USU Alumnus Stephen Nielsen Takes Third Place at Entrepreneurial Competition

Out of thousands of participants, USU Alumnus Stephen Nielsen, took third place in the first Grow America Competition in Utah this spring.

Grow America is an organization devoted to growing companies, creating jobs and stimulating the economy by helping to ignite the dreams and fuel the ambitions of real entrepreneurs with real ideas.

Each contestant has three minutes to make their case before a panel of business executives, and then answer follow-up questions for four minutes. They are judged upon a set of criteria such as how good the general idea is, does the contestant have an organized business plan, and the overall quality of the other team members. Grow America then narrows the competition to 12 contestants for the final pitch show which is presented in front of an audience. As well as being judged more critically on the previous criteria, at the final pitch, they are also judged on charisma.

Steve’s business, Geek In A Day, will teach anyone to computer code through a single day seminar. He believes there is a language barrier that exists between IT people and everyone else.

“Developers may charge double or triple if a customer seems tech illiterate, because it’s going to take that much more work to make them happy,” Steve said. “A business person feels stress explaining their needs a developer. They can feel mistrust, because they have no way to gauge the progress of the coder.”

That is where Geek In A Day comes in.

Geek In A Day breaks down these stumbling blocks by providing a framework to understand technology and explain the average person’s needs.

“Business people armed with the right paradigm will save time and money, lead with greater empathy and vision, and achieve success that creates jobs,” Steve said.

Steve won $3,500 to invest in his company because of his idea and presentation. He will spend part of his winnings on resources such as accounting, marketing and the legal technicalities of the business. The other part of the money will go straight into the business itself.

The first Geek In A Day class will be offered August 17, 2012. For more information go to geekinaday.com.

Steve Nielsen with his third place Grow America trophy.

Contruction for Huntsman Hall has Started

Started!

Construction for Huntsman Hall has officially started. This week, excavators came in and started the construction project by clearing the grounds. In order to extend the tunnel system, a large trench must be dug to connect the Eccles Business building and Huntsman Hall to the utility tunnels. This trench will be fairly deep and wide, and will be approximately 300 feet in length.

Here are some photos so that all of you can see some of the work happening on campus right now.

Before Construction Started

Construction work on July 20, 2012

Due to the necessity of clearing the grounds and making way for the trench, unfortunately a small number of trees were taken down. The good news is when the building is completed, we will plant many new trees. According to fire code, there must be a 25 foot wide fire access road leading into campus between the new Ag building and Huntsman Hall. If the fire code permits it, we will plant trees along both sides of this road.

Ken Snyder

Eric Schulz's New Book

For the past several months, I've been working on an update to the marketing book I wrote back in 1998 entitled "The Marketing Game, How the World's Best Companies Play to Win.”  What started out as an update turned into almost an entirely new book. It is amazing to look back over the past 25 years to see how much marketing has changed. I think back to the day I started at Procter & Gamble. No internet. No email. No computers that we could use. If you wanted to write a memo, you had to dictate it into a hand-held cassette player and give it to your administrative assistant to have it typed. 

Even going back ten years, you didn't have social media, DVR's, Smartphones, Wi-Fi, apps, or any number of hardware/software solutions that can now aid in marketing efforts. Even websites were in their infancy. Nowadays, marketing revolves around technology. It didn't used to be so, and so the changes that needed to be made to the book were significant.

The new book is entitled "The Smart Marketer's Toolbox - the latest marketing innovations and how to use them to grow your business." The new book is now available through Kindle and Amazon. There is a lot of new material that is pretty cool. Give it a read and let me know what you think.

Eric Schulz

International Student Adds Business to Engineering

An International Student Adds Business to Engineering

Dominican Republic and MBA student, Samuel Mosquea

When Samuel Mosquea came to USU five years ago, he could not have imagined where the MBA program would take him.

Samuel came with a group of 100 students from the Dominican Republic in 2007. He received his undergraduate in aerospace engineering in 2011 and immediately started his MBA at the Huntsman School.

One thing Samuel enjoyed about his experience at the Huntsman school is the opportunity he has had to travel. He has visited countries such as China, Jordan, Israel, and South Korea, all because of the MBA program.

Samuel said that a lot of people told him that the skills of the MBA program would not contribute to his undergraduate engineering degree.

But Samuel strongly disagrees.

“I think the skills from engineering complement what I am learning at the school of business,” he said.
Samuel is a dedicated student who desires to be a leader.

“I think an engineer with a MBA can have a bigger impact,” Samuel said. “As an engineer you build things, but as a leader you can do that, plus more.”

Last October Samuel was invited to attend the National Society of Hispanic MBAs (NSHMBA) in Anaheim, on behalf of the Huntsman School. The networking opportunities there led to a full-time job at Ernst & Young in Austin, Texas.

For the complete story, click here.

Expansion Tunnel System

Huntsman Hall Getting Connected to Campus – Literally

The first construction project for the Huntsman Hall addition will be to extend the existing campus underground utility tunnels. The tunnels are 10 feet by 10 feet and built out of concrete. They are 15 feet underground and stable enough to have vehicles drive over them. In fact, these utility tunnels look a lot like the tunnels that provide access to the parking lots across the highway (see picture below). The tunnels carry campus-wide steam, chilled water, network and data wiring, and miscellaneous piping and electrical services.

Parking lot tunnel under the highway

In 2000, the facilities department built a mile long tunnel system to connect the utilities from the central plant throughout campus. These first underground tunnels were built along the perimeter of the quad. This piping allows the utilities from the central energy plant by the Spectrum, to reach all over campus. The system will be extended approximately 300 feet east to connect to the Eccles Business Building as well as Huntsman Hall.

There are two main advantages of being connected to the tunnel expansion system: it’s more reliable, and it is more economical over time. There is a high initial investment required for both the cost of building the steam plant, as well as building the tunnel system, but the running costs are much lower. Once a building is connected to the system, there are rarely any utility problems.


We are anxiously awaiting construction to start in order to be completed in August before Fall Semester starts.

Ken Snyder

America: Still the Land of Great Opportunity

America: Still the Land of Great Opportunity

In August my husband started his first business. He first went on the internet and registered with the state and federal government, which cost him $120. He then got his business name approved, and the application was mailed to the city. A couple days later he received his business license in the mail and that afternoon, he went to work.

The approximate time it took my husband to start a business: three days.

This would never be the case if he didn’t live in the U.S.

Bill Van Dyke is a Huntsman student who traveled to South America on a study abroad last fall. One of the biggest things that shocked him was the difficulty he encountered when starting a business in South America.

“In the U.S. we can get online and start a business within a few hours, but in South America it can take weeks or months to start a business legally,” he said.

He explained that in those countries there is a lot of paper work and “red tape” to go through in order to start a business.

According to the website doingbusiness.org, it takes over 38 days to start a business in China.

In an article by Allen Hall, a business column contributor for the Standard Examiner, he explains that we are the generation of entrepreneurs. He stated that “in 2012, 29 percent of entrepreneurs are ages 20-34.”

I’m putting two and two together here. Not only are we as college students, at a prime time in their lives to start a business, but we are also blessed enough to live in a country that makes these opportunities so accessible. So be bold and start that business idea you have. We live in the United States, home of the free because of the brave.

I hope every has a happy 4th of July.

Klydi Heywood

Father of Three Goes to Graduate School

Father of Three Goes to Graduate School

In 2010, Bryce Huff quit his job of five years at a bank, sold his home, and decided to further his education. First, he went to Oregon to obtain a master’s in conflict resolution, but after finishing there, Bryce came to the Huntsman School to earn his MBA.

“When I came through that door, I knew I wanted to be involved in everything I could,” Bryce said.

With his wife pregnant with their third son, Bryce endeavored to make the most of his MBA experience. He became the account manager for The Agency, an internal, student-run marketing group. It was because of his position with The Agency, as well as his involvement with the Entrepreneurship Club, that Bryce landed a full-time job when he graduated.

Bryce Huff

At a weekly lecture that Bryce helped to organize with the Entrepreneurship Club, Mike Glauser invited Jackie Butler, owner of Med Quest Pharmacy in North Salt Lake, to speak to the students. Med Quest is an innovative company that takes a scientific approach to prescribing important health-supporting supplements.

“I sat next to her at the dinner and really reached out to her,” Bryce said, and after a recommendation letter from Dr. Glauser, Bryce was offered a position with the company.

Because he was so involved at the Huntsman School, “things are really starting to fall into place,” Bryce said.