Illinois State University’s Export Project is able to help more Illinois-based businesses expand into overseas markets thanks to a $100,000 grant from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA).  The funding supports the Export Project’s work with the agriculture equipment and technology firms Dickey-John and Brandt Consolidated, and the paint manufacturer Rust-Oleum Corporation.

Since 2006, Export Project faculty and student teams have traveled to New Zealand, Germany, Argentina, Poland, China, and India to help companies explore international market opportunities.  Plans are currently underway to send teams working with Dickey-John, Brandt Consolidated and Rust-Oleum to Romania, Brazil and South Africa during the summer of 2010.

Export Project team members include faculty and students from Illinois State’s College of Business and College of Applied Science and Technology. Throughout the year, the teams work with medium-sized companies to identify, evaluate, and actively develop international business opportunities and prepare export plans. The teams act as consultants and prepare targeted marketing studies for specific countries. During the summer months, Export Project teams travel overseas to selected countries to evaluate potential export market opportunities. In addition to helping businesses grow, the multidisciplinary project gives Illinois State students a unique opportunity to gain international business and marketing experience.

Members of the Export Team are:

• Iris Varner, Director of the International Business Institute,
• Peter Kaufman, Associate Professor in Marketing;
• Mark Hoelscher, Associate Professor in Management and Quantitative Methods;
• Klaus Schmidt, Associate Professor in technology,
• Aslihan Spaulding, Associate Professor in Agriculture.

In 2007, the Export Project received a two-year, $165,000 grant from the U.S. Department of Education.  That funding was used to expand partnerships with small and medium-sized agriculturally-focused businesses, enhance the University’s international business curriculum, and provide faculty development opportunities.

After a 490 B.C. battle for democracy, Phidippides announced the victory by running 24  miles from the Greek village of Marathon to Athens.  The run is commemorated by the modern marathon, with the Athens Classic Marathon following the original course.

Al Medina Jr. ‘92 ran the event in 2008, finishing in 4 hours and 37 minutes. “Running into the Panathinaiko Stadium at the end was an emotional high I cannot describe,” said Medina, who resides in Germany.  An international business major, Medina plans to enter the race again 2010, which will be the 2,500th anniversay of Phidippides’ journey.

The story is available on page 33 of the Spring 2009 Alumni Magazine http://www.cob.ilstu.edu/images/blog//IllinoisState-AlumniMagazine-vol9no4.pdf.

While completing his business degree, Jerry Wirth ’88 didn’t envision the challenges he’d face as an entrepreneur in the Baltic States. ISU empowered him to withstand corruption and build an international business that now thrives.

After connecting with fellow College of Business Alumni Hall of Fame member Mike Richard ’75, senior vice president and treasurer for McDonald’s Corporation, an international medical care project to help Latvian children was born.

The full story is available on page 8 of the Alumni Magazine http://www.cob.ilstu.edu/images/blog//IllinoisState-AlumniMagazine-vol9no4.pdf.

Members of our various Advisory Councils, our corporate partners and recruiters consistently tell us that students entering the work force must have soft skills that compliment all they are mastering through coursework. They know Illinois State’s College of Business students are very well-prepared academically, but have asked that we continue helping our graduates develop skills that truly differentiate them from other candidates competing for the same positions.

The array of events that comprise Business Week 2009 are designed specifically to build these competencies and truly capture the spirit of Educating Illinois. They also provide valuable opportunities for alumni and external partners to get connected and hear the perspectives of top business leaders from across the nation. The Business Week 2009 brochure has all the details you’ll need.

http://www.cob.ilstu.edu/pdfs/business_week_brochure09.pdf

Since 2005, students and faculty members in Illinois State’s Export Project have been helping Illinois companies expand into overseas markets. International business professor Iris Varner says the Export Project is a great benefit for companies and provides students with valuable international business and marketing experience.

   Listen to Dr. Varner’s speak about Illinois State’s Export Project (mp3)

The College of Business at Illinois State University has re-configured its e-communication What’s New in the COB to include exactly the types of articles our alumni, external partners, faculty and staff value. You can:

• read about exciting work being done by fellow graduates and share your own success stories in our Alumni Spotlight
• get insights from experts on today’s toughest business challenges
• find out about upcoming events and speakers to sharpen your professional skill set
• learn how to connect with fellow graduates, external partners, current and retired faculty through The College of Business Alumni Network (COBAN)
• discover new developments at the College of Business and Illinois State University that add value to your degree…

Our goal is to provide you the news you want, how you want it. Which option do you prefer?

1. If you subscribe to What’s New in the COB by clicking on the RSS feed icon, stories will automatically drop in your RSS mailbox as they are released so you can view them at your convenience. (Click here to learn how.)

2. You can elect to receive this same news through a once-a-month email that includes links to the top stories from the previous few weeks. Go to www.cob.ilstu.edu/cobnews to subscribe for this option.

3. If receiving our once-a-year College of Business Alumni Magazine News & Views is all you need, let us know. Type “magazine only” in the subject line of an email to alhumph@ilstu.edu   Be sure to include your contact information in the body of the message so we can fulfill your request.

Students in our Market Research class are currently seeking additional feedback from alumni, external partners, faculty and other stakeholders to help us further refine our interactive newsletter. So if they contact you about completing a brief survey, please do!

As Deloitte Resources Global Operations Coordinator, for Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu (DTT), Divyesh Jevtani ‘04 (IB) thrives on working collaboratively to achieve results. Recently Jevtani and his team were recognized by the Nielsen Norman Group for developing one of the top 10 intranets in the world.

Through his work, Jevtani focuses on overall online strategy by sharing best practices with the editors of regional Deloitte member firm intranets. “I manage the relationship with our team in India, where I visited twice in 2007, and I also work  virtually with Deloitte member firms around the world each day. In the past year I’ve been to Chicago, Lisbon, Portugal, and Mexico City to train our site editors.”

Jevtani also spoke at a conference in London about “Leveraging the Intranet in your Internal Communications” and had a central role in the development of The Deloitte TV Network - an internal website that serves a repository for all of the organization’s video resources.

You can communicate directly with Divyesh and other members of the Illinois State University College of Business Alumni Network (COBAN) through the online professional networking service LinkedIn.

In our information rich world we are constantly bombarded by messages, news, ads and more. Do you find yourself hitting “delete” because wading through it all feels overwhelming? Here’s a better plan. Take control of what types of stories and news you want to receive.

Check out this brief and clear video from YouTube. It explains how to harness the power of RSS feeds to ensure you get the information you want when you want it  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0klgLsSxGsU.

Companies require relevant research to guide decisions. Students require real-world experiences. Faculty at Illinois State University foster these connections and provide the vital expertise that makes The Export Project a continuing success. The Export Project is now in the second year of a U.S. Department of Education grant to promote international business skill-building across disciplines. Student teams are actively collaborating with five Midwestern companies interested in expanding their markets overseas. This June 14 students and five faculty will travel to target countries to examine opportunities and challenges and conduct additional research culminating in a market entry plan for the partner firms.

The Export Team consists of five faculty from 4 departments and 2 colleges.  Iris Varner, Peter Kaufman and Mark Hoelscher are participants from the College of Business. Their collaborators from the College of Applied Science and Technology are Klaus Schmidt and Aslihan Spaulding. This year two additional faculty are involved in the Export Project - Rick Boser and and Anu Gokhale from Technology.

Students and faculty participating this year by country are:

Poland
Faculty Leader: Dr. Klaus Schmidt
Students: Brad Harris, Matthew Coffman, Chris Wasowicz
Company: Brandt Consolidated, a producer of agricultural insecticides.

China
Faculty Leader: Dr. Peter Kaufman
Students:  Cort Darby, Ross Hancock, David Yee
Company: Filtration Group, which produces filters for use in production processes in high tech and the automobile industry.

Faculty Leader: Dr. Mark Hoelscher
Students: Amber Lehmann, Kaitlin Petersen, Catherine Sorich
Company: Dickey-John, a supplier of parts for John Deere agricultural machinery and the manufacture of hand-held moisture testers.

India
Faculty Leader: Dr. Rick Boser
Students: Kelly Schneider. Susan Waltrip, Christine Wynn
Company: SunOpta,  a vertically integrated producer interested in providing safe and nutritious soymilk products to India.

Faculty Leader: Dr. Anu Gokhale
Students: Julie Schumacher, Kimberly Lawton
Company: National Enrichment Industries (NEI), a company interested in selling tricalcium phosphate to India.

If you have questions about The Export Project contact Dr. Varner at izvarner@ilstu.edu.