Survey shows 2006 was a very good year for small businesses served by MSBDC

Elegant lunches, London tours, a Manning connection, Who knew studying insurance could be so much fun?

UM business majors rule statewide scholastic award with 3 winners
in a row

The spoken word is supreme in competition for MBA students

Survey shows 2006 was a very good year
for small businesses served by MSBDC

Sometimes in business you just have to accept the cold, hard facts. For the Mississippi Small Business Development Centers, the cold, hard facts are looking pretty good.

MSBDC recently conducted an extensive economic-impact survey of its clients and other small business owners in the state, gathering a wealth of information. According to data collected for 2006, MSBDC clients created nearly twice as many jobs as nonclients and, among business owners who reported an increase in sales, MSBDC clients experienced nearly three times the growth of nonclients.

“We track economic impact and what we do internally every year, but we wanted an objective outside opinion,” said Associate State Director Mike Vanderlip. “Advice alone doesn’t make a difference, but applying good management principles, understanding what the current best practices are for small business and having a complete grasp of the regulatory requirements make a difference.”

The study looked at the financial information of small businesses around the state that worked with the center and those that did not, then compared the information to determine each group’s economic impact, Vanderlip said.

Results showed that MSBDC clients, in comparison with nonclients, did the following: created more jobs for Mississippi residents in 2006, were more likely to secure a small business administration loan and showed steady rates of sales growth.

Stephanie Noble, UM associate professor of marketing, oversaw the study, which involved two undergraduate business school students who conducted personal telephone surveys with 303 business owners.

“I was very pleased. The results speak for themselves and show the Mississippi Small Business Development Centers are making an economic impact in the state,” Noble said.

The office located at UM is MSBDC’s state headquarters, and there are nine service centers throughout the state, as well as secondary locations and satellite offices. They provide technical assistance to small business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the state.

“We help them make the management decisions they need to make for their business to help them get better, be better and stay better,” said Vanderlip. “We provide good, high-quality, meaningful advice that the client can understand and use.”

MSBDC is working on a number of other projects. “We are doing some work with the people in Kansas, putting together some federal proposals to get them some extra money to help them respond to the disaster they have had there,” said Vanderlip. “We are extremely blessed that our national association is as strong as it is, so when Hurricane Katrina hit, we could pick the phone up and call North Carolina, New York and friends in Florida and see what they did as a response to their disasters. Whether we wanted to be or not, we are disaster experts now; there’s no way you can go through something like Katrina and not be an expert.”

For more information,visit mssbdc.org.

—Angie Barmer

Elegant lunches, London tours, a Manning connection
Who knew studying insurance could be so much fun?

From understanding the history represented by Westminster Abbey to meeting Eli Manning’s underwriter, a week in London last summer proved to be a lifetime experience for six School of Business Administration students.

Robert Forster, former assistant to the dean for development, led the students overseas to introduce them to the international aspects of insurance and to compare the U.S. market with the model in England based on Lloyd’s of London, the world’s leading specialized insurance market.

“I wanted to expose the students to something much bigger than they had probably ever imagined insurance could be for the purpose of inspiring them to move toward a career in the insurance industry, which may include traveling to Lloyd’s to place sophisticated risks,” said Forster.

Students making the trip were David Coleman of Richmond, Va., Stoney Ford of Rustburg, Va., Daniel Harrison of Meridian, Matt Koury of Jackson, Audrey Rogers of San Antonio, Texas, and Lewis Williamson of Memphis, Tenn.

The students had the opportunity to meet with attorneys—including Bill Jones (BPA 71, JD 73), an Ole Miss graduate from Jackson who was there representing an insurance client—and several insurance brokers. They received firsthand exposure to the legal aspects of insurance from both a claims point of view and underwriting.

Rogers, a senior managerial finance major, said her favorite part of the trip was visiting thefinancial district and having lunch with brokers who shared information about their jobs.

“My goal through this trip was not only to learn about insurance, gain experience and make connections, but to view the industry from a truly global market,” Rogers said.

Some of the students actually sat in the “boxes” where the underwriting process takes place. This is where the brokers come to place the business and discuss the risks with the underwriters, persuading them to “sign the slip,” which means assuming part of the risk.

Koury, a senior risk and insurance major, said that he especially enjoyed visiting Lloyd’s of London and meeting people associated with the insurance industry in England.

“What I learned from the course was a lot more of the real-life business conducted in insurance, not just studying theories and definitions but actually sitting down with sample policies and going through them to understand the implications of the policy language.”

Forster said this experience gave the students an understanding of the big picture of insurance, including meeting an underwriter of the passing arm of former Ole Miss football quarterback Manning.

The students also had the opportunity to spend time as tourists in London, including visits to the National Gallery, British Museum and Tower of London, as well as to Westminster Abbey and Wimbledon.

“One of the highlights was taking the students to Rule’s Restaurant, which is one of the oldest and most famous restaurants in London; it is very upscale and a fun place to go, and they got to see how business can be transacted over an elegant dinner,” Forster said.

UM alumnus David White (BBA 72), chairman of the board of the MorganWhite Group in Jackson, helped Forster with setting up some of the contacts in London and supplied scholarship money to make the trip possible for some of the students. Tom Quaka (BBA 68), another Ole Miss alum and an insurance executive from Jackson, traveled to Oxford and visited with the London-bound students to help prepare them for the learning experience.

“It’s a small world, and the U.S. is an important financial part of the Lloyd’s market. The more personal contacts that the London brokers can have with individuals in America, the greater the possibility that business through these personal contacts will grow,” Forster said. “Several of the students now have a dream of going back to London after graduation and working in that market.”

Both Rogers and Koury recommend study abroad as a great opportunity.

“The education of this trip surpassed not just our business aspirations; our experiences together in the city of London complemented the technical learning we were exposed to,” Rogers said. “It was more than I expected—it was an incredible experience.”

—Angie Barmer

UM business majors rule statewide scholastic award
with 3 winners in a row

A senior banking and finance major won the statewide Orrin Swayze Scholastic Award, which is the third such win in a row for a UM business student.

Memphis native Noelle Hansen was presented the award in spring 2007 during the Mississippi Young Bankers Convention in Perdido Beach, Fla. She received $2,500 and a medallion featuring an engraving of Swayze, who was a widely respected Mississippi banker and promoter of banking education. The award has been given in his honor since 1979.

“I was really surprised; I was not expecting to win at all,” Hansen said. “It has opened up a lot of opportunities in the banking world for me.”

Hansen wore the medallion during Ole Miss’ commencement May 12, when she was awarded her bachelor’s degree in business administration.

Ken Cyree, UM’s Mississippi Bankers Association Chair of Banking and interim dean, said that Ole Miss students are well-equipped academically and socially to excel in the financial services industry. He encourages upcoming students to prepare by learning as much as possible, making good grades and getting involved in the community and on campus.

“The award indicates that our students are prepared to compete with the best students in the state,” Cyree said. “It also shows that our students are able to interact with business professionals in an exemplary manner and indicates the quality of their abilities and preparation. All of our students performed admirably in this competition, which enhances the reputation of the banking and finance program, the School of Business and the university.”

“Ken Cyree is a great teacher and he prepared us and told us what to expect,” Hansen said. “Ole Miss in general has prepared me and given me the skills needed in a business environment.”

Hansen is the daughter of Dale and Danielle Hansen of Memphis. She was named UM’s Outstanding Banking and Finance Student for 2007 and was a Taylor Medal recipient. She is listed in Who’s Who in American Colleges and Universities and holds membership in Phi Kappa Phi and Beta Gamma Sigma national academic honoraries and in the National Collegiate Honors Society.

Orrin Swayze Jr. served as senior officer for Trustmark (which was then known as the First National Bank of Jackson) for many years until his retirement in 1967. He served 1950-1970 as director of the Graduate School of Banking at LSU.

—Rebecca Lauck Cleary

The spoken word is supreme in competition for MBA students

Singer and speech consultant Dorothy Sarnoff once said, “Make sure you have finished speaking before your audience has finished listening.”

MBA students learned their own tips and tricks for keeping an audience captivated during the recent Speaker’s Edge competition. Held each January, the event shows business students the secrets of high-impact public speaking. They identify the strengths and weaknesses of their own personal speaking styles and adapt their messages to different audiences and situations.

The event features persuasive and informative speeches, each from six to eight minutes long, as well as a seven-minute “ethical dilemma” that the students only have 30 minutes to prepare. The use of the ethical dilemma in the competition reflects the MBA faculty’s determination to emphasize business ethics at multiple points throughout the curriculum.

This year’s winners of the ethical dilemma were Joshua Rosa of Purvis, first place; Gregory Pogue of Baton Rouge, second place; and Amanda LeBlanc of Calhoun, Ga., third place. Winners of the persuasive speech were Pogue, first place; Rosa, second place; and Patrick Kieffer of Kenner, La., third place. Winners of the informative speech were Rosa, first place; Jeremy Thibodeaux of Gretna, La., second place; and Pogue, third place.

“We all now know that we can deliver a proper speech in a professional setting, which is something that many people have great difficulty in doing,” Rosa said. “By competing in this Speaker’s Edge program, we will all be entering the work force with the ability to confidently communicate with coworkers, clients and management, which could prove to be a decisive advantage for many of us.”

Leblanc said she was surprised how everyone at the competition improved in just a few days. “Confidence increased and nervous habits like voice cracks, shaking and swaying seemed to just disappear from everyone,” she said.

“I also scheduled a private coaching with JoAnn Edwards to go over my speeches before the competition, and I think that was the most beneficial thing for me to ease my nerves and learn what I could do to improve.”

The MBA students prepare for the competition during Jeanette Martin’s managerial communication class. “During the fall semester, the students were fretting that they had to do Speaker’s Edge; however, at the end of competition, the students unanimously said they felt much better about giving presentations in the future,” Martin said.“Dr. Randy Harrington, Debra Yancy and JoAnn Edwards do a wonderful job of working with the students for 10 days and helping them develop the ‘edge’ of a professional presenter.” Harrington is CEO of Extreme Arts and Sciences, while Yancy and Edwards are instructors at the Lott Leadership Institute.

—Rebecca Lauck Cleary