College of Business works to build Nevada's economy

The University of Nevada, Reno, College of Business provides direct services and top-notch employee pool for Nevada businesses, industry and government.

In some ways the mission of the College of Business at UNR is to encourage economic development and growth in the state. Educating students to become tomorrow's leaders of industry, helping aspiring entrepreneurs create business plans and attain financing, or providing important data to help entice an established business to Nevada are some of the things that we do every day. We accomplish these things through the work of many talented people who are part of our programs and offices.

The Nevada Small Business Development Center is a statewide business-assistance outreach program of the UNR College of Business that provides a wide variety of assistance to support Nevada businesses and entrepreneurs. It is funded, in part, through an agreement with the U.S. Small Business Administration. The NSBDC has offices and provides services throughout the state, including at the Business Success Center, part of the City of Las Vegas' Business Incubator Program, which opened at the Urban Chamber of Commerce in Las Vegas in May.

The NSBDC's professional counseling services are available free of charge to small business owners and prospective small business owners. While the definition of a small business varies depending on industry, 98 percent of all firms in the state of Nevada are qualified as small businesses and therefore, qualify for this program.

The center also offers and coordinates a wide range of free or low-cost workshops, seminars and courses in cooperation with the public and private sector. Expert instruction ranges from introductory business management classes to advanced presentations aimed at assisting established companies. Here are just a couple of examples:

* Since 2000, more than 2,500 business owners and entrepreneurs have participated in the NxLeveL Program offered at 25 different statewide locations. The intensive training program, designed to encourage small-business expansion and promote economic development, is the nation's largest and most effective entrepreneurial training network.

* The center regularly provide workshops, bringing in national experts, for Nevada businesses interested in applying for funding from the Small Business Innovation Research and Small Business Technology Transfer Programs. In addition to workshops, the center provides personal consultation on preparing successful applications for these highly competitive programs.

Free and confidential environmental and energy-efficiency assistance can be accessed through our Business Environmental Program to assist with compliance and waste-reduction, as well as lower energy costs and help protect the environment.

The Center for Regional Studies is a self-supporting, economic and demographic research collaborative that provides mapping and analytical services using the most accurate data available, including confidential information. Examples of the type of information the center can provide range from new home construction data to economic-impact analysis.

Clients served include small and large businesses, economic development organizations, government entities, banks, health care providers, developers, builders, title companies, real estate professionals, nonprofits, entrepreneurs, property owners, commercial brokers, investors and associations. In addition, agencies such as the Economic Development Authority of Western Nevada are increasingly relying on the center to help them in their efforts to entice growing, compatible businesses to our area.

The Nevada State Demographer's office is also housed in the Center for Regional Studies. The State Demographer works in conjunction with the Nevada Data Center and other entities in disseminating census and other data important to decision making about our economy.

An important catalyst for economic development is innovation and entrepreneurship. A recent study by the Kauffman Foundation found that more than half of 18- to 34-year-olds said they wanted to start their own business. We are building an Entrepreneurship Program in the College of Business, offering a minor in entrepreneurship, and interest in the program is now at an all-time high.

Over the past year, we have received generous gifts that enable us to enhance the program. Alumnus Rick Sontag provided an endowment for the Sontag Entrepreneurship Competition, a student competition that provides $50,000 to the winning team each year. A gift from Charles N. Mathewson provides an endowment to support the Charles N. Mathewson Endowed Professorship in Entrepreneurship and support to the program. In addition, the Charles and Ruth Hopping Foundation established the Hopping Endowed Professorship in Entrepreneurship at the College.

Besides classroom instruction, most of our students seek internships in the community. Many of the region's largest firms often have a dozen or more students serving internships.

Businesses participate in our internship program not only because they want to be good community citizens, but also because they are savvy about their workforce needs. They know that the university provides the best new employee pool the state has to offer, and they want first crack at these future business leaders. Firms become corporate partners of the College, participate in our career fairs and begin recruiting students, even while they have a year or two left to complete their degrees. Our corporate partners include Barrick Gold Corporation - North America; Caesar's Entertainment; Electronic Evolution Technologies; Employers Insurance; Intuit Inc.; Microsoft Licensing, GP; Port of Subs Inc.; Sierra Nevada Corporation and Wells Fargo.

Last year, the College of Business awarded diplomas to 553 students 112 of them with advanced degree (master's or doctoral). Not only was this a record-breaking achievement in quantity, being the most students graduating in an academic year, but we also reached new heights in quality. Our student teams won awards in national, state and regional competitions, in the disciplines of entrepreneurship, marketing, human resources and financial information.

These achievements reflect the hard work and quality of our students and the quality and dedication of our faculty, who continually raise the bar in their instruction and programs. Last year we were recognized in the category of "best undergraduate business programs" in U.S. News and World Report. For the fourth year in a row, the college was recognized by the Princeton Review in its Best Business Schools guidebook.

Most impressive, last November our part-time MBA Program, specifically structured to accommodate the working professional, was ranked fourth in the nation by Bloomberg Businessweek, our highest ranking ever, outranking many part-time programs at big-name schools, including USC, UC Berkeley and Rice. According to BusinessWeek, graduates of our MBA program experience an average salary increase of 28.7 percent after completing the program, which has a per-credit cost that is the lowest of any of the 76 ranked programs in the country.

As dean of the college for the past five years, I have had the pleasure of meeting alumni who live and work around the world as successful professionals in every industry imaginable. From launching and owning their own businesses to building national organizations and managing multinational enterprises, our alumni are shaping the world of tomorrow.

Greg Mosier is dean of the University of Nevada, Reno College of Business.