Tabor College Business Department Journal

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.

Friday, October 17, 2008

Our Business Club field trip to the NCRA refinery in McPherson, Kansas was a “great experience,” according to the Tabor students who attended. The guided tour included visits to the tank farm, deslufication units, various heating and fracking units in the plant. The group went into one of the main control rooms in the facility and had an opportunity to visit with the employees controling the operating processes at the refinery.

The group met with C.F.O. John Buehrle. Mr. Buehrle talked about his background and how he came to his position at the refinery. After viewing a video about the refinery and McPherson, John visited with students about factors he considered critical to becoming successful in one’s career.

One important characteristic that he mentioned was, seting yourself apart from the others around you. In making this suggestion, John didn’t mean alienating yourself from the colleagues, instead, you should go above and beyond in performing your particular duties. You should be interested in all aspects of the your employer’s business, and learn all you can.

In fully committing to the company and learing all you can, you are indicating that you want to expand your knowledge and interest, become a more rounded, and become a more valuable employee to the company. In addition, by showing interest in all aspects of the business, you show that your skills are not limited to your present position. Finally, by trying to learn all you can and by applying what you have learned, you expand your opportunities for service to your organization.

Mr. Buehrle provided students with insight regarding what he looks for in resumes when hiring new employees. The information that receives a lot of attention on resumes is internships and your collegiate G.P.A. Internships imply that one has work experience. Furthermore, it shows that you’re making an effort to learn more about your field of study in a practical way.

Mr. Buehrle mentioned that G.P.A. is a very important characteristic within a resume. Although a majority of the knowledge one obtains occurs outside of school, knowledge obtained while in school is just as important because it creates a base of knowledge on which to build. This is why a solid G.P.A. on a resume is important. It allows the individual reviewing your resume to gain insight into the applicant’s knowledge base.

Finally, John mentioned the importance of taking advantage of leadership opportunities presented while in college. Developing leadership skills and having those show up on your resume help distinguish one candidate from another.

In closing, we would like to thank the NCRA Refinery of McPherson, Kansas for having the Tabor College Business Club.