彩神vlll争霸

Showcase Celebrates CBPP Programs, Seawolf Stock Ticker

August 22, 2022

Cool. Delightful. Amazing. Incredible.

These are just a few of the words guests used to describe the first-ever College of Business and Public Policy Showcase on August 18. CBPP welcomed more than 300 guests to attend informative sessions about its programs and to help celebrate the dedication of the new Seawolf Stock Ticker, a new digital display that wraps around three sides of the second floor overhang in Rasmuson Hall.

John Nofsinger, Dean of the College, kicked off the event with a welcome and a countdown to the official opening of the Seawolf Stock Ticker, which was generously funded by First National Bank Alaska. 鈥淎s we celebrate our Centennial anniversary at First National Bank Alaska this year, we鈥檙e proud to make the 彩神vlll争霸 Seawolf Stock Ticker a reality, continuing our century of investing in the success of Alaskans,鈥� announced Betsy Lawer, First National鈥檚 Board Chair, President and CEO.

Standing on the second floor above the ticker, Lawer and 彩神vlll争霸 Chancellor Sean Parnell rang a New York Stock Exchange style bell to the cheers of the crowd and a celebratory confetti shower, harkening back to the days of ticker tape parades.

During the rest of the evening, guests chose from 14 educational presentations led by CBPP faculty and collaborators. The sessions were short and engaging, and were punctuated with opportunities to network and enjoy wine tastings, hors d鈥檕euvres, and live music. Guests also had an opportunity to bid on several select auction item. The entire Showcase generated more than $10,000 toward CBPP programs and student scholarships.

Nofsinger said the Showcase is an opportunity to connect with the broader community to highlight what the College is doing to prepare leaders for a rapidly changing world. 鈥淭hey say it鈥檚 best to 鈥榮how, don鈥檛 tell鈥�, and that鈥檚 what our Showcase aimed to do. Partnering with the business community and understanding their workforce needs is essential to what we do. This was a great opportunity to update our supporters and alumni on what鈥檚 new at the College, and to make new connections.鈥�

鈥淭he Showcase is absolutely amazing,鈥� said Joe Zimmermann, Chair of the CBPP Advisory Board and event donor. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a wonderful integration of the College of Business and Public Policy and the outside world of business and public policy. It鈥檚 wonderful pulling everyone together. We need to do more of it.鈥�

Kathy and Norm Wilder provided a matching donation for one of the evening鈥檚 most popular silent auction items: a dinner with Chancellor Parnell and his wife hosted at the Wilder鈥檚 home. After attending her third session to hear about research and public policy, Kathy reflected on the entire evening: 鈥淭he Showcase was delightful. Tonight we really saw the excitement of the instructors, the excitement of the new programs, and the excitement moving on and changing to fit the needs of the community.鈥�

Showcase sessions were well attended and offered a variety of topics. Evelyn Jacome, adjunct faculty member, volunteered to host Professor Helena Wisniewski鈥檚 session on how CBPP supports developing entrepreneurs. 鈥淭he fact that the room was packed shows that people in our community are really interested in entrepreneurship and being innovative.鈥�

Bob Doehl, Senior Fellow at the Rasmuson Foundation and member of the CBPP Advisory Board, attended a session describing the Justice for Fraud Victims Project. This program gives accounting students a chance to help out community businesses by investigating potential fraud cases. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a tremendous opportunity for students to do something that is of great value to the community,鈥� Doehl said. 鈥淎t the same time, it鈥檚 an incredible hands-on experience to give students real-world experience dealing with the challenges of real-world witnesses.鈥�

Nick Whitmore attended a session on CBPP鈥檚 new Occupational Endorsement Certificate in Alaska Native Business Management, which provides essential knowledge on working with Alaska Native Corporations. Whitmore is a CBPP alumnus and Senior Tax Manager at KPMG, an event partner. 鈥淚 wish this certificate had been available when I was here 10 years ago. It's super practical information and will translate immediately in the workplace.鈥�

Kirsten Dolan is a 彩神vlll争霸 student who has been taking classes online. She attended the CBPP Showcase through her role as Operations and Marketing Director with Alaska CHARR, an event partner. 鈥淭he best thing I鈥檝e experienced from being here is seeing what you鈥檝e done with the building and how accessible everything is. It does make me want to come and take classes here in person.鈥�

Another student, Magnus Noroey, didn鈥檛 expect the event to be so big. He arrived from Norway in 2019 to study and ski at 彩神vlll争霸. Since much of his time here coincided with the COVID pandemic and more remote class offerings, Noroey had never seen so many people in Rasmuson Hall. 鈥淚t makes me excited to come back again this year.鈥�

Noroey is both a real estate and finance student and volunteered as a session host for the Showcase. Making connections was an added benefit for him. 鈥淚 got a chance to meet Gary Klopfer, the 彩神vlll争霸 alum who gave the $1 million donation to start the Seawolf Investment Fund,鈥� he said. 鈥淚鈥檝e been in the finance club and working with that fund, so it was super cool to get to talk to him.鈥�

Student Ross Spencer volunteered to help out with the Showcase as part of his role as a Tom Case Leadership Fellow. 鈥淎s a volunteer, it was a fun atmosphere to work and be part of and it was great to see everyone enjoy themselves,鈥� he said. 鈥淎s a student, it felt like the event breathed life into the building, and it was encouraging to see how many people from the community invest in the quality of my education by supporting CBPP.鈥�

Vlad Finko is also a student and Tom Case Leadership Fellow. "As a volunteer, it was my greatest pleasure to assist the faculty in showcasing everything CBPP has to offer to students and the community," he said. "As a speaker, I was extremely honored to share my personal stories and experiences as a CBPP student. I have always prided myself in being a 彩神vlll争霸 alum and now I'm a graduate student. I hope that the attendees had a chance to see that during the event."

"I am excited the community was able to come together and learn about the amazing opportunities available in 彩神vlll争霸's College of Business and Public Policy," said 彩神vlll争霸 Chancellor Sean Parnell. "Thanks to generous donations and the hard work of our faculty, staff and community partners, 彩神vlll争霸 has emerged as a leader in business and public policy for Alaska and all of the Arctic. CBPP's commitment to excellence is demonstrated by the quality of 彩神vlll争霸's business and public policy programs and the competent, qualified graduates who go on to become leaders in our state and beyond."

Terry Nelson, Associate Dean of the College, organized the Showcase in part to highlight CBPP鈥檚 societal impact: a quality education. CBPP is accredited by the Association to Advance Colleges and Schools of Business (AACSB). This is the highest accreditation possible for business schools and CBPP is among just 5% of business programs worldwide that hold this distinction. 鈥淢aintaining our accreditation requires continuous improvement and demonstration of how we engage with the community and how we impact society,鈥� Nelson said. 鈥淲e are appreciative that so many people came in person to learn what we are doing to provide the next generation of Alaska鈥檚 business leaders with a quality education.鈥�

鈥淲e also couldn鈥檛 have pulled this off without tremendous support from our event partners, , faculty, staff, volunteers and friends of the College,鈥� Nelson said. Corporate partners and individual donors included Alaska CHARR Education Fund, AT&T, First National Bank Alaska, Chevron/Denali Express, KPMG, McKinley Management, Northrim Bank, R&M Consultants, Thomas, Head and Greisen, PC, Anchorage International Rotary, MedPhysicals Plus, Republic National Distributing Company, Value Liquor, Ryan Buchholdt, Bruce Bustamante, Frank Jeffries, Harry Need, William Parker, and Joe Zimmermann.

Beverage donors included Republic National Distributing Company and Value Liquor.

Silent auction donors included Alaska Airlines, Alaska Economic Development Corporation (Bill Popp), Municipality of Anchorage Port of Alaska (Steve Ribuffo), Chancellor Sean Parnell, Norm and Kathy Wilder, Teri Lindseth, John Nofsinger, and these 彩神vlll争霸 Departments/Programs: Aviation Technology, Bookstore/Seawolf Store, Culinary & Hospitality, Parking & Transportation, Planetarium, Seawolf Athletics, Student Engagement.