Category: Alumni

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College of Business honors alumni, entrepreneurs at Celebration of Excellence

From the “serial entrepreneur” to the world traveler and the Grammy Award winner, the group of alumni, business partners and prominent Oregon entrepreneurs at the College of Business Celebration of Excellence show the possibilities available to future graduates.

This year the annual College of Business event will honor four alumni and two business partners for their outstanding professional achievements and services to the college, and two entrepreneurs who represent the pioneering spirit of the state. The event, which was originally planned for February 6, 2014 but postponed due to inclement weather, has been rescheduled to May 5, 2014.

The evening begins with a reception at 5:30 p.m., followed by the dinner and the awards presentation at 6:30 p.m. For more information, go to http://business.oregonstate.edu/awards or contact Rachelle Nickerson at rachelle.nickerson@oregonstate.edu.

2014 Honorees

Hall of Fame

James Williams ‘66, MBA ‘67, President, CTK Capital Corporation: In addition to being president of CTK Capital Corporation, James “Jim” Williams is a partner with Asset Solution Partners LLC holding company in Portland. He found his success in the healthcare industry as the co-founder of Brim, Inc., the first company in the nation to specialize in contracting to manage hospitals. In 1997, he sold the company to the Pritzker family in Chicago (owner of Hyatt Hotels) to form Encore Senior Living, a national assisted living company. Mr. Williams retired in January 2002 and served as the chairman of Encore’s board until selling his interest in 2006. He earned his B.S. in industrial engineering in 1966 and was in the first M.B.A. class in the College of Business in 1967. Currently he is active with OSU, serving as a Foundation Trustee, on the Austin Entrepreneurship Advisory Council and is on the OSU Advantage Accelerator Board of Advisors.

Distinguished Business Professional

Jill Eiland ‘73, Corporate Affairs Manager, Intel: Eiland leads Intel’s public and governmental relations teams for the Northwest region, including the company’s educational and philanthropic initiatives. She’s also served as vice president of the State Board of Higher Education and many other business and community organizations in the state.

Distinguished Early Career Business Professional

Peter W. Newport ‘98, Owner and President, Sawyer Paddle & Oars: A self-described ‘serial entrepreneur’ and lifelong adventure sportsman, Newport is Owner and President of Sawyer Paddle & Oars. Previously, he grew Breedlove Guitar Company 20 times in a 10-year period, taking it from near bankruptcy to an award-winning, leader in guitar quality, distributing to more than 30 countries.

Distinguished Young Business Professional

Tim Jakubowski ‘04, Advisory Director, KPMG: In only 10 years at KPMG in Portland Jakubowski has worked in 25 countries on four continents while consulting with some of the top firms in the Northwest.

Distinguished Business Partners

Fred Meyer – Founded in Portland in 1922, Fred Meyer now has 133 stores and nearly 30,000 associates in four Western states. Fred Meyer has been a key partner for the Oregon State School of Design and Human Environment, providing internships for students and participating in the School’s annual Career Symposium and serving on the SDHE Industry Advisory Board.

Mutual of Enumclaw – Voted one of the 100 best places to work in Washington State in 2012, innovation has driven Mutual of Enumclaw’s steady growth in the insurance industry since its beginnings in 1898. Also a key partner in the College of Business’ growth and development, Mutual of Enumclaw’s commitment to Oregon State through the College of Business’ Corporate Partnership program has had an immeasurable impact on students and the college.

Weatherford Awards

Chris Botti, Musician and Composer: Botti, a native of Corvallis, is the world’s largest selling jazz instrumentalist. This past year he won the Grammy for Best Pop Instrumental Album for “Impressions.”

Bert Sperling ‘77, Sperling’s Best Places: For nearly three decades, Sperling has worked to find what makes a livable city or community. His lists of the Best Places to Live and many other rankings are routinely cited by some of the top media outlets in the country, including the New York Times, USA Today and CNN.

 

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Alumnus McGregor Madden finds success as co-founder of Proper Suit

Since graduating from the Oregon State College of Business in 2007, McGregor Madden has worked hard to shape his own career.

Madden has used the skills he cultivated in Corvallis and as an international exchange student to find innovative solutions when things didn’t quite fit, molding his path to his own vision of success.

mcgregormadden
Oregon State alumnus McGregor Madden is the co-founder of Proper Suit.

While working in Shanghai Madden started hanging out with a stylish group of friends and realized there should be a better way to get a tailored suit. Last year Madden — along with co-founder Richard Hall — created Proper Suit, an online custom suit provider.

Now based in Chicago, Proper Suit arranges fittings for clients around the country and creates a suit tailored to the individual. Hall and Madden then noticed their clients were wearing these perfectly fitted suits over ill-fitting dress shirts and created Hall & Madden, a custom dress shirt company.

The pair were recently featured in Entrepreneur magazine, just one of many high-profile media mentions for their rapidly growing companies.

Madden was kind enough to take part in a Question and Answer with the College of Business, sharing how his time at Oregon State has helped push his career forward.

Q: What brought you to Oregon State and how did you get interested in studying business?

A: I felt at home on the OSU campus from the start. I did some other tours and just didn’t get the comfortable feeling I got from OSU. I fell into business since it was something I always was passionate about.

Q: Did you always know you wanted to be an entrepreneur?

A: One of the best parts of being an entrepreneur is that you can’t get fired. I have a really opinionated mindset and convictions, so if I fail that’s on me. Working for someone else when I’ve always been a passionate and fiery person just probably wasn’t ever going to work long-term. I’ve worked as an operations director for Groupon’s now infamous China venture and it was a constant reminder that I would want to do things my way.

Q: Why do you feel Proper Suit has taken off the way it has? What’s been your favorite part of the experience?

A: Our product is of the highest quality and our service and experience is 100 percent built around the client, which is actually something new to suiting. Our price point and service is wonderfully positioned in this very large market. We also are flexible and lean so we can strike quickly into new markets without large investment. I think the most surprising thing is how consistent our sales have been and how growth has been like a hockey stick. My favorite part of the experience has been getting our locations opened up.

Q: How did Oregon State help prepare you for becoming an entrepreneur?

A: Entrepreneurs need to have a sense of adventure. I took an international business course with Dr. Steve Lawton and his stories of Hong Kong and living in Mexico City inspired me to head to Hong Kong. That’s where this whole business started.

Q: Where do you see your career heading from here?

A: Proper Suit has found its niche and we really understand the market, product and consumer. As we currently experience consistent growth and adding clients who come back for more we are going to ride it out and continue to improve. We don’t want to bite off more than we can chew but my business partner and I started a shirt business called www.hallmadden.com that is also an innovative menswear start-up.

Go Beavs!

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“This education is changing your brain”: Graphic design alumni discuss value of design thinking

Oregon State Graphic Design alumni Darrin Crescenzi and Erin Mintun speak to students at a talk at the LaSells Stewart Center on Campus.
Oregon State Graphic Design alumni Darrin Crescenzi and Erin Mintun speak to students at a talk at the LaSells Stewart Center on campus.

As Darrin Crescenzi and Erin Mintun went through their presentation slides a beautiful photograph of the Empire State Building framed in a window flashed across the screen.

“That’s the view from Erin’s office,” Crescenzi said.

Next came a different work shot from a few years earlier. The pair is in the background, blurry, while the camera focuses on a laptop in the foreground with the time front and center.

“That’s at 5:44 a.m. in Fairbanks Hall.”

For Crescenzi and Mintun, Oregon State University graphic design alumni now living their dreams in New York, the two pictures are directly connected. Those late nights at OSU helped lead to the careers they have now, because of the power of design thinking and a lot of hard work.

“It’s not to pat ourselves on the back,” Crescenzi said of the photos, “but more show you that this is a staging point, a launch pad if you take your education seriously.”

The two returned to Corvallis last week as the OSU Alumni Association named Crescenzi an Alumni Fellow, and stopped to give a talk to current students about the lessons they’ve learned since graduating in 2007.

Sponsored by the Oregon State School of Design and Human Environment, the event focused on the value of a design education and design thinking, with OSU Professor of Graphic Design Andrea Marks introducing her former students.

Crescenzi made a name for himself at Nike, designing the branding for LeBron James and the U.S. Olympic basketball team. Fast Co. Magazine named him as one of the 100 Most Creative People in Business. He now works for branding firm Prophet.

Mintun joined Nike after graduating from Oregon State and moved to product design, and now is the active editor for Stylesight in New York.

For each, the career path has been improvised. Within Nike they took advantage of opportunities outside of their daily work and built a reputation as hard-working, creative designers who could take on any task.

They key for Crescenzi was the design education he received at Oregon State, which he said more than anything trained him how to think about creative problems no matter the medium.

“Design is a way of thinking,” he said. “This education is changing your brain, the way you think about the world. You can’t turn it off.”

That mindset makes designers valuable in a wide range of jobs and industries, he said, creating possibilities for those willing to step out of his or her comfort zone.

“Your skills are applicable to a massive field of design and creative fields,” Crescenzi said. “The skills you’re learning are doorways to different jobs if you keep our head up.”

Mintun remembers that when she was initially approached to join Nike as a color designer after an internship, her first thought was ‘What is that?’

“I’ve never known a job existed before I got it,” Mintun said. “You can take it a different direction and apply the same skillset.”

Crescenzi said when he approaches any product he thinks first about the person who is going to be using or experiencing it.

“It’s about the consumer, the end-user,” he said. “You’re empathizing with their experience, the same thing as if you’re designing a poster for a friend’s band. It’s not a logo or a color pattern, but that entire experience.”

Mintun said that while designing footwear for Nike she searched for patterns and colors that conveyed the meaning of her subject — from the London Olympics to the feel of cities like New York and Tokyo.

“It’s all about storytelling,” she said. “We’re communication designers, not graphic designers.”

On top of that skillset is the will and desire to put in the work needed to get what you want.

One of their final slides read “Hard work trumps talent every time.”

“It’s why we love Oregon State and wear the Beaver badge proudly,” Crescenzi said. “This place teaches you how to work.”

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SDHE alumna gets VIP invite to Portland Fashion Week

Growing up, Aleigha Larrondo was always the one family and friends turned to when in need of fashion advice.

It’s something the 2006 Oregon State Fashion Merchandising graduate still loves to do, just now for a few thousand more friends.

In 2011 Larrondo decided to see if she could help others create their own personal style and started MyFashionistaStyle.com. Two years and nearly 8,000 YouTube subscribers later, Larrondo’s made a name for herself as someone with a key eye for style and knowledge of the industry.

http://youtu.be/m8aTOe7adso

Now that social media success has helped her earn a spot on the Portland Fashion Week Style Collective, a group of Portland fashion industry influencers invited to cover the event and given VIP access to shows and the designers themselves.

“Helping women, and providing support and inspiration to those lost in the fashion madness, are why I do what I do,” Larrondo said. “Oregon State’s degree really helped me gain such an understanding of the fashion world and how things are directed and made.”

That understanding helped her make one of her favorite videos, “Size is Just a Number.”

Larrondo used her knowledge of the fashion industry and the manufacturing and marketing of garments to explain the sizing system in women’s fashion. She explained how women could use that information to buy clothes that fit and looked better.

She’ll bring that perspective to her time at Portland Fashion week, which runs Sept. 12-14 at the Portland Convention Center, with events around the city Sept. 15-20.

Larrondo wrote she “just about hit the floor” when told of her selection for the collective, in part because of a new feature of the event.

This year’s Portland Fashion Week will be the first to have plus-sized and “Sample Sized” models walking the same runways and not in separate shows.

“This means it won’t be specific shows for Plus Size, then regular — it’s going to be mixed,” Larrondo said. “I think diversity is what makes life beautiful — in all capacities and genres.  So this is an industry first, and I will be witnessing it from the front row!”

Larrondo will also be partnering with plus-size clothing line Lane Bryant during the event, including a meet-and-greet at the Cascade Station Lane Bryant Sept. 18.

You can follow all of Larrondo’s Portland Fashion Week experiences at MyFashionistaStyle.com, her inspiration blog, YouTube channel, Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts.

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Some College of Business photos you may have missed

Each school year the Oregon State College of Business takes a lot of photos, and not all of them get used in publications, posted on the blog or put into galleries on Facebook. We try, really, but like we said, we take a lot of photos.

Summer gives us a chance to look back a bit, so we wanted to share some of our favorite photos that may have slipped under the radar a bit. Thanks to all the great students, staff and alumni pictured and who helped make the moments we captured so special.

Students prepare to use the photo booth at the Undergraduate Celebration in June.
Students prepare to use the photo booth at the Undergraduate Celebration in June.
A guest looks through student work at the Graphic Design Senior Show in June.
A guest looks through student work at the Graphic Design Senior Show in June.
College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge takes part in Dancing with the OSU Stars.
College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge takes part in Dancing with the OSU Stars.
School of Design and Human Environment students network during the annual SDHE Career Symposium in February.
School of Design and Human Environment students network during the annual SDHE Career Symposium in February.
Jon DeVann, corporate vice president of Windows Development for Microsoft, Speaks during his Dean's Distinguished Lecture in January.
Jon DeVaan, corporate vice president of Windows Development for Microsoft, Speaks during his Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in January.
Assistant Professor Bret Scott jokes with students at Convocation in January.
Assistant Professor Bret Scott jokes with students at Convocation in January.
Former Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts holds up her Weatherford Award in February.
Former Oregon Gov. Barbara Roberts holds up her Weatherford Award in February.
Panda Express co-CEO Peggy Chern high-fives Panda Express employees at the Dean's Distinguished Lecture in October.
Panda Express co-CEO Peggy Cherng high-fives Panda Express employees at the Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in October.
OSU Outspoken sings at a reception for CH2M Hill CEO Lee McIntire after his Dean's Distinguished Lecture in April.
OSU Outspoken sings at a reception for CH2M Hill CEO Lee McIntire after his Dean’s Distinguished Lecture in April.
(right) Student Michael Williams explains his Multicopter Northwest business at the CEO Summit in Portland in May.
(right) Student Michael Williams explains his Multicopter Northwest business at the CEO Summit in Portland in May.
MBA candidate Jonathan Truong gets creative during the annual MBA Business Plan Compeition Elevator Pitch.
MBA candidate Jonathan Truong gets creative during the annual MBA Business Plan Competition Elevator Pitch.
Benny shows the way at the Austin Hall Construction launch in April.
Benny shows the way at the Austin Hall Construction launch in April.
A backhoe moves on the future site of Austin Hall with Weatherford Hall in the background.
A backhoe moves on the future site of Austin Hall with Weatherford Hall in the background.
Brian Holmes, center, reacts as a problem is fixed while Microsoft Developer Evangelist Bret Stateham (standing) and JB can Hecke (left) look on.
Brian Holmes, center, reacts as a problem is fixed while Microsoft Developer Evangelist Bret Stateham (standing) and JB can Hecke (left) look on.
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College of Business community celebrates Austin Hall construction launch

College of Business seniors Josh Gilardi and Kayla Pearce unveil the sign for the Austin Hall construction site.

Friday afternoon, with a late bit of sun peaking through after early morning clouds, the Oregon State University College of Business community took a moment to celebrate the construction launch of Austin Hall, the new home for the College of Business that will open in Fall 2014.

That community included not just current students and faculty but alumni, friends, family and those invested in Oregon and its continued economic growth – and it was a capacity crowd with more than 300 people in attendance.

“The dream and this journey to Austin Hall has been a vision of so many alumni and donors for many years and I have had the privilege of carrying this dream and sharing the story of the College, of Bexell Hall, of the people and the programs,” College of Business Dean Ilene Kleinsorge told the crowd assembled on 26th Street to see the official launch.

The lead gifts came from two storied OSU families, those of Ken and Joan Austin and the Al and Pat Reser. Together they pledged a combined $16 million — $10 from the Austin’s themselves — to kick off the campaign.

Then Friday Kleinsorge announced that 1965 College of Business graduate and E*TRADE co-founder Bernie Newcomb raised his already substantial gift of $250,000 to $1 million, becoming the sixth to pledge at least $1 million.

Benny the Beaver holds a thank you to College of Business alumnus and Austin Hall donor Bernie Newcomb.

Newcomb has been a strong supporter of the College of Business for many years.

Friday Newcomb’s partner Gerry Marshall was in attendance at the construction launch. She also took time to visit with COB faculty and staff picked as Newcomb Fellows and the students supported by the Newcomb Family Scholarship.

Newcomb’s gift pushed the campaign past its original $30 million philanthropic goal, a major milestone as the campaign continues toward the Fall 2014 completion of Austin Hall.

Ken Austin and Benny Beaver

Throughout the afternoon different members of community took turns to share their thanks and what the new building will mean to them.

Oregon State University President Ed Ray addressed the gathering, and noted that while many buildings at OSU have names on them, Austin Hall will be a fitting tribute for a great OSU family.

“I can’t think of a name other than Austin we could be prouder of being on this building,” Ray said.

College of Business student Connor Deeks after the Austin Hall construction launch ceremony Friday April 19, 2013.

College of Business student Connor Deeks shared testimonials from his fellow students, from bringing together students, alumni and faculty into a single space to the creation of a landmark students could point to as a point of pride.

“Austin Hall will propel students to achieve their highest potential,” Deeks said. “I take great honor in saying thank you.”

Representing the state of Oregon, state Treasuer Ted Wheeler pointed out that while Austin Hall was a great moment for OSU, it would pay dividends for the entire state economy by helping to better prepare graduates to contribute in the workforce.

“[Austin Hall] is the kind of thing we need to invest in now to continue the economic development of our state,” Wheeler said.

You can continue to follow the progress of Austin Hall by going to business.oregonstate.edu and clicking on the live webcam, where you can watch the construction as it happens

Joan Austin (left) speaks after the Austin Hall construction launch Friday APril 19, 2013.
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2013 Weatherford Awards: Cloudkick

To celebrate the 2013 Weatherford Awards, we’re profiling each of the honorees here at the College of Business blog. Today are Dan Di Spaltro, Alex Polvi and Logan Welliver, the founders of Cloudkick. For more information about the awards and links to other honoree profiles as they’re posted, check out our introduction to the series.

For Alex Polvi, entrepreneurship comes down to one simple phrase:

“Just go for it.”

That’s exactly what he and fellow Oregon State alumni Dan Di Spaltro and Logan Welliver did after graduating from OSU.

In 2008, the trio moved to Silicon Valley and created Cloudkick, a startup dedicated to helping customers better manage their cloud computing resources.

Exactly two years later they were finalizing the sale of the startup to Rackspace, the second-largest cloud-computing company in the world.

All three took a risk, driven by a desire to do something they loved with the skills they had acquired at OSU. Now, just more than five years removed from graduation, the group has cemented their reputations as innovative entrepreneurs.

The story of Cloudkick began before OSU, when Polvi and Welliver met growing up in McMinnville, Oregon.

At OSU Polvi studied computer science, where he met Di Spaltro, while Welliver pursued graphic design.

Polvi says working in the Open Source Lab at OSU gave him the skills he needed to land internships with Mozilla and Google and eventually his first job out of school.

After graduating, Di Paltro and Polvi moved to San Jose, California. A year out of school the pair decided to start a new venture, and Polvi called Welliver to join them.

“It sounded like a good opportunity, and I knew Alex well enough to trust his nose for business, so I flew down to San Jose to meet with him and Dan,” Welliver remembers. “After that meeting, I closed up shop in Portland and moved down to San Jose to give it a shot.”

Di Spaltro and Polvi created the technical aspects of the project while Welliver used his graphic design talents to make the final product visually appealing and intuitive for users.

After participating in the Y Combinator accelerator program in 2009, the company launched and started its ascent in the cloud-computing world.

Less than a year later the company had grown to 12 employees — including six OSU alumni.

In December of 2011, Rackspace acquired Cloudkick, capping an amazing journey for the startup and its three founders.

Looking back, Polvi says the group had its share of luck, but they made it possible by following their passions and starting something of their own.

“Just the fact that we started a company in the first place positioned us to have 20 times more luck than someone who didn’t,” Polvi said.

Welliver said his main piece of advice for students and young entrepreneurs is to start working on what they love now instead of waiting for more favorable conditions.

“If you’re truly passionate about something, start working on it today,” Welliver said. “I hear too many people endlessly pitching ideas instead of building them. Executing a poor idea has infinitely more value than postulating you have a great one.”

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COB Alumni named Portland Business Journal 40 Under 40

Today two College of Business alumni were officially recognized as up-and-coming business leaders at the Portland Business Journal‘s 40 Under 40 celebreation.

Lori Chamberlain, COO and senior VP for the Oregon Bankers Association, and Ryan Smith, CFO of Nike Golf, represented the Oregon State University COB at the awards luncheon in Portland. We congratulate both of them on their great careers so far and are excited to see where they go next.

To get to know a little more about Lori and Ryan, check out the videos the Portland Business Journal Produced to highlight each honoree.

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2013 Weatherford Awards: Don Robert

To celebrate the 2013 Weatherford Awards, this week we’re profiling each of the honorees here at the College of Business blog. Today is Experian LLC CEO Don Robert. For more information about the awards and links to other honoree profiles as they’re posted, check out our introduction to the series.

Experian, LLC, CEO Don Robert
Experian, LLC, CEO Don Robert

Looking only at Don Robert’s title, one may not immediately think of entrepreneurship.

But as CEO of Experian, LLC, the world’s largest credit services company, Robert must constantly be on the lookout for the next great idea and foster an environment that encourages and rewards innovation.

“I really think that defines entrepreneurship, constantly having to make left-hand turns and constantly having to reinvent the plan as you go along,” Robert said.

A native Oregonian, Robert grew up in North Portland and attended Oregon State, where he earned a degree in business administration.

“I got a great business education at Oregon State and it stood me in good stead when I graduated and entered banking,” Robert said. “I had fantastic professors. Two or three who were particularly noteworthy, and I still think about and I still have their books on my bookshelf at home.”

Robert was also introduced to the idea of leadership at Oregon State thanks to his roommate, then-ASOSU President Jeff Strickler.

Strickler made sure Robert was involved and active, encouraging him to join the Memorial Union Program Council and other student activities.

“Jeff dragged me into a lot of activities on the periphery of student activities and student government and it was in those activities I became more comfortable with the idea of leadership,” Robert said.

From Oregon State Robert went straight into the business world, excelling at every step.

Starting at US Bancorp and then First American, Robert advanced to become a Group Executive.

In 2001 he joined Experian as Chief Operating Officer in North America, before becoming North American CEO and eventually Group CEO.

At each stop he worked hard to expand his skillset. Robert learned how to be an effective communicator, a strong leader and a pragmatic executive.

At Experian, Robert said one of his major goals as CEO is creating an environment that makes it possible to develop and support the ideas that become new Experian products.

“Institutional innovation and a big part of my job is to create a platform where we allow the best ideas to come forward, to be developed, to be bankrolled and put into the marketplace at a very rapid pace, because one of the primary growth vehicles we have in the company is bringing new products into the marketplace,” he said.

Robert said a major entrepreneurial challenge for Experian has been moving into new markets, such as India and Columbia. Both areas required new solutions and quick thinking to make the endeavors successful.

“We’ve had to create new products, throw away our original business plans,” Robert said. “We’ve had to raise financing locally. We’ve had to do things we didn’t anticipate.”

Robert’s advice for current students is to find something they’re passionate about, work harder than anyone else to get it, but not to be afraid to fail along the way.

“You never learn and you never grow when everything is going great,” he said. “It’s only during the tough times that you get stretched and that you develop as a person.”

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Meet the 2013 Weatherford Award Winners

Oregon’s first woman governor. A groundbreaking heart surgeon. A dynamic chief executive. Innovative tech startup founders.

Over the next few days on the College of Business Blog we’ll introduce you to the honorees of the 2013 Weatherford Awards, which honor entrepreneurs and innovators who further Oregon’s pioneering spirit. As posts are added we’ll link to them below. This year the awards will recognize:

Each day we will  profile a different honoree with a glimpse into how they changed the world by advancing entrepreneurship, innovation, and social progress.

If you’d like to join us to honor this distinguished group and their achievements, the awards take place Thursday, Feb. 21, 2013 at the Hilton Portland & Executive Tower. Registration runs until Tuesday, Feb. 12, 2013. Click here to register.