Business and other professionals need to do networking well, yet they’re rarely taught how to network effectively, nor are they given opportunities to practice their networking skills in earnest. At its upcoming breakfast, the Messiah College Business Alumni association will address these deficiencies and suggest how networking can be a kingdom-building act.
Every MCBA event involves networking, but at the November breakfast, networking will be the main course. Mike True, Senior Associate, Talent Development & Marketing in Messiah College’s Career & Professional Development Center, will open the event by sharing several best practices in networking and inviting guests to add their own. After this networking primer, attendees will have the opportunity to put their networking skills in play through several rounds of “speed networking.”
This breakfast promises to be one of the most exciting and interactive MCBA events yet. It will be almost impossible for people to leave without enhancing their networking skills and expanding their networks. We hope you’ll come and network with us!
Business has seen incredible change in recent years. Forces like social media, mobile technology, and the sharing economy have impacted virtually every organization in important ways.
Messiah College’s Department of Business has also experienced significant change. The recent retirements of several long-standing faculty members and program development have led to the hiring of six outstanding new faculty members in just the past year.
Join us at our next networking breakfast to explore the future of business at Messiah College and beyond. The event will feature new and veteran Business faculty, sharing their unique perspectives on a dynamically changing marketplace and welcoming your feedback. Come ready to offer insights you’ve gained from your organization and industry, which may help shape Messiah College business education. The breakfast promises to be an engaging and enlightening event for all.
This event took place at The Martin Commons (located at Lottie Nelson Dining Hall inside the Eisenhower Campus Center at Messiah College) on Wednesday, September 21, 2016. Continue reading→
Being a Christian in business can be challenging. Being a Christian business can be even harder. Join us on the campus of Messiah College to learn how one well-known Christian company has not only survived but thrived because of its firm faith commitment.
Hear leaders of Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe describe some of the challenges they’ve faced over many years and how they’ve stayed true to their motto: “Whatever it takes, God helping us.” Rooted in faith and family, Martin’s strives to honor God by making the best quality products, delivered with excellence.
The networking breakfast will be held in the beautiful new Martin Commons addition to Lottie Nelson Dining Hall. Scott Heintzelman ‘89 will be serving as the moderator for an engaging and enlightening panel discussion featuring leadership from Martin’s Famous Pastry Shoppe, Inc. including Tony Martin, Joseph Martin ’98, Julie Martin ‘95, and Jackie Martin ’02.
This event took place at The Martin Commons (located at Lottie Nelson Dining Hall inside the Eisenhower Campus Center at Messiah College) on Wednesday, April 20, 2016.
“I must say Covenant has ruined me in the best of ways: bland teaching for the sake of testing and shallow academic explorations of humanity will never fill me, because Covenant has shown me education as it should be.” – AnneMarie Swartz (’14), Messiah College Honors student
At Covenant, students learn to love to learn in preparation for a life of service to God. Discover how Covenant’s classical Christian curriculum and joyful learning community can provide an exceptional academic and spiritual foundation for your children. To Discover the Covenant Difference contact Ann Rasmus, Admissions Coordinator at Ann.Rasmus@DiscoverCovenant.com or 717-540-9885 x231.
People often describe entrepreneurship with terms like risk-taking and innovation. They also tend to think of entrepreneurship as the work of one person—“an entrepreneur.” Individuals certainly have produced many entrepreneurial ideas, but complex and competitive markets increasingly require a group of similarly-minded innovators in order to create a successful new enterprise. In other words, entrepreneurship takes a team.
Peter Greer, Messiah College alumnus and President and CEO of Hope International, knows well the power of teams for entrepreneurship. As Hope has supported budding businesses around the world, Greer has repeatedly seen that a new enterprise’s success depends on the contributions of many—from those who birth an idea, to those who develop the business concept, to those who finance and implement it.
At this event, Greer shared his unique perspective on community-driven entrepreneurship, based both on his leadership of Hope and on his recent role as Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Messiah College. Through these experiences he continues to cultivate his own passion for social entrepreneurship, and he encourages others to embrace the vision of making a difference in our world by working together in business.
This event took place at the Eden Resort and Suites (222 Eden Rd, Lancaster, PA 17601) on Wednesday, February 17, 2016.
Many of us have had ideas for new products or businesses we’ve dreamed of trying. Software developer, marketer, and serial entrepreneur Jason Kichline also has had those dreams; the difference is he’s done them!
Kichline twice has turned his passions into successful companies. His first business was born out of a dorm room at Messiah College. His second one stemmed from his desire to provide a technological solution to church worship music challenges.
In fields that require continual evaluation and innovation, entrepreneurs can feel like they are perpetually chasing “version 2.0.” Join us to learn how Kichline’s faith-infused passions have guided him in growing vibrant kingdom-building businesses.
This event took place at the Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey Hotel on Wednesday, November 11, 2015.
Jason Kichline graduated from Messiah College in 1999 with a degree in marketing. Shortly after graduation, he and some fellow Messiah alumni founded a marketing and design firm in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania that would later become andCulture. In 2012, Jason left andCulture to begin a new venture: OnSong—a top-rated iOS app that allows musicians to get rid of sheet music and streamline their on stage performance.
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During this event Alex broadened the conversation to international economic development. From his many years of experience in emerging markets around the world and his current work with three international investment groups, Alex expounded how investing in these underrated markets not only boosts business, but also serves as a powerful catalyst for positive community change.
Alex Hartzler is Managing Partner and Founder of WCI Partners, LP. Alex provides strategic guidance and oversight to WCI. He believes in the power of long-term patient capital to provide solid financial returns while building the larger community around those investments. And he believes that community building, smart, environmentally friendly development, and engaged business practices are fundamental to long-term success in real estate and business.
Alex was Executive Vice President and a partner of Webclients.net from 2000 until the company’s sale to ValueClick, Inc. in June 2005. He previously served as a corporate attorney with Buchanan Ingersoll, P.C. from 1995 to 1999. He is a graduate of Penn State University (BA – Economics), The George Washington University Law School (JD), and was a Fulbright Scholar in Cologne, Germany.
Alex is currently the Chairman of Sarona Asset Management, a private equity firm investing in frontier and emerging markets around the world. He currently serves as Director of the Board of MEDA and previously was Chairman of the Board of Ten Thousand Villages, an international handicraft distributor and retailer. He has been active in the impact investment arena for many years with Sarona and is a founding investor in several Sarona and MicroVest funds.
Alex is also the publisher of TheBurg, a monthly community newspaper in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania.
Since leaving The Hershey Company in 2011, Don Larson has been on a quest to transform lives in Africa using sustainable business practices and readily available resources. He has shown that building a factory and hiring a local workforce to plant, harvest, and package cashews in Mozambique can be about much more than nuts. The Sunshine Nut Company now sells its products around the world, including in American grocery stores like Giant Foods and Whole Foods. Come learn how the Sunshine Approach™ achieves Quadruple Bottom Line results—financial, environmental, social, and transformational—to bring lasting economic change to some of the world’s most disadvantaged people. Be inspired by one who works at the intersection of Christian compassion and economic excellence.
This event took place on Wednesday, April 29th, 2015 at the Eden Resort and Suites in Lancaster, PA.
Social entrepreneurship has been defined as the process of pursuing innovative or sustainable solutions to social problems. Whether it’s in the nonprofit or for profit sector, social entrepreneurship is seen as advancing business for a greater cause—or as some may say, a higher calling.
Do you have an idea that you think could change the world, our society, or at least your neighborhood? Join us to hear how Ryan Keith ’02, founder of Forgotten Voices, channeled his experiences and education to respond to the needs of children orphaned by AIDS in Africa. Leveraging Local Partnerships for Social Change promises to be an engaging event that will offer practical advice for moving ideas from inception to implementation, while inspiring attendees to imagine how their professional ambitions could make a transformative difference.
View a copy of the Forgotten Voices overview card here.
If you are looking for more information about social entreprenurship, Ryan recommends the book From Concept to Scale: Building Gospel-Minded Organizations as a great, practical resource to launching or enhancing social enterprises. The book is published by Praxis Media, a social entrepreneurship accelerator helping non-profit and for-profit organizations.
This event took place on February 18, 2015 at the Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey Hotel in Harrisburg, PA.
Recap and Video
We had another fantastic event with some great discussions! Ryan Keith did an amazing job of leading the event and shared his journey into social entrepreneurship. Watch a video of the event below or at http://youtu.be/uu-W0LcjEsY.
We enjoyed another great breakfast networking event titled “Urban Revitalization: Why a Christian Businessperson Should Care“. Our featured speaker for this event was Alex Hartzler.
This event took place on November 18, 2014 at the Sheraton Harrisburg Hershey Hotel in Harrisburg, PA.
Recap and Video
We had another fantastic event with some great discussions! Alex Hartzler did an amazing job of leading the event and sharing some fantastic knowledge and examples of urban revitalization at work in the Harrisburg, PA area. Watch a video of the event below or at http://youtu.be/XqcI7kB1d9g.
It’s no secret that businesses want to succeed. It also should be no surprise that their employees want to succeed! Of course, there’s often a strong, positive relationship between the two—when employees succeed, so do the organizations they serve.
A key question, then, becomes: How can organizations most effectively encourage and support their employees’ success?
Mark Griffin, founder of In HIS Name HR and a professional with more than two decades of experience working with high performance organizations, is uniquely qualified to explore this question.
Managing Employees to Success promises to be an interesting and interactive event that will offer fresh ideas and productivity-enhancing insights for employers and employees alike.
Please join us for this important Messiah College Business Alumni Networking Breakfast and make plans now to attend what promises to be a stimulating event!
This event took place on September 16, 2014 at the Eden Resort and Suites in Lancaster, PA. Keep reading for a full recording of the event.
Recap and Video
We had another fantastic event with some great discussions! Connie and Gary Ostwald did an amazing job of leading the event and sharing some fantastic knowledge and examples. Watch a video of the event below or at http://youtu.be/6lTXYPAyreM.
