FEATURES

By AMY BIEMILLER

2012 Small Business Breakfast Series

March 14 – Taking Advantage of Today’s Favorable Tax Environment – Strategies to Enhance Business Profitability and Financial Security; Paul Salerno, Director of Financial Planning at Tax & Financial Group

May 9 – Building Your First Sales Team

To learn more about the Small Business Breakfast Series, go to http://bschool.pepperdine.edu/alumni/councils/oc/

Small businesses have big appetites for learning how to better manage the business of business. Now, the Graziadio Alumni Network (GAN) in Orange County is meeting that need for local small business owners, managers and nascent entrepreneurs – and provide a breakfast to boot – in a regular Small Business Breakfast Series on the Irvine campus.

“We recognized that a good portion of our constituents are either employed with, or have started a small to medium-sized business,” says MBA student Kris Carter, the Orange County alumni network’s director of small business outreach. “This observation, combined with increased awareness of this segment by the University, led us to initiate the program.”

Less a networking meeting and more a think-tank session over coffee, the Breakfast Series is open to anyone willing to pay the $15 fee and make the bright-and-early 7:30 a.m. start time. Attendees help themselves to breakfast goodies, then settle in for a presentation by a business leader or subject matter expert who delivers focused insight into specific areas that are important to business owners.

“Our speakers are subject matter experts who provide current, relevant information on topics that face a small business or entrepreneur,” explains Carter. “The greatest value is that attendees get access to individuals who have ‘been there, done that’ and can share what they learned through the process.” continue

PRESS RELEASES

Pepperdine MBA student Michelle Perry of Carpinteria, CA received $19,000 in combined scholarship funding from the American Association of University Women and Zonta International for the 2011-2012 academic year.

Michelle Perry obtained a BA from the University of California, Santa Barbara in Communications. She is currently pursuing a master’s degree in Business Administration from Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management and will graduate in April 2012. She is enrolled in the school’s Santa Barbara-based MBA cohort, in which students attend classes on a split schedule between courses hosted at UC-Santa Barbara Mosher Alumni House and Pepperdine’s Westlake Village-Ventura County campus. In 2010, Ms. Perry sold her first company, a Graphic Design and Print firm, after seven years as president and owner. continue

The third issue of the Graziadio School’s entrepreneurship e-magazine PDF is now available for download. Open and save to your desktop.

FEATURES:

End of the 12 Year Drought
By JAY TURO

Build Your Business: 3 Tips for Explosive Growth
By DAVE LAVINSKY

ENTREPRENEURS:

• SMILE BRANDS: Steve Bilt, MBA ’01

• LOLAY.COM: Bardia Dejban, MBA Candidate ‘12

• BEYOND THE OLIVE: Crystal & Chip Reibel , MBA ’09

• SUPERHERO ENTERPRISES: Davien Watkins, BSM ’11

Check out past issues

What makes an MBA student with career experience analyzing hedge funds and originating loans for one of the nation’s largest banks gladly take on leadership of the student government association for the full-time MBA program at Pepperdine University? Andrew Mescon, new president of the Malibu Graduate Business Society (MGBS), credits a renewed passion for the community of which he is a part.

“With a Master’s in Public Policy, and a BA in Political Science, I have always been interested in the concept of government and public service,” he says. But until recently, that interest wasn’t enough to propel him into action. “I needed a passion for the community I would be working with, as well as for the work itself,” he says. “This very impressive group of classmates at Graziadio has rejuvenated my passion for service.”

MGBS is the primary organization that facilitates all student interests – assigning students to faculty and administrative committees, hosting top corporate speakers, planning networking and social events, and supervising and promoting all student organizations and clubs. It serves as the administration’s primary resource to gather information related to student sentiment, which is used to generate new policy initiatives. continue

PRESS RELEASES

– Top Net Impact chapters recognized for their 2010-2011 achievements

Net Impact, the international nonprofit organization with a mission to inspire, educate, and equip individuals to create a more socially and environmentally sustainable world, has announced the 2011-2012 Gold and Silver standings for Net Impact chapters, naming the Net Impact M.B.A. association at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business and Management with the prestigious Gold rating. The standings, based on the chapter’s performance this past academic year, represent the most outstanding chapters in the Net Impact network. This year, just 14% of nearly 280 Net Impact chapters worldwide achieved Gold standing.

“We are ecstatic that we were able to achieve the highest chapter standing,” said chapter co-president Tracy Liu. “We join Yale, Duke, Berkeley and Georgetown on the list and were only one of two California graduate schools recognized!”

Chapters achieve Gold or Silver standing by meeting a rigorous set of requirements based on their activities, programming, and membership reach. This year’s Gold and Silver chapters continued to raise the bar, holding a total of nearly 1,300 events and managing 130 programs that allow members to make an impact in their communities. Gold and Silver chapters also strengthened the overall network by collaborating regionally on events, mentoring other chapters, and sharing success stories with their peers. continue