get a real feel for the problems a company is facing,” she observes. “The more students getting this kind of exposure, the better.”

Students take these projects seriously, Kalra adds. “At the end of the day, it’s a real-life project for the company and they’ve invested a lot of

money into it,” she says. “We do our best to develop a relationship with the company so that, if they have any projects in the future, they’ll come back to Iowa State.”

‘IT’S ALL ABOUT HELPING’

Tom DeCarlo, associate professor of marketing, served as the lab’s faculty advisor when it was located at Iowa State’s Research Park, where teams of business and engineering students worked on projects extending three to four semesters.

Students collected data, wrote reports, and presented findings to DeCarlo and company officials, earning a salary or academic credit for their work.

“The students were involved from the conception of the project all the way to the final report and presentation, while I provided advice and guidance,” DeCarlo explains. “They did the work; then the faculty would edit the reports when they were done.”

While the setup may have changed when the SBL moved to campus in 2005, the focus has remained: provide good ideas to companies seeking assistance. “Students learn a lot through these relationships,” DeCarlo says. “They learn how business works, how to conduct research, and how to interact with business leaders.

“Frankly,” he continues, “many students are intimidated by company vice presidents. But after working in the lab, they realize those vice presidents are just regular people. They learn that it’s all about helping each other.”

“It’s a great experience because you get a real feel for the problems a company is facing. The more students getting this kind of exposure, the better.”

—SONIA KALRA

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Iowa SBDCs:a resource for growing businesses When new and existing business owners need assistance, they turn to the Iowa Small Business Development Centers (SBDC).

With state headquarters in the Gerdin Business Building, the 12 regional centers cover all of Iowa’s 99 counties. They partner with Iowa’s universities, community colleges, chambers of commerce, financial institutions, economic development groups, and private consultants to help both entrepreneurs and existing business owners meet their goals.

Their services include professional, one-on-one counseling at no cost, as well as low-cost training seminars and workshops on important subjects such as growth strategies, financing options, market research, and business succession planning.

The SBDCs were founded in 1981 with Iowa State University, the host sponsor, receiving a grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).

Since then, the centers have counseled over 100,000 current or prospective business owners and conducted thousands of workshops.

Two recent independent studies have underscored their economic impact. Consider: • Long-term Iowa SBDC clients (those who received five or more hours of SBDC counseling) grew 97 percent faster than non-SBDC-counseled businesses.

• Medium-term SBDC clients (three to five hours of counseling) generated $3.36 in state and federal taxes for every programming dollar spent. Long-term SBDC clients—typically older, more established businesses—generated $4.65 in taxes per dollar spent.

• These businesses experienced an increase in sales of over $168 million.

• Nearly 2,500 jobs were created or retained in one year.

Visit www.iowasbdc.org to learn more about Iowa’s SBDCs. ■

Giving a Boost to Iowa Businesses/continued LAND-GRANT MISSION IN ACTION

Habeger also works closely with Iowa State’s Center for Industrial Research and Service (CIRAS), as well as with CIRAS’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership (MEP) program, a statewide network that provides technical and business assistance to small- and mid-sized manufacturers.

MEP was created to help Iowa manufacturers define and achieve their growth objectives, providing expertise in areas such as needs assessment, strategic planning, lean manufacturing practices, and quality management systems.

Habeger’s portfolio also includes Iowa’s Small Business Development Centers (SBDC), which have 22

provided Iowa entrepreneurs with expert services since 1981. The centers provide free one-on-one professional business counseling, along with learning opportunities such as workshops and courses.

The SBDC also connects clients to resources such as databases, financial assistance, and state and federal programs, as well as assistance with strategic planning, community building, and more.

Partnerships such as these, Habeger says, are a great example of the College of Business’s landgrant mission in action. “Our programs deal directly with what’s on the horizon for companies, which is a big part of that mission,” she says.

“It’s tying theory with practice.” ■

VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1

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BRIEFS

A RECENT GRAD’S PERSPECTIVE ON JOINING THE WORKING WORLD

A Cyclone Moves to Motown the benefits of which have proven immediately transferable to my new career.

I am also adjusting to a new home. Several noteworthy differences exist between life in Iowa and life in Detroit. I’m starting to grow accustomed to traffic in Detroit as well as the notoriously aggressive drivers. I still have not determined the origins of the “Michigan left,” a My new city, Detroit, is located on ubiquitous series of U-turns that elimithe very eastern edge of the state of nate left-turn lanes to streamline traffic.

Michigan, just across the river from There seems to be a menagerie of Windsor, Ontario, Canada. In a pecusports teams here (Lions, Tigers, Red liar yet representative convention, the Wings, and… Pistons?), as well as left hand is used regularly to illustrate plenty of auto enthusiasts who are whereabouts in the state of Michigan. ready and willing to converse about Somewhat mystifyingly (given my the latest and greatest innovations. strong affinity for all things cardinal Living in Michigan has also allowed and gold), I have “left the nest” and me to glimpse hockey mania and relocated to an area with a very slight witness the excitement around two Cyclone population. My transition major Detroit happenings, the North from college to professional life began American International Auto Show abruptly on August 8, 2005, and and Super Bowl XL. I’m looking forhas progressed somewhat awkwardly ward to spending time in northern at times. Notwithstanding these Michigan and by the lakes (in contrast ANDREA RHEINHART, LEFT, AND moments, I now have my own fax to the landlocked nature of Iowa, DEAN LABH HIRA AT THE GERDIN number, a commute, more pairs of BUSINESS BUILDING DEDICATION four of the five Great Lakes border dress pants than jeans, and a newly IN FEBRUARY 2004. TODAY, SHE Michigan). One aspect of Michigan acquired fluency in industry parlance LIVES IN DETROIT AND WORKS IN life is even reminiscent of life in Iowa: that includes terms such as “synergy,” THE RENAISSANCE CENTER, the tempestuous intrastate rivalry SHOWN HERE IN PREPARATION “best practice,” and “bandwidth.” between Michigan and Michigan State.

FOR SUPER BOWL XL. The four years I spent in the Although I am regularly mistaken for College of Business served as excellent an Iowa grad, this is quickly remedied preparation for my launch into professional life. when I clarify that this is as grievous as mistaking Coursework emphasizing teamwork and problem a Wolverine for a Spartan. solving provided a strong underpinning for leaderAlthough I’m finally starting to ‘settle in’ to my ship roles on campus, an international internship new career in Detroit, it’s safe to say that Iowa— experience, and a year spent providing research and especially Iowa State—will always be home. ■ and advisory services to aspiring entrepreneurs.

Faculty members and advisers provided not only Andrea Rheinhart (’05 Management and International top-quality instruction, but also support and Business) is a business analyst with Deloitte Consulting LLP in Detroit. opportunities to pursue interests and challenges,

Hold your left hand up, palm out. Now group your four fingers, spread your thumb, and point at your thumb’s bottom knuckle.

This is where I now live.

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COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

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PROSPECTUS

I now have my own fax number, a commute, more pairs of dress pants than jeans, and fluency in terms such as ‘synergy,’ ‘best practice,’ and ‘bandwidth.’

23

BRIEFS

FIRST ISU WEEK EVENT A SUCCESS

Accountability,Not Just Accounting cuts through thousands of pages of legislation and the millions of dollars necessary to comply with it.

Their comments were a part of the College of Business’ panel discussion titled “Life After Sarbanes-Oxley: Governing Iowa Businesses.” The event was held at Hy-Vee Hall in downtown Des her to provide a laundry list of procedures and Moines on December 13, 2005. Approximately practices put in place to ensure compliance with 70 central Iowa businesspeople were in attendance this complex piece of legislation. for the breakfast and discussion, which was the But when the College of Business convened College of Business’ contribution to ISU Week a panel of prominent business leaders from four in Des Moines, a week of events to help generate of central Iowa’s most successful excitement among alumni and companies to answer that very quesfriends of Iowa State University in tion, their answers were surprisingly central Iowa. consistent and concise: the best form The Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 of compliance comes from an ethical was passed in the wake of corporate corporate culture. accounting scandals at Enron, Tyco “Ethics and accountability International, and WorldCom. It flow from an internal culture,” covers issues such as establishing said Eric Crowell (’80 Industrial a public company oversight board, Administration), president and CEO independence of auditors, corporate of Iowa Health—Des Moines, “and responsibility and financial disclothat transcends what the law requires.” CARA HEIDEN, DIVISION PRESIDENT, sure. It was considered one of the WELLS FARGO HOME MORTGAGE AND “Every time I talk to our employmore significant changes to United PANEL MODERATOR. ees,” said Ric Jurgens (’71 Industrial States securities laws in decades.

Administration), president, CEO, and COO of But was it an overreaction? Did Sarbanes-Oxley Hy-Vee, Inc., “I talk about the fundamentals of our go too far, or was it the right remedy? Both, said company and how they contribute to our success.”

Hy-Vee’s Jurgens. “[Legislators] were put in a posi“Good corporate governance is the right thing tion where they had to do something.” Meredith’s to do, both before and after Sarbanes-Oxley,” said Radia reminded the audience that while Enron Suku Radia (’74 Accounting), vice president and was still fresh in the public consciousness, the chief financial officer of Meredith Corporation.

WorldCom scandal actually broke during debate “Culture is definitely critical to overall goverover Sarbanes-Oxley, which only served to undernance,” agreed Cara Heiden (’78 Accounting), score its importance. division president with Wells Fargo Home Each panelist offered a different perspective on Mortgage, and moderator of the panel. corporate governance. For example, Wells Fargo These four accomplished executives—and and Meredith Corporation are publicly-owned College of Business alumni—from four different companies that answer to shareholders and are backgrounds, at four different companies, in four very focused on reporting quarterly results. different industries, found one central theme that Sarbanes-Oxley impacts them directly.

Ask a senior executive how she manages the strict regulations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, and one might expect

“ Ethics and accountability flow from an internal culture.”

—ERIC CROWELL

24

VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1

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Iowa Health–Des Moines is a quasi-public company whose assets are owned by the community. Although his company is not as directly affected by Sarbanes-Oxley, Crowell believes that “transparency is critical” and says that Iowa Health is very close to compliance with the law.

Meanwhile, Hy-Vee is employee-owned, which places less emphasis on quarterly results. That means “all quarters are important,” said Jurgens, “not just this quarter.”

Despite their different vantage points, they were in general agreement that for a well-managed company, legislation like Sarbanes-Oxley should not be considered a threat, but rather an extension of a system of standards and principles that is already in place. And good people reinforcing that culture make all the difference.

“We tend to think of companies as entities,” said Jurgens. “They’re not. Companies are people.

Laws and regulations do not stop bad people from doing bad things.” It is critical, he said, that a

company’s top officers have values and operate ethically. Jurgens said he and his colleagues spend hours reading reports, so everyone knows that their peers are watching them. Additionally, all contributions over a certain amount have to be approved by Hy-Vee’s board.

Crowell said that changing organizational behavior is important. “It’s about creating a nonpunitive environment where people feel okay to report issues.” That includes whistleblower protections, he added.

The panelists noted that their businesses are not necessarily looked upon more favorably because they comply with Sarbanes-Oxley. Their credit ratings are not automatically higher, they said, but compliance helps ensure lenders and business partners that management is solid and that there will be no surprises.

As Heiden commented in opening the panel, Sarbanes-Oxley really boils down to three words: “Governance. Transparency. Accountability.” ■

“ We tend to think of companies as entities They’re not.

Companies are people.”

—RIC JURGENS

SUKU RADIA (RIGHT) MAKES A POINT, WHILE FELLOW PANELISTS RIC JURGENS (CENTER) AND ERIC CROWELL LISTEN IN..

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25

In the photo on page seven of your

book or the history.

MEMORIES OF “WILD BILL”

ALUM PUBLISHES HISTORICAL RESEARCH

fall 2005 Prospectus, the man in the

I wanted to share a project that has

picture, bottom row, fourth from the

little to do with the business world but

left, is William H. “Wild Bill” Schrampfer,

has consumed thousands of hours of

the professor of business law and

my retirement.

investments.

I believe he was the first chair-

in ’49, married Marjorie Monteith (’49

Economics Department. After the war, I

in credit work in Baltimore was recalled

came back to school in the fall of 1946.

to active duty for the Korean War. At

I was in the first class to receive a

that point, I decided to make a career

degree in industrial economics in 1947.

of the Army, and we served and lived all

Professor Schrampfer was much

over the Western world, including pick-

California. I first held a financial analyst

picture, I don’t remember Ardyce-Jean

position, then shifted to the City of

Humy, but I do remember a girl in an engi-

Santa Barbara as its budget officer. The

neering class I was taking in 1942, who

completion of my civil service career

was the smartest one and the only girl.

included appointment as a department head for their waterfront, a fine use of my education in construction manage-

did the conventional obligatory tour of the country in my RV. In 2003, we capitalized on the ridiculous run-up in real estate prices and moved into a very nice retirement community still in

Perhaps you found that when the archives provided the photo—my posi-

University of California, Santa

tion is in the front row, third from left—it

Barbara’s new 6,000-acre reserve

brought back many memories of “Wild

in the foothills of our coastal range.

Bill Schrampfer,” our adviser and oth-

The University of California has about

ers. I do remember some of the guys.

40 of these nature preserves through-

ADMINISTRATION, WATERLOO, IOWA

26

SANTA BARBARA, CALIFORNIA NFSTD@COX.NET

I continue to work for the Iowa Medical Society, a professional association for physicians in Iowa, which is where I worked while completing my MBA. I was in Iowa State’s first Saturday MBA program, which began in 1992. I firmly believe that having my

moted to senior vice president of ED WHITVER (’95 MBA), LEFT, WITH HIS SON JACK (’03 MBA).

administration.

In this position I

oversee our finance, computer, membership, education and specialty society services areas. I also maintain our corporate bylaws, play a key role in meeting, accompany our state’s delegation to the two American Medical Association meetings, and have been appointed to several national committees within my professional association.

I have also obtained two professional MBA—one for certified medical pracassociation executive.

out the state, used for teaching and

CLASS NOTES 1960s

in emerging markets around the world,

Gordon Brown (’62 Industrial

and helps foreign governments and

while completing his eligibility for the ISU football team. So this gives our family a legacy to keep building on.

research missions. No one knew the

ED WHITVER, CAE, CMPE, ’95 MBA, SENIOR VICE

detailed history of this ranch, so I spent

PRESIDENT OF ADMINISTRATION, IOWA MEDICAL SOCIETY ■

VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1

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W W W. B U S . I A S TAT E . E D U

in Johnston, Iowa. He is responsible for delivering business process improvement and supporting enterprise IT projects by conducting initial discovery and maintaining project communication and issue resolution until delivery.

Administration) continues to chair the

companies interested in investing in U.S. market opportunities. He lives

and Informatics in the School of

in Austin with his wife Donata (’93

Nicole Cortazzo (’00 Transportation &

Medicine at the University of Missouri-

Speech Communication) and three

Logistics) started her own safety and

Columbia, which includes accredited

children.

consulting company, Transportation

2000s

Regulatory Consultants, Inc., in 2003.

and nationally ranked graduate programs in Health Services Management

Cherish Anderson (’94 Marketing)

She is also starting a new company,

and Health Informatics. He recently

started a small business called

Logistic Freight Solutions, Inc., this year.

She lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.

completed a book on Strategic

Nanny2Shoes LLC, a domestic services

Management of Information Systems

placement agency headquartered in

in Healthcare.

Des Moines, Iowa, and serving central

Dustin Camp (’03 Marketing) is the

and eastern Iowa. Her business spe-

operations project specialist with The

cializes in recruiting professional child

Members Group, a subsidiary of Iowa

care providers for the home and work-

League Corporate Central Credit Union

Brian Barringer (’88 Transportation

ing with families and nannies around

and the credit unions of Iowa, located in

and Logistics) and his wife Melissa

the country.

West Des Moines, Iowa. He is responsi-

1980s

ble for finding inefficiencies and imple-

had their third child, Natalie Leann, on August 7, 2005. They live in Elk River,

Steve Powell (’95 Marketing) works

menting process changes to streamline

Minnesota.

as a director of business development

workflow in the operations area.

and South Area manager of Machine

GET PUBLISHED!

Bryan Crock (’88 Transportation and

Room-Less Products at KONE Inc., the

Nick Embree (’04 Marketing and

Logistics) works for C.H. Robinson

world’s fourth largest elevator and

Management Information Systems)

Worldwide as a branch manager in

escalator company. He is responsible

works for the Iowa Department of

Denver, Colorado. He has been active

for providing strategic planning and

Human Services as an information

in the Denver Alumni Club over the past

leadership to the organization for the

technology specialist. He develops and

iastate.edu, and get

seven years, including roles as presi-

full development and launch of new

maintains web sites used statewide

your name in print.

dent, treasurer, and leader for various

technology products and implementa-

for tracking and maintaining children

E-mail today!

club events. He and his wife Saralyn

tion of initiatives to achieve growth and

who are in the group care system.

(’90 Family Resource Management

profitability targets.

Rock, Colorado, with their two sons,

Tim Kinsinger (’99 Marketing and

launched on online Web site called Rev

Ethan and Brennan.

Transportation & Logistics) was

Wrestling (www.revwrestling.com) on

promoted to Site Resource with

October 1, 2005. Rev Wrestling provides

FritoLay in August 2005. He is the

news updates, results, information,

Shipping Business unit leader for

and analysis surrounding high school,

Joe Garvey (’91 Finance) is the

FritoLay’s Beloit, Wisconsin site. He

collegiate, international, and Real Pro

founder and president of US Market

lives in Rockford, Illinois, with his wife

wrestling. He lives in Eden Prairie,

Development Group in Austin, Texas.

Elizabeth (’99 Community & Regional

Minnesota.

His company develops business expan-

Planning). They are expecting their

sion opportunities for U.S. companies

second child in July.

1990s

I O WA S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

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COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

What have you been up to? Let us know at business@

Andrew Hipps (’04 Marketing)

& Consumer Sciences) live in Castle

I am proud to say that my son, Jack Whitver, also obtained his MBA degree

Sigma Black Belt for John Deere Credit

department of Health Management

MBA was a key

tice executive, and one as a certified

on the Sedgwick Reserve, the

CHARLES DALTON, JR., ’48 INDUSTRIAL

PAUL NEFSTEAD, ’49 INDUSTRIAL ADMINISTRATION,

certifications since completing my

Santa Barbara.

My volunteer work was centered

Great issue cover to cover!

readers if they are interested in the

our annual policy-setting membership

ment and financial development.

I retired from the city in 1988, and

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY/UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

I would welcome e-mails from your

reason I was pro-

Chrysler low and selling it high. In the

MADISON, WISCONSIN

LaLagunaHistory.html.

I retired from the Army Corps of Engineers in 1967 and moved to

MILES H. BARKER, ’47 INDUSTRIAL ADMINISTRATION,

/families/robert1613/B/4/7/4/2/3/Rancho

ing up an MBA from Lehigh University.

how he made a lot of money in buying

Life has changed for the better.

is available at www.sedgwick.org/na

A brief background: I graduated Home Economics), and after a brief stint

enjoyed hearing in his investment class

an early abbreviated version of which

F A M I LY L E G A C Y

man of the newly formed Industrial

beloved by all of us and we always

the result is a short book I published,

Todd McGuire (’99 MBA) works as a Six

ALUMNI NEWS

ALUMNI NEWS

CLASS LETTERS

a lot of time and effort on research, and

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PROSPECTUS

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27

Petermeier to Chair Dean’s Advisory Council

College to Host Alumni Reunions VEISHEA Weekend—Saturday, April 22, 2006 The College of Business invites alumni to return to campus for its annual reunion, to be held on Saturday, April 22 in conjunction with the return of Iowa State’s VEISHEA celebration.

This year’s reunion will again welcome back anniversary classes with graduates of years ending in a “6” or a “1.” But there will also be a special reunion in honor of William “Wild Bill” Schrampfer and Harry Shadle, professors emeritus that

impacted the lives of many students and helped mold the College of Business into what it is today.

All reunion attendees will gather in the morning to watch the VEISHEA Parade from a special viewing area reserved for the College of Business. Lunch will be served during the parade, and tours of the Gerdin Business Building and meetings with faculty and staff will follow. A special symposium will also be held in honor of

Schrampfer and Shadle, with presentations and the opportunity to share memories.

To learn more information or register for the reunion, visit www.bus.iastate.edu/alumni /reunions, e-mail business@iastate.edu, or call (515) 294-3656.

Come back to the College of Business to celebrate, reconnect with former classmates, and see the new Gerdin Business Building. We look forward to welcoming you back.

&

NEW COUNCIL MEMBERS

Schrampfer Shadle R

e

u

n

Petermeier began his career with Jacobson Companies as a controller in 1983. At the time, Jacobson’s annual revenues were about $1.5 million and the company employed 25 people. Today, annual revenues exceed $230 million and Jacobson employs more than 3,000 employees in 40 Council, announced Dean Labh Hira at the locations throughout the United States. council’s October 2005 meeting. Petermeier In addition to his duties with Jacobson, is the president and chief executive officer of Petermeier serves on numerous professional Jacobson Companies, a national warehousand civic boards and committees. His ties ing and logistics company headquartered in CRAIG PETERMEIER to Iowa State run deep as well. In addition Des Moines, Iowa. to the Dean’s Advisory Council, he is also a memPetermeier replaces John Stafford, vice presiber of the university’s Order of the Knoll and the dent of shared financial services for General Mills, ISU Coaches Circle. He and his wife Virginia have Inc., who had served as council chair since 2000. two children: daughter Lindsay, a junior at Iowa Stafford will remain an active member of the State, and son Jonathon, sophomore at Baxter Dean’s Advisory Council.

Community High School. ■

Craig Petermeier (’78 Industrial Administration) will be serving as the new chair of the College of Business Dean’s Advisory

i

o

In addition to announcing Petermeier’s chairmanship,

Jane Sturgeon (’85 Accounting), chief finan-

Dean Labh Hira also welcomed two new members to the

cial officer for Barr-Nunn Transportation,

Dean’s Advisory Council at the October 2005 meeting.

Inc., in Granger, Iowa. Barr-Nunn is a privately owned, nationwide truckload carrier

n

Tim O’Donovan (’68 Industrial Administration),

with a fleet of nearly 650 tractors and 1,650

chief executive officer and chairman of the

trailers.

board for Wolverine World Wide, Inc. in Rockford, Michigan. His firm is one of the

Every great institution is the lengthened shadow of a single man. His character determines the character of the organization.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

world’s leading marketers of branded casual,

“I’m very pleased to welcome Tim and Jane to our Dean’s

active lifestyle, work, outdoor sport and

Advisory Council,” said Hira. “The council offers invaluable

uniform footwear and slippers. With over $1 billion in 2005

feedback to our college, and I look forward to their insights.”

revenues, the company’s recognized brands include: Bates,® Hush Puppies, HYTEST, Merrell, Sebago and Wolverine.

IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY/UNIVERSITY ARCHIVES

®

®

®

®

The next Dean’s Advisory Council meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 21. ■

ALUMNI WANTED FOR EDITORIAL BOARD The College of Business needs alumni contributors for a new

participate. We hope for the board to be composed of a rep-

Prospectus editorial board.

resentative cross-section of our alumni base. And while edito-

The board will meet twice annually, shortly after the publi-

Harry Shadle William “Wild Bill” Schrampfer Emeritus Professor, Industrial Administration

28

®

Emeritus Professor of Finance Former Lambda Chi Alpha Faculty Advisor VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1

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rial board members will probably need to be within reasonable

cation of each magazine. Discussion will center on feedback

driving distance of Ames, we will get you involved if you live

from the recently published issue and how to improve it.

farther away. We hope to meet for the first time in late April.

Feedback will be sought for content, design, and story ideas.

Alumni of all majors and graduation years are welcome to

I O WA S TAT E U N I V E R S I T Y

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PROSPECTUS

If you are interested in joining the Prospectus editorial board, send an e-mail to business@iastate.edu or call 515 294-3656. ■

29

FA C U LT Y A N D S TA F F N E W S

Three Faculty Join 25-Year Club Three members of the College of Business faculty were inducted earlier this year into the Iowa State 25-Year Club. They were recognized at the 72nd Annual Iowa State 25-Year Club Banquet in February.

TOM CHACKO CHAIR, DEPARTMENTS

MIKE CRUM

MANAGEMENT PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT

HOWARD VAN AUKEN

ASSOCIATE DEAN,

OF MARKETING AND

HUNGER TO RETIRE

PROFESSOR OF

GRADUATE PROGRAMS

BOB & KAY SMITH FELLOW

SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT

IN ENTREPRENEURSHIP

JOHN & RUTH DEVRIES CHAIR IN BUSINESS

F A C U LT Y H O N O R S

to schedule management classes and

this happened annually, and his fellow

professor of manage-

recruit faculty to teach them. Hunger

coordinators had become so accus-

ment, is retiring in

and other coordinators were informed

tomed to it that they never even bothered

June. He came to

in May 1983 that the university had

to tell their temps. “All the other coordi-

Iowa State in 1982,

decided to discontinue funding the

nators just kept chugging along,” Hunger

shortly after the

temporary instructors who taught many

says, “until the money was eventually

Department of Industrial Administration

of their classes. They were instructed

reinstated. What an initiation for me!”

became the School of Business, and

to inform their temporary instructors

two years before it became the College

that they were not guaranteed employ-

the college has made in his 24 years.

of Business. Hunger plans to spend

ment in the fall. Dutifully, Hunger

“When I first arrived at ISU, I was the

more time fishing, golfing, and search-

shared the bad news with his temps

only tenure track faculty member in

ing for “a bowling league that will

and began scheduling accordingly.

policy/strategy,” Hunger says. “Since

MANAGEMENT

PROFESSOR OF LOGISTICS AND

J. David Hunger,

Dermot Hayes, profes-

Roger Stover, profes-

Professors of logistics

accept a marginal bowler” at his house

sor of finance and

sor of finance and

and supply chain man-

Pioneer Hi-Bred

Iowa Bankers Fellow,

agement Mike Crum,

International Chair

has been recognized

associate dean of grad-

of Agribusiness, was

in the Winter 2005

uate programs and John

Hunger recalled a memorable

recognized at the

issue of the Journal

and Ruth DeVries Chair

Hunger is proud of the progress

Three weeks before fall classes

then, we have added many full-time

near St. Cloud, Minnesota. He also

began, university funding was reinstated,

faculty in every area. We became a

plans to spend time on his motorboat

and Hunger and his fellow coordinators

college, got accredited, added an MBA

and editing his two textbooks.

were instructed to rehire their temps.

program, and moved into a wonderful

Hunger was stunned—most of his

new building. What a change from

moment from his early days. He was

temps had already made other plans—

when the university couldn’t make up

University Convocation and Awards

of Finance Literature as one of the

in Business, and Dick Poist, chair of

serving as coordinator for the manage-

so he asked a colleague for advice on

its mind about providing funding to hire

Ceremony in the fall. He received

“200 Most Prolific Authors” in 16 core

the Department of Logistics, Operations,

ment area, and it was his responsibility

what to do. Only then did he learn that

business temporary instructors!”

a James Huntington Ellis Award

finance journals. Stover was 194th out

and Management Information Systems

for Excellence in Undergraduate

of a total of 17,406 authors’ records

and Jacobson Companies Fellow in

Introductory Teaching.

examined from 1953-2002.

Transportation and Logistics, have been

LOMIS PROGRAMS RECEIVE ACCLAIM

appointed as co-editors of the Inter-

In the September 2005

national Journal of Physical Distribution

issue of Supply Chain

& Logistics Management (IJPDLM). ■ S TA F F A N N O U N C E M E N T S

■

VIRTUAL CAREER FAIR HELD A recent article in

The Iowa State MBA program partici-

Transportation Journal

pated in the Southwest MBA Alliance’s

Management Review,

analyzed logistics research

first-ever Virtual Career Fair for full-

academic and practi-

published in the four leading

time MBA students. Twelve top MBA

tioner respondents

academic journals in the

programs in the central and south-

field. Seven current and former

central United States make up the

Karen Burdick joined

Leslie Pease joined

Kevin J. Hardy has

were asked to iden-

the administrative

the administrative staff

been promoted to

tify and rank the

College of Business faculty

alliance, which aims to offer outstand-

staff as an assistant

as a system support

assistant director

top 20 logistics

members were listed among

ing and cost-effective MBA-only

of Business Career

and supply chain

the 50 most productive researchers

recruiting events each year. The career

Services. Hardy had

programs in North America

from more than 2,000 authors who

fair took place over two weeks in

served as experiential

to Dean Labh Hira.

specialist in December 2005. She comes to the

Burdick joined the College of Business in December 2005. She has been at Iowa State since June of 2003, first as

from a list of approximately 100 colleges

have published in these four journals

January and February and featured

learning coordinator since joining

and universities with programs. The

since their inception. Additionally,

over 150 employers. Over 600 students

the College of Business in the spring

College of Business’ program was

Iowa State was recognized with

registered, and the Web site generated

Michigan State University and Ohio

over 1.1 million page hits.

College of Business from the College of Human Sciences, where she had served as that college’s

a secretary in the Multicultural Student

IT specialist since July 2002. Pease

of 2004. He is a 1996 Iowa State

ranked 7th by academic respondents

Affairs department and then as a

first came to Iowa State as a graduate

alumnus with a degree in agricultural

and 14th by practitioner respondents,

State University as one of three

secretary in the College of Agriculture.

student in 1995. She will manage the

education.

with an overall weighted ranking of

university “thought centers” for

College of Business’ lab and classroom

12th. It was also ranked 1st among

logistics research.

technologies and provide support to

programs without a doctoral program.

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AEGON Creates Student Opportunities

While every story is different, there is another recurrent theme to our graduates staying in Iowa.

Think back to your first career decision: how many of you remember trying to balance the pros and cons of a job versus its geography? Would you rather be a cost accountant in Pella or a From Sioux City to the Quad Cities, from Council financial analyst in New York? Would you rather Bluffs to Dubuque, and everywhere in be an account manager in West Des between, attractive jobs are being Moines or a marketing analyst created that give our students the in Chicago? opportunity to remain in Iowa Apparently many of our versus taking their first job in graduates are still motivated by another state. With over 75 opportunity and not geograpercent of our student body phy—although I understand coming from the state of Iowa, that we still have a few graduthese economic opportunities ates that pursue winter-related are the first line of defense activities in Colorado!—and against the so-called “brain drain” that is good news for Iowa. that so concerns our legislators, busiThe takeaway from all of nesses, and residents. this good news is that economic BRIAN CAMPBELL, SENIOR DIRECTOR OF Many of my visits with Iowa development can be as simple as DEVELOPMENT FOR THE COLLEGE OF BUSINESS. alumni and corporations over the supporting Iowa State University last year have been filled with stories about the role and the College of Business. Private dollars that of the College of Business in the Iowa economy. are given so generously are leveraged many times Many of these folks have shared with me that the over to the benefit of Iowa State and the State success of our college is critical to the success of of Iowa. If you are a financial supporter of the Iowa. They tell me that having the ability to access College of Business, you can take pride in the fact a significant number of well-trained business stuthat you are playing a role in this Iowa renaissance dents is the difference maker in this economy— and in the lives of our students. one great example of which was the story in last If you have been thinking about supporting fall’s Prospectus that discussed the effect of the the College of Business at Iowa State University, Sarbanes-Oxley Act on the accounting industry. you can now see clearly the impact of this beloved They also share with me the excitement that institution on this wonderful state! ■ Iowa natives have in knowing that they can have a Brian E. Campbell is the senior director of development successful career and stay close to their roots and for the College of Business. He can be reached toll-free at their families. These students are not just willing 866 419-6768 or by e-mail at bec@iastate.edu. to stay in Iowa—they want to be in Iowa!

AEGON USA’s Transamerica Life Insurance Company of Cedar Rapids, Iowa (AEGON), has made a five-year pledge totaling

A lot has been written recently about the renaissance in Iowa’s economy, particularly in the area of financial services.

Iowans are excited to know that they can have a successful career and stay close to their roots and their families.

DEVELOPMENT

DEVELOPMENT

Iowa’s Economic Engine

and spend time on its trading floor. A total of 53 students are already benefiting from AEGON’s generosity and taking the first of the two courses this semester. The second course will be offered in the fall.

“The students in these classes will have personal $250,000 to create two College of Business interaction with AEGON, giving them courses in fixed income that create a unique incredible real-life experiences and providing experience for business students and for them with wonderful opportunities as they AEGON employees. begin the job search process,” says Yunus.

Farah Yunus, assistant professor of finance, “This is really a one-of-a-kind, custom-fit will teach the 400-level courses. The first interaction.”

FARAH YUNUS course teaches students the skills they College of Business alumnus Peter need to manage a portfolio, while the Gilman (’86 Finance), AEGON’s pressecond course challenges them to ident of Extraordinary Markets, was apply what they’ve learned by being a key force behind the creation of part of the Investment Department and actually these courses. “We’ve learned that the best way making recommendations in the management of a to demonstrate the dynamics and challenges of portfolio of Transamerica Life Insurance Company our business, and to develop a solid understandassets worth $50 million or more. ing of the students’ abilities is through working AEGON employees will assist Yunus in teachclosely together.” ing these courses, giving students a chance to AEGON’s support was given to benefit the interact directly with industry professionals.

College of Business through the Iowa State Additionally, students will travel to visit AEGON University Foundation. ■ CHERYL SCHMITZ

’84 MANAGEMENT

OVERLAND PARK, KANSAS

MANAGER, STRATEGIC PLANNING

SPRINT CORPORATION

Why I Support the College of Business I

view my giving to Iowa State as payback for everything that I received. From the challenges in the classroom to the multitude of growth opportunities that I experi-

enced as a student, they all prepared me well personally and professionally. I also like the fact that when I have had the chance to return to campus, the students, faculty, and staff that I have met continue to reflect solid midwestern values. Steve and I are excited to see good things happening at Iowa State and the College of Business. ■ STEVE AND CHERYL SCHMITZ

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“ My parents have always displayed a strong Christian faith and exceptional work ethic, and I feel blessed to have had such great role models.”

—MICHAEL BOOTSMA

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It is always heartwarming to hear stories from donors of those special people who have touched their lives and help guide them to achieve great things. A desire to honor those special people often serves as the catalyst to give.

And when those donors are young alumni, who are often trying to establish themselves financially, the gift is that much more impressive.

Michael Bootsma, a 2002 accounting and finance graduate who went on to earn a law degree and master’s in accounting from the University of Iowa, thought so much of those who influenced him—his parents and College of Business faculty and staff—that he decided to pay them tribute by creating a scholarship.

The Corwin and Carolyn Bootsma Accounting and Finance Scholarship will be given annually to an accounting or finance student who is successful

DONORS

DEVELOPMENT

Young Alum Pays Tribute with Scholarship Gift

Corporate Gifts The College of Business would like to thank its treasured corporate partners for their ongoing support in the year 2005.

in the classroom and has educational expenses that may have been unmet through other sources.

“My parents have always displayed a strong Christian faith and exceptional work ethic, and I feel blessed to have had such great role models.” said Bootsma, now of North Liberty, Iowa. “There were also numerous faculty and staff members of the College of Business whose guidance and assistance I greatly appreciated. I thought creating a scholarship would be a great way to let current faculty and staff know that what they do has a profound impact on students.”

Special preference will also be given to applicants who, like Bootsma himself, work while attending Iowa State, display leadership potential, and are active in campus or community organizations.

Bootsma’s gift was made through his own pledge, as well as a matching gift from his employer, AEGON USA. It was given to benefit the College of Business through the Iowa State University Foundation. ■

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Their contributions demonstrate a commitment to ensuring that our students and faculty have the resources to grow in an increasingly competitive marketplace.

Accenture Foundation Aegon Transamerica Foundation Aid Finance Services, Inc. Alcoa Foundation Alliant Energy Foundation Altria Group, Inc. American Express Foundation American International Group, Inc. AmerUs Group Charitable Foundation Anadarko Petroleum Archer Daniels Midland Foundation Auto-Owners Insurance Axtell-Steffes Foundation Bandag, Inc. Bank of America Banwart Consulting, Inc. Barr-Nunn Transportation, Inc. BellSouth Corporation Bergstrom Foundation Bergstrom, Stephen Family Foundation BlueLinx Corporation Boeing BP Foundation Business Council Cardinal Health Cargill - Minneapolis Cargill, Inc. Caterpillar Foundation Cerner Corporation Chemical & Biological Defense Directorate Chubb & Son, Inc. CIGNA Foundation Cingular CNA Foundation DB Sales Company Del Monte Corporation Deloitte Foundation Dorsey & Whitney Foundation Droste Consulting, Inc. Eaton Charitable Fund Ecolab Foundation Emerson Charitable Trust Ericson, Merle Lloyd & Rebecca Sue Revocable Trust

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Ernst & Young, LLP Essman Associates, Inc. ExxonMobil Foundation First Data Corporation First Mortgage, Inc. First National Bank-Ames Ford Motor Company Fund Froistad & Associates, Inc. General Electric Fund General Mills Foundation GlaxoSmithKline GMG Foundation Goldman, Sachs, Group Ltd. H & R Block Foundation Hallmark Corporate Foundation Hershey Foods Corporation Fund Home Depot Hormel Foods Corporation Charitable Trust Howes, Edward & Mary Foundation IBM Corp-CT ICPM Board of Regents ING Foundation Ingersoll-Rand Intel Corp Foundation Iowa Valley Community College District Jacobson Transportation Jacobson Warehouse Companies, Inc. Kaltenheuser Farms Ltd. Kauffman, Ewing M. Foundation Kellogg KPMG Foundation Lehman Brothers Lilly Endowment, Inc. Maurices, Inc. Maytag Corporation Foundation Meredith Corp Foundation MetLife Foundation Microsoft Corporation Motorola Foundation Nationwide Foundation O’Donovan Family Fund Office Systems Professionals of Central Iowa Online Automation, Inc.

Pappajohn, John & Mary Scholarship Foundation Pella Corporation Pella Rolscreen Foundation Pepsico Foundation, Inc. Pfizer Foundation Matching Gifts Program Pioneer Hi-Bred Intl-Des Moines Pohlad, Carl & Eloise Family Foundation Priceless Overhead Garage Doors Principal Financial Group Foundation, Inc. Principal Life Insurance Procter & Gamble RBC Dain Rauscher Foundation Remington Family Trust Roche USA Rockwell Collins Sandage Charitable Trust Sandholm Real Estate & Insurance SC Johnson Fund, Inc. Schaller, George Trust Schlehuber, Larry R. & Karen L. Living Trust Science Applications International Corporation Sevde Relocation Smith Family Foundation Trust Sprint Foundation Stafford Family Fund Stark Foundation Trust State Farm Companies Foundation Sun Life of Canada Target Corporation Team Alliance Plastics Tucker, Thomas & Phyllis Living Trust U.S. Bancorp Foundation UFE, Inc. Union Pacific Corporation Union Pacific Foundation UPS Foundation, Inc. Verizon Voorhees-Peck Trust Wachovia Walt Disney Company Foundation Washington Mutual Weis Financial, Inc. Wells Fargo Foundation Wells Fargo Housing Foundation Westphal, Leslie L. Trust Whirlpool Foundation Wortman, Cora Revocable Trust Wunder Stock Farm Wunder, William & Beth Revocable Trust Xcel Energy XL Global Services, Inc. ■

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DR. CHARLES HANDY

COLLEGE OF BUSINESS

Administration Labh S. Hira Dean

From the Desk of Founding Dean Charles Handy Economic development and the use of eminent domain (ED) as it relates to the former has become the controversy du jour.

The question remains whether seizing property serves a public good or merely enhances the coffers of a few private individuals.

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ED is defined as “the power of a nation or a sovereign state to take, or to authorize the taking of private property for a public use without the owner’s consent, conditioned on the payment of just compensation.”

Taking property is recognized as a sovereign state’s fundamental right; however, our forefathers remembered the British violation of civil rights before and during the American Revolution. Consequently, the U.S Constitution’s Fifth Amendment calls for “just compensation” when taking such action.

Under the heading of ED, communities in several states have taken private property to achieve an economic goal. The question remains, however, whether seizing the property served a public good or merely enhanced the coffers of a few private individuals. What is likely to be a landmark case, Kelo v. New London, has been heard by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In 1998, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, Inc., announced the construction of a large research facility in New London, an economically distressed community. New London, seeing an opportunity to create jobs and increase its tax base, proposed to acquire land and existing structures adjacent to the Pfizer facility. Plans included leasing portions of the acquired land to private entities for development.

The city purchased property from willing sellers while using ED to acquire property from those unwilling to sell. In response, the petitioners brought action in New London’s Superior Court

claiming, among other things, using ED violated the “public use” restriction of the Fifth Amendment.

The Superior Court granted relief for a portion of the area under question; however, an appeal to Connecticut’s Supreme Court held New London’s original proposal was valid. The Court ruled that taking property as part of an economic improvement project can be in the “public interest.” The property owners, having failed at the state level, appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. There the case was argued on February 22, 2005.

Writing for the plaintiff, Justice O’Connor called current property condition the important issue. If blighted and its taking prevents a “harmful property use,” its elimination would be a public good. However, the properties in question are well maintained and not a source of public harm. Consequently, ED taking should not be allowed.

On the other hand, Justice Stevens looked at the future as opposed to current use. He cited cases where “the public purpose we upheld depended on a private party’s future use of the concededly non-harmful property that was taken.”

On June 23, 2005, by a vote of 5-4, the case was decided in the defendant’s favor.

Recently Michigan’s legislature become the first in the nation to adopt a proposed constitutional amendment that would prohibit the government from taking private property and giving it to private interests for economic development or to increase tax revenues. Lawmakers in four states—Alabama, Delaware, Texas, and Ohio—have passed legislation limiting ED takings. Currently, 38 more states are considering ED reform.

It appears evident that the parameters of ED, as it relates to the seizure of private property, have yet to be defined; and that the rights of private property owners versus the economic betterment of a community are hanging in the balance. ■ VOLUME 22 NUMBER 1

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Michael R. Crum Associate Dean, Graduate Programs Kay M. Palan Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs Richard B. Carter Chair, Department of Accounting Chair, Department of Finance Thomas I. Chacko Chair, Department of Management Chair, Department of Marketing

Richard F. Poist Chair, Department of Logistics, Operations, and Management Information Systems Ronald J. Ackerman Director, Graduate Admissions Brian E. Campbell Senior Director of Development Steven T. Carter Director, Pappajohn Center for Entrepreneurship Ann Coppernoll Farni Director, Undergraduate Programs

Robin R. Habeger Director, Business and Partnership Development Mark S. Peterson Director, Graduate Career Services Daniel J. Ryan Director, Marketing and Alumni Relations Jon R. Ryan Director, Small Business Development Centers Kathryn K. Wieland Director, Business Career Services

Dean’s Advisory Council Craig A. Petermeier ’78, Chair President, CEO Jacobson Companies

David C. Garfield ‘50 President, Retired Ingersoll-Rand Co.

Susan B. Parks ‘79 CEO WalkStyles, Inc.

Ronald D. Banse ‘75 Assistant General Auditor Union Pacific Corporation

Russell Gerdin Chairman and CEO Heartland Express, Inc.

Kevin K. Prien ‘84 Partner McGladrey & Pullen, LLP

Raymond M. Beebe ‘64 Vice President, General Counsel & Secretary Winnebago Industries, Inc.

William R. Hahn ‘73 Senior Vice President, Corporate Relations, Retired Agilent Technologies, Inc.

David W. Raisbeck ‘71 Vice Chairman Cargill, Inc.

Kelley A. Bergstrom ‘65 President Bergstrom Investment Management, LLC

Isaiah Harris, Jr. ‘74 President, Advertising & Publishing Group BellSouth Corporation

Frank Ross ‘84 VP & CFO Pioneer Hi-Bred International, Inc.

Steve W. Bergstrom ‘79 Consultant Montgomery, TX

Cara K. Heiden ‘78 Div Pres, National Consumer & Institutional Lending Wells Fargo Home Mortgage

George H. Schaller ‘62 President Citizens First National Bank

G. Steven Dapper ‘69 President, Chief Executive hawkeye | GROUP

Brad J. Holiday ‘76 Executive Vice President and CFO Callaway Golf Company

Steven T. Schuler ‘73 Chief Financial Officer Iowa Wireless Services, LLC

John D. DeVries ‘59 CEO Colorfx

Daniel J. Houston ‘84 Senior Vice President Principal Financial Group

Ned L. Skinner ‘74 President Skinner Agri-Products, Inc.

Jerald K. Dittmer ‘80 Vice President & Chief Financial Officer HNI Corporation

Richard N. Jurgens ‘71 CEO, President, COO Hy-Vee, Inc.

Walter W. Smith ‘69 CEO ITWC, Inc.

David J. Drury ‘66 Chairman and CEO, Retired The Principal Financial Group

Daniel L. Krieger ‘59 President Ames National Corporation

John H. Stafford ‘76 Vice Pres, Financial Shared Services General Mills, Inc.

David K. Ecklund ‘72 VP-Client Services Div, Retired Caterpillar Logistics Services, Inc.

Cheryl G. Krongard ‘77 Partner, Retired Apollo Management LP

Gary J. Streit ‘72 President Shuttleworth & Ingersoll, P.L.C.

Denise I. Essman ‘73 President, CEO Essman/Companies, Inc.

Robert E. McLaughlin ‘60 Partner Steptoe & Johnson, LLP

Jane Sturgeon ‘85 Chief Financial Officer Barr-Nunn Transportation, Inc.

Beth E. Ford ‘86 SVP-Global Operations & Info Tech Scholastic, Inc.

Timothy J. O’Donovan ‘68 Chairman of the Board & CEO Wolverine World Wide, Inc.

Jill A. Wagner ‘76 Vice President of Marketing Cablevision

James F. Frein ‘67 President - Retired Hutchinson, Shockey, Erley & Co

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