Business and Economics

Entrepreneur in Residence Chris Allison ’83 has published a book of short stories, Snowflakes: and Other Stories.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Assistant Professor of Economics Jialu Streeter has recently published two papers: “Adoption of SO2 emission control technologies—An application of survival analysis,” Energy Policy, 90 (2016) 16-23; and “Does Health Insurance Decrease Health Expenditure Risk in Developing Countries? The Case of China,” Southern Economic Journal 2015, 82(2), 361–384.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Assistant Professor of Economics Jialu Streeter has recently published two papers: “Adoption of SO2 emission control technologies—An application of survival analysis,” Energy Policy, 90 (2016) 16-23; and “Does Health Insurance Decrease Health Expenditure Risk in Developing Countries? The Case of China,” Southern Economic Journal 2015, 82(2), 361–384.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Assistant Professor of Economics Hyun Woong Park has been appointed to the editorial board of The Review of Social and Economics Studies, published by the Korean Association of Political Economy.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Assistant Professor of Economics Hyun Woong Park has been appointed to the editorial board of The Review of Social and Economics Studies, published by the Korean Association of Political Economy.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

In July, CNN.com published an article by Professor of Economics Stephen Onyeiwu, “Lessons Buhari can learn from Obama about managing a tough economy.”

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

In July, CNN.com published an article by Professor of Economics Stephen Onyeiwu, “Lessons Buhari can learn from Obama about managing a tough economy.”

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Allegheny alumnus discovers new calling in life

Mike Greenberg ’88 has three pieces of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Follow your passions; work hard – play hard; find what resonates with you.

Greenberg admits that it took him a while to discover what resonates. Twenty-four years after starting his own business, however, he believes he has found it.

“For years I had been looking for the right cause to support,” says Greenberg, who lives in Denver. “Nothing has ever resonated with me like my most recent venture in our software platform called PrintReleaf.”

Establishing Roots in Silicon Valley
Following graduation from Allegheny, Greenberg – armed with an international economics degree – moved to San Francisco and began selling freight services for now-defunct Consolidated Freightways. Although he says he learned a great deal about sales, what excited him most was that his sales territory was in the technology hub Silicon Valley.

“The year was around 1990, the infancy of the tech sector,” he says. “I didn’t know much about technology beyond floppy disks, but I knew I wanted to be selling technology products and services.”

That’s when he took a job with a technology distributor requiring him to make about 500 cold calls per day. Although he says the three months at this job weren’t “glamorous,” it led him to a new connection.

“I met someone who had just started a small printer sales company, and he asked me to join,” Greenberg recalls. “He taught me a lot about the printer side of the business, which was invaluable, but he was unable to sustain his company.”

Greenberg decided to relocate to his hometown of Denver. Faced with the realization that he didn’t have a job but needed to put food on the table, he decided to put his Allegheny economics skills to use by starting his own business.

In 1992, PrinTelogy Inc. was born.

“I began in a one-room apartment selling ink and toner for printers,” Greenberg says. “I still recall hearing the poor UPS delivery driver pulling his dolly up three flights of stairs to deliver my inventory, then down again at the end of the day with my shipments. The company began to grow, and I was able to expand our services and creating a niche for ourselves.

“The fact that I had the confidence to go out and do something on my own is something I attribute to Allegheny,” he adds, specifically mentioning advice he received from Professor Emeritus Earl Adams and his adviser, Professor Emeritus Steve Casler. “I also learned a lot about leadership as president of my fraternity, Phi Delta Theta.”

Greenberg still serves as head of PrinTelogy, which boasts clients such as Starz Entertainment, Reed Smith LLP and Dish Network. However, a call from a former sales competitor three years ago piqued his interest and helped uncover a new passion.

Data Into Trees
The new idea was called PrintReleaf – a software platform that captures letter paper consumption from software connected to network printers and copiers; reverse calculates how many trees were deforested for that paper; then funds global reforestation projects to replant that consumption.

To put things into perspective, Greenberg explains that a broadly accepted formula equates that 8,333 sheets of paper are produced from one tree. Estimates also predict that 3.3 trillion pages of paper are produced on digital printers and copiers worldwide each year – translating to 360 million trees being harvested for paper.

“It’s important to note,” he says, “that the 3-plus trillion pages doesn’t include commercially printed paper products such as magazines, newspaper, paper cups, toilet paper, etc. This market is at least five times the consumption of office equipment.

“When the company’s founder first came to me with the idea for PrintReleaf, I knew little about sustainability,” adds Greenberg, who now is a partner at PrintReleaf. “Around the same time, I was becoming increasingly aware of how global warming was becoming a dangerous problem for our planet. Tree biomass can provide huge benefits to repairing this damage.

“It’s gratifying to see that we are making an impact, although we know we still have a very long way to go. Since launching our platform in May 2014, we have offset more than 250 million sheets of paper and funded the replanting of 30,000 trees,” he says.

In addition to the time he spends dedicated to the businesses and to his 17-year-old son, Charlie, Greenberg also serves as a frequent public speaker at national industry conventions on emerging ideas and strategies and as a consultant.

Looking back on his career, Greenberg says that although his journey from Allegheny followed a winding path, he is pleased that he has found a cause that finally resonates with him.

“It’s amazing to see how each job has taught me new skills and facilitated new connections to get me to where I am today,” he says. “I never would have guessed I’d be running a printing company while serving as a champion for sustainability.

“I firmly believe that my education and experience at Allegheny played a huge role in me feeling confident and provided the foundation of skills for me to succeed at anything I chose to do.”

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

Allegheny alumnus discovers new calling in life

Mike Greenberg ’88 has three pieces of advice for aspiring entrepreneurs: Follow your passions; work hard – play hard; find what resonates with you.

Greenberg admits that it took him a while to discover what resonates. Twenty-four years after starting his own business, however, he believes he has found it.

“For years I had been looking for the right cause to support,” says Greenberg, who lives in Denver. “Nothing has ever resonated with me like my most recent venture in our software platform called PrintReleaf.”

Establishing Roots in Silicon Valley
Following graduation from Allegheny, Greenberg – armed with an international economics degree – moved to San Francisco and began selling freight services for now-defunct Consolidated Freightways. Although he says he learned a great deal about sales, what excited him most was that his sales territory was in the technology hub Silicon Valley.

“The year was around 1990, the infancy of the tech sector,” he says. “I didn’t know much about technology beyond floppy disks, but I knew I wanted to be selling technology products and services.”

That’s when he took a job with a technology distributor requiring him to make about 500 cold calls per day. Although he says the three months at this job weren’t “glamorous,” it led him to a new connection.

“I met someone who had just started a small printer sales company, and he asked me to join,” Greenberg recalls. “He taught me a lot about the printer side of the business, which was invaluable, but he was unable to sustain his company.”

Greenberg decided to relocate to his hometown of Denver. Faced with the realization that he didn’t have a job but needed to put food on the table, he decided to put his Allegheny economics skills to use by starting his own business.

In 1992, PrinTelogy Inc. was born.

“I began in a one-room apartment selling ink and toner for printers,” Greenberg says. “I still recall hearing the poor UPS delivery driver pulling his dolly up three flights of stairs to deliver my inventory, then down again at the end of the day with my shipments. The company began to grow, and I was able to expand our services and creating a niche for ourselves.

“The fact that I had the confidence to go out and do something on my own is something I attribute to Allegheny,” he adds, specifically mentioning advice he received from Professor Emeritus Earl Adams and his adviser, Professor Emeritus Steve Casler. “I also learned a lot about leadership as president of my fraternity, Phi Delta Theta.”

Greenberg still serves as head of PrinTelogy, which boasts clients such as Starz Entertainment, Reed Smith LLP and Dish Network. However, a call from a former sales competitor three years ago piqued his interest and helped uncover a new passion.

Data Into Trees
The new idea was called PrintReleaf – a software platform that captures letter paper consumption from software connected to network printers and copiers; reverse calculates how many trees were deforested for that paper; then funds global reforestation projects to replant that consumption.

To put things into perspective, Greenberg explains that a broadly accepted formula equates that 8,333 sheets of paper are produced from one tree. Estimates also predict that 3.3 trillion pages of paper are produced on digital printers and copiers worldwide each year – translating to 360 million trees being harvested for paper.

“It’s important to note,” he says, “that the 3-plus trillion pages doesn’t include commercially printed paper products such as magazines, newspaper, paper cups, toilet paper, etc. This market is at least five times the consumption of office equipment.

“When the company’s founder first came to me with the idea for PrintReleaf, I knew little about sustainability,” adds Greenberg, who now is a partner at PrintReleaf. “Around the same time, I was becoming increasingly aware of how global warming was becoming a dangerous problem for our planet. Tree biomass can provide huge benefits to repairing this damage.

“It’s gratifying to see that we are making an impact, although we know we still have a very long way to go. Since launching our platform in May 2014, we have offset more than 250 million sheets of paper and funded the replanting of 30,000 trees,” he says.

In addition to the time he spends dedicated to the businesses and to his 17-year-old son, Charlie, Greenberg also serves as a frequent public speaker at national industry conventions on emerging ideas and strategies and as a consultant.

Looking back on his career, Greenberg says that although his journey from Allegheny followed a winding path, he is pleased that he has found a cause that finally resonates with him.

“It’s amazing to see how each job has taught me new skills and facilitated new connections to get me to where I am today,” he says. “I never would have guessed I’d be running a printing company while serving as a champion for sustainability.

“I firmly believe that my education and experience at Allegheny played a huge role in me feeling confident and provided the foundation of skills for me to succeed at anything I chose to do.”

Source: Academics, Publications & Research

It’s Allegheny’s version of the reality TV show “Shark Tank.”

No, we’re not talking about fish. We’re talking about the College’s Gator Social Venture Challenge, a competition that allows student entrepreneurs to pitch ideas for a new social venture or an improvement of an existing social venture to a panel of judges. The event took place April 24 and 25 in Quigley Hall.

This year, 26 teams from Allegheny and Grove City College participated in the two-day challenge, which is part of the managerial track programming in the College’s Department of Economics.

“The challenge is designed to provide community-based experiential learning opportunities, envisioned by the Allegheny Gateway, for students. They also present their ideas to highly successful professionals in their respective fields,” says Chris Allison ’83, entrepreneur in residence at Allegheny. “It also offers students networking opportunities with distinguished Allegheny alumni and friends of the College.”

TJ Eatmon, assistant professor of environmental science, worked with some of the teams presenting their ideas this year. The challenge is the final project for his “Ecopreneurship” class, where students were charged with creating a product that has an environmental impact. For example, one group from his class presented their idea of turning empty prescription bottles into lawn supply products such as shovels and rakes.

“I think the challenge shows that environmental ideas and business can coexist,” Eatmon says. “It gives the students great experience in designing their own business plan. Their liberal arts education also gives them an advantage by allowing them to think and communicate with people across a variety of professions.”

Eatmon adds that a partnership between Allegheny and Parkhurst Dining – Allegheny’s food service provider – was actually the winning idea in 2012. The business plan now has been put into action; Allegheny sells fish and lettuce from its aquaponics system – which uses fish waste to grow plants in a recirculating system – directly to Parkhurst.

For this year’s challenge, preliminary round judging took place on April 24, with all teams pitching their ideas to the judges. Nine student team finalists advanced to Saturday’s championship round.

For new social ventures, first place and $1,000 in prize money were awarded to the Limuli Farms team from Allegheny: Kiah Boudreau, Timothy Cornett, Jennifer Glen, Jeremy Pallant and William Schroer.

The group’s idea was to take advantage of an impending supply chain problem in the production of LAL, which is the finest indicator of sterility in the biomedical industry and is required for testing of the majority of medical equipment. According to the group, since LAL is produced from the blood of horseshoe crabs, the collection of horseshoe crabs in the wild is about to be increasingly regulated. The group’s idea was to develop a sustainable method of farm-raising horseshoe crabs to protect their species and produce LAL in a reliable manner.

Second place and $750 in prize money were awarded to the Kinbox team from Grove City: Andrea Howe, Jordan Jensen and Karolina Lagerquist.

Third place and $500 in prize money were awarded to the Lunch Time team from Grove City: Ashley Henderson, Haley Nerlich and Taylor Stein.

In addition, an honorable mention and $300 in prize money were awarded to the Wheel House team from Grove City: Elisabeth O’Brien and Hannah Vaccaro.

For the improvement of an existing social venture, first place and $1,000 in prize money were awarded to the Market House Authority team from Allegheny: Ryan Cambier, Robert Pickett and Matt Tilley. The group proposed an innovative solution to develop new marketing strategies to help improve the business’s operations and preserve the historic Market House building, a long-standing Meadville icon.

Second place and $750 in prize money were awarded to the Community Care Network team from Allegheny: Andrew Hotchkiss, Liam McNamee and Mary Nagel.

Third place and $500 in prize money were awarded to the Special Olympics of Crawford County team from Allegheny: Lucas Morton, Hannah Russell and Walter Stover.

There was a two-way tie for honorable mention, with each team receiving $300 in prize money. Aaron Donahoe, Mark Egan and Taesha Foster of Allegheny presented ErieDAWN. Brett Barrett, Ashley Keenen and Nikola Matic of Allegheny presented United Community Independence Programs (UCIP).

Students on winning teams received trophies.

This year’s judges were:

• Chris Alan Daverse ’88, senior consultant, business development and government affairs, Semiconductor Research Corp.
• John Golden, associate professor of economics at Allegheny
• Don Goldstein, professor of economics at Allegheny
• Geoffrey Gund, president, George Gund Foundation
• JoAnn Pacinelli ’82, president of ECapital Exchange LLC, Pittsburgh
• Michael Piraino ’74, chief executive officer, National Court Appointed Special Advocate Association (CASA)
• Henry Robin, general partner and managing director, Invesco Private Capital
• Jonathan Spencer ’79, president, New Horizons House
• Lance Zingale ’77, executive vice president and general manager, major markets, Sykes Enterprises Inc., Tampa/St. Petersburg, Fla.

Top photo: For new social ventures, first place was awarded to the Limuli Farms team from Allegheny. Students left to right are Kiah Boudreau ’15, William Schroer ’15, Jeremy Pallant ’18, Timothy Cornett ’16 and Jennifer Glen ’15. Photo by Emilie Hickox ’15.

Source: Academics, Publications & Research