Tabor College Business Department Journal

The seating of the Opera House.

On February 25th, 2010 the Tabor College Business Club traveled to McPherson to tour the newly refurbished Opera House.  The McPherson Opera House was built less than 20 years after the city of McPherson, Kansas, was founded, and its history is richly intertwined with that of the city.  The Opera House has been transformed throughout the years from an Opera House to a movie theater and back to the Opera House as we see it today.

The preservation of the Opera House began in 1986 by the McPherson Opera House Preservation Company (now the McPherson Opera House Company).  The Opera House was finished in early 2010 and is currently

A Preserved painting above the stage.

hosting many different events.

The Business Club had the opportunity to walk through the Opera House.  We began on the bottom floor sitting in the front row seats.  While sitting we heard from, John Holecek , Executive Director, who told us about the history of the Opera House, the funding of the project, and some of the problems they faced along the way.  We then got to see the 2nd and 3rd balcony, the ball room, the dressing rooms, we stood on the stage, and saw the grand entrance to the building.  The Opera House also has rooms that use to be sleeping quarters for performers.  The sleeping quarter rooms are now rented out and used for different business in McPherson.

After we toured the Opera House the group went to The Well.  The Well is a Christian bookstore and coffee shop.  The coffee shop side of the business created us our own special menu and served us lunch.  It was was a great ending to a good day.  For more information on the McPherson Opera House see their web site at

http://www.mcphersonoperahouse.org/

For more information on The Well see their site at

http://www.splashinthewell.blogspot.com/

Our group on the balcony.

In the ballroom.

Interterm has officially ended and the beginning of the Spring semester is underway.  The Business Studies students are acclimating themselves to their new schedules, the Business Club leaders are scheduling upcoming events, and the professors are mapping out the direction in which they would like to teach their courses.  It is going to be a busy semester, not just for the students, but for the professors as well.

For this semester, the Business Studies Department is offering a variety of different level Business classes that are included in all the different business majors.  There are two senior level classes offered this semester: Business Policy and Ethics and Human Resource Management.  Other upper level classes that are offered are  Intermediate Accounting II, Financial Management II, and Income Tax.

Along with the upper level classes there are also mid level and beginner classes being offered.  These include Organizational Behavior, Business Law II, Microeconomics, Advertising Management, Small Business Management, Managerial Accounting, and Desktop Publishing.  Most of the classes that are listed are taught by the four main business professors which include Norm Hope, David Kroeker, Jesse Schumacher, and Bruce Bostic.  However, Managerial Accounting and Business Law II are taught by adjunct professors Lilly Arthur and Tim Hodge.

Each professor has their own unique style of teaching which creates a great dynamic for us as students.  No two classes are alike which helps break up the monotony of the day.

On January 19, 2010, Mennonite Economic Development Association (MEDA) held an area meeting at Tabor College.  MEDA (Mennonite Economic Development Associates) is an association of compassionate business women and men who invest in the lives of families living in poverty around the world.  Through MEDA, faith-oriented business owners, executives and leaders are able to integrate their life values with business in practical ways to help the poor. They are committed to using their faith and abilities in their businesses, communities, and around the world.  MEDA has four primary areas of ministry 1. investment fund development, 2.member engagement, 3. micro finance, and 4. production marketing linkages.

The meeting featured a tour of Golden Heritage Foods and a dinner at Tabor with Brent Barkman the company’s Chairman of the Board speaking.  Golden Heritage is the consolidation of two honey manufacturers Barkman Honey of Hillsboro, Kansas  and Stoller Honey in Latty, Ohio.  The company employs over 100 people (75 in the Hillsboro location).  Golden Heritage is now the number two leader of branded honey sales and is the top provider of honey to the U.S. food service industry.  In addition to these business segments, Golden Heritage supplies honey to the industrial ingredient market.  Golden Heritage has made serving people first as its first priority.  Management believes that the company’s product and work is inseparable from their desire to serve others.  The company has four guiding principles 1) to reflect God’s will and purpose in all relationships through the Christian values of honesty, integrity, respect, and servant hood, 2) To nurture growth and development or their organization and its team members, 3) to provide product and service solutions for quality minded customers, and 4) to foster corporate industry and community growth through servant leadership.

During his presentation, Barkman mentioned the importance of keeping the organizations core values intact.  This was praticularly critical as both Barkman Honey and Stoller Honey discussed the merger of their two organizations.  Brent also emphasised the importance of ethical business practices.  Barkman noted that their two largest customers were Wal-Mart and Sam’s Clubs.  He also noted that their signature product is their honey bear.  They have introduced a new two ounce honey bear which they are hoping to market into a food gift item.  Other products produced are 3 lb packages, 12 and 24 oz squeeze bears, 16 oz inverted bottles, 40 oz squeeze bottles, 16 oz inverted organic bottles, and 12 oz honey spread.

On September 3, 2009 Tabor’s Business Club had the opportunity to meet four representatives from Koch industries.  Koch, one of the largest privately owned companies in America, employ’s  about 70,000 people and they have a presence in almost 60 different countries.  They own companies involved in refining and chemicals, pollution control equipment and technologies, minerals and fertilizers, forest and consumer products, and financial trading and services.

Koch’s presentation to the students was on “Getting a New Prospective.”  One way to gain a new prospective is by taking part in an internship program.  Koch’s  internship program is highly competitive.  They have approximately 40 positions to fill for their summer program.  Koch  is looking specifically for Accoutning/Finance majors.

Since this process is competitive, they  gave advice on how you can succeed in the application and interviewing process.   First, how you present yourself on your resume is crucial.  Choosing the right words to describe yourself can be a major factor on whether you get the job.  Second,  extracurricular activities in comparison to your GPA will heighten your chances.  Koch is looking for students who have become involved in other activities outside the classroom. Especially if those activities have taken you into a leadership role.  Koch is  more likely to take a student with a lower GPA and lots of leadership skills then a student with a high GPA and no  leadership skills.  Third, when going in for an interview make sure you have specific life instances that show your true self.  Koch is looking to find out what makes you stand out among the other students  applying.  They want to know how you have responded in certain situations and if you are aware of your actions.

Having Koch come to campus was a great opportunity for students to network with other business professionals as well as get feedback on what will help each one succeed.  We are grateful Koch was willing to take the time to come and present to us.

The beginning of the school year is always an exciting time for students.  It is a time where students get reacquainted with friends as well as begin acclimatizing themselves to the classroom setting.   For many of the students in the Business Studies Department, the beginning of the school year marks a chance for new opportunities to learn and grow into the STEWARDS Christ has called them to be.

In the past couple of years, the Business Club has given students opportunities to network with business professionals as well as see the inner workings of a variety of different business activities.  Junior Sharae Wadel has taken over as President of the Business Club and will serve the students for2009-1010 school year.   The agenda for the first Business Club meeting will include voting in students to hold different offices as well as taking a survey to establish goals for the year.

Along with the shift of a new Business Club President, the Business students will also see a new face in the classrooms this year.  Instructor Bruce Bostic will be joining the Business Studies Department and will aid in teaching lower level marketing classes.

This school year is going to be an exciting year full of many opportunities for the Business Students.  I encourage all students to take part in as many Business Club activities as their schedules will allow.  The contacts and networks that they could create with peers and other working professors in the business industry will last a lifetime.

The business club has recently sponsored an ethics speaker to come and speak in the Schlicting Center on the Tabor College Campus. All individuals, majors and faculty members interested is highly encouraged to come.

Scot Loyd, whom is a Tabor Alumni, is the ethics speaker coming to speak. Loyd is a CPA (Certified Public Accountant), who will present a speech on “What is Your Ethical Foundation Based On?”

Loyd is a nationally recognized ethics speaker, and has been a member on several national committees concerning this issue.

I follow-up story regarding the information covered during the event will be posted shortly.

The Tabor College Business Club held it first spring of 2009 meeting to discuss upcoming events. The main topic of discussion was the “Food Drive” that the Tabor Business Club is sponsoring for Main Street Ministries.

The week of February 8^th – February 14^th was the time period of collection of food for the drive. The Business Club decided to not only look for local support but city-wide support for the drive. They placed boxes in surrounding business around town in attempt to get the City of Hillsboro involved with the food drive. Also, they placed a box in the Student Center in front of the Café where there is high traffic of Tabor College students to get them involved.

Furthermore, in attempts to get family and parents involved, and both the Tabor community and Hillsboro community involved, the Business Club placed boxes at the entrance of the Tabor College/ Bethel College basketball game. This was a brilliant idea as there was a high volume of traffic and it made many individuals aware of the food drive held by Main Street Ministries.

Lastly, to close off the meeting and the discussion of the food drive, the Business Club designated specific jobs to all business club members regarding the responsibilities and duties with the food drive.

The Tabor College Business Department not only supports the campus wide community, but also supports the entire community of the City of Hillsboro.

With Thanksgiving break now over, the semester’s end is now approaching. With two weeks of academics left, followed by a week of finals, students are now looking to use their Thanksgiving feast/ break as fuel for their final home stretch.

Projects, papers, presentations, tests, finals, you name it; Tabor students will definitely have their noses in the books for these next three weeks. As for the business students, well, they are doing the exact same thing. However, with the continuous progression on group projects and/ or individual projects throughout the semester, business students are now in the process of wrapping up their hard work and polishing up any loose ends.

This semester has seen many successes both inside and outside of the classroom. Tabor College students are continuously receiving top quality education through its small yet ultimately beneficial student-to-teacher ratio. In addition, Tabor students are also seeing many benefits through community service/ awareness and community involvement. Furthermore, with the potential expansion of our academic program via the internet, Tabor has seen and will continue to see a lot of positive growth.

Our marketing class has been teamed up with Hillsboro Development Corporation (HDC) in studying the efficiency and effectiveness of the worldwide advertising usage of “Billboards.” Furthermore, the main purpose/ objective of this marketing project with HDC are, “To encourage economic growth in Hillsboro and the surrounding area through the use of billboard advertising.”

Also, the Tabor College Business Club (PRSSA) has taken multiple trips to local businesses and corporations, as well as visiting ground-zero of the devastating EF5 tornado disaster Greensburg, KS. The trip to Greensburg was a heart touching experience, inspirational and very educational. To see the aftermath first-hand, and see how the community of Greensburg is working together to re-build and re-shape was breathe taking and heart-warming. To see that even an EF5 tornado that wiped out 95% of the town was not going to stop the community from living and moving foward.

Lastly, is the potential expansion of the academic program via the internet, headed by out business departments own, Professor Jesse Schumacher. Professor Schumacher was hired to head the development and implementation of an online summer program, which has the potential of offering up to 20 classes. Although still in the process, the outlook is very positive and will be very beneficial to all students partaking.

The Tabor College Business Department and Tabor College Business Club organized a trip to visit Greensburg, KS. Greensburg is the site of a devastating EF5 tornado that swept through wiping out 95 percent of the town and leaving behind 11 casualties. However, an incident like the one Greensburg faced could have easily demoralized the community, but Greensburg saw a window of opportunity and seized it.

Greensburg is partaking in the “Go Green” Campaign, and has become Ground Zero for the Green Revolution in America. An important characteristic that the Greensburg community will experience is energy efficient buildings, in contribution of their “Go Green” Campaign.

While in Greensburg, they took a tour of the town in a school bus visiting sites such as: The Big Well- the largest hand-dug well, the site of the FEMA trailers, and the John Deere dealership. Also, while on the school bus the tour guide talked about different areas of interest and future plans for the community.

Furthermore, they visited the Sun Chips Business Incubator, which is a joint development project between the USDA Rural Development and Sun Chips. This building will take place as their downtown area, and have businesses such as: An accounting firm, law firm, retail store, a barber shop, etc.

In addition, they also visited the grand reopening of the GM dealership, where Dwayne Shank Motors Inc. was having a special presentation in which GM was introducing a hybrid car that should be released within the next couple of years. The name of the hybrid car was the “Chevy Volt.” All those who attended the presentation was provided lunch by the dealership.

The individuals who attended the Greensburg trip were: Julie Huxman, Cassondra Huxman, Danielle Thieszen, Linzy Goss, Kyle Bassinger, Jera Tesselle, Julianne Richardson, ShaRae Wadel, Clint Seibel (Hillsboro Development Corp.), Cody Hiebert, Emerson Kochem, Norman Hope, Cody Duff, and Aaron Friesen.

Our Public Relations Student Society of America (PRSSA) group held its second meeting for the 2008-09 school year. The main topics of discussion at the meeting were recap and review their trip to the NCRA Refinery in McPherson, their upcoming Greensburg field trip on Wednesday, November 5, and other miscellaneous upcoming events.

The entire PRSSA group came to a group consensus that the trip to the NCRA Refinery went very well and was very informative. Getting a hands-on experience with practical applications to a business was helpful in understanding how a business runs and what it take for a business to stay consistent and successful.

The next topic of discussion in the meeting was their upcoming field trip to Greensburg, KS. The field trip will take place Wednesday, November 5, as they will depart Tabor College @ 6:15 AM and return at 3:30 PM. The field trip will consist of meeting with the Greensburg City Manager and other individuals involved in the rebuilding process. By communicating with these groups and individuals will help us to understand how businesses deal with a crisis.

Lastly, they group talked about other miscellaneous topics such as a Christmas Party and upcoming speakers. PRSSA also likes to organize social events to relax and enjoy their peers company. It allows the students to step out of their business-like environment and enjoy some laughs and good times.

PRSSA is a great opportunity for business majors to interact with each other and gain more valuable information outside the classroom. It is a great window opportunity for all those individuals who partake in the group.”