Beth Ryan

Celebrating 2020 Graduates in Economics

As the spring semester comes to a close, we are pleased congratulate the class of 2020.  Department Chair, Dr. Stephen Onyeiwu expressed these best wishes on behalf of the faculty and staff of the Center for Business & Economics, “We are very delighted you made it, despite the challenges posed by COVID-19. You’re truly a resilient and an indefatigable class. Congratulations!”

Ben Bachik Trevor Day Andrew Kirn Taylor Renk
Rafael Balanquet Garrett Fenton Sungho Lee Carlos Sanchez
Michael Bartley Christian Geer Nicole Luoma Haley Seifert
Matthew Bauer Gillian Greene Matt Massucci Jared Shaw
Autumn Bicko Austin Hoyt Ermona Michael Hailey Shull
Emma Black Ukasha Javed Ryan Miller Scott Steiner
Cassie Brown Justin Katchur Rachel Montgomery Anh Ta
Zack Casagrande Sean Kealey John Nagel Graham Tufts
Moises Colomer Jacqueline Kelley-Cogdell Brendan O’Toole Brendon Urso
Robert Crowe Bret Kelly Zack Pateras Andrew Vincent
Fabian Cuen Camacho Omar Khan Shannon Putnam Liam Wilby

Meet the Fellows – Trevor Day ’20

Trevor Day '20Trevor will graduate this year as an Economics major and  Communication Arts minor after serving as a Fellow for two years.  What’s it like to serve the Business & Economics department as a Fellow?  Here’s what Trevor had to say:

“The CBE Fellowship has been one of the most rewarding experiences in my college career. The CBE has given me not only the experience, but the confidence to interact with alumni and faculty in a professional manner. The Economics Department and the CBE are two of the things I will miss the most as I graduate, but I know that I will be successful no matter where my career takes me due to my experiences as a Fellow.”

The Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business and Economics Fellows are a select group of motivated students that function as a leadership team to support CBE programming and act as student ambassadors.

Celebrating 2020 Student Honors in Economics

Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business & EconomicsThis spring, we honor the 2020 Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business & Economics students who have earned honors in the field of economics.   The honors designation is awarded to students whose exemplary performance in academics distinguishes them as young professionals as they graduate and move on to their next great adventure.

According to Stephen Onyeiwu, Ph.D., Department Chair, ”the Economics Department awards honors to students who have earned a minimum GPA of 3.5 in Economics, and at least a B+ in both the senior project and senior seminar plus an A- in one of these two. These are very high standards, and the department is delighted that a large number of the class of 2020 have received honors in Economics. Congratulations to our honorees for their stellar accomplishments, and we wish them success in their future endeavors.”

The following  class of 2020 students have earned the department’s special honors:

The Prize of Pennsylvania Institute of Certified Public Accountants is awarded for excellence in accounting studies. This prize is awarded to Keith Irvin ‘20.

The Economics Senior Project Prize is awarded for the best senior project assigned annually by the Department of Economics to encourage understanding and good scholarship.  This prize is awarded to Jacqueline Kelley-Cogdell ’20.

The Graduate Student’s Prize in Economics  is awarded to seniors whose achievement has been outstanding, and whose promise as a graduate student is substantial. This prize is awarded to both Matt Massucci ’20 and Graham Tufts ’20.

The Outstanding Achievement Prize in Economics is given to seniors with an outstanding record in economics and their positive contribution to the vitality of the department. This prize is awarded to both Emma Black ’20 and Jacqueline Kelley-Cogdell ’20.

The Outstanding Junior Major Prize is awarded for exceptional academic achievement, performance in the seminar, and their positive contribution to the vitality of the department.  This prize is awarded to Rachel Tobler ’21.

The following Senior projects have earned Honors recognition:

Rafael Balanquet “The Effect of the Slope of the Treasury Yield Curve on Private Nonresidential Fixed Investment in the United States’ Economy”
Matthew Bauer “The Influence of the Tobacco Industry on State Legislatures’ Tobacco Control Laws”
Autumn Bicko (Sliker-Parker) “The Failing Market of the Education System Under School Choice”
Emma  Black “The Effects of Female Representation on the Gender Wage Gap”
Trevor Day “Stock Market Seasonality: An Empirical Analysis Using the CAPM”
Christian Geer “Exploring the Predictive Power of Twitter Sentiment on Stock Price Movements”
Gillian Greene “Reliable Recipients? When Rent-Seeking Behaviors Complicate Counterterrorism Efforts”
Ukasha Javed “Determinants of Economic Growth In Developing and Developed Countries”
Sean Kealey “The Driving Forces Behind Mergers, Acquisitions and Joint Ventures Between Macrobrewers in the 21st Century”
Jacqueline Kelley-Cogdell “The Economic Impacts of Rural Public Transportation”
Bret Kelly “The Impacts of Ethics on Principal-Agent Problems  and Corporate Performance”
Matt Massucci “An Analysis of the Change in the Market Structure of the Tooling and Machining Industry in Crawford County, Pennsylvania”
John Nagel “Potential Factors that Impact Hotel Revenue in Belize”
Haley Seifert “Does Knowing a Second Language Affect Income?”
Anh Ta “The Road to Zero: Regulating Carbon Emissions”
Liam Wilby “An Empirical Investigation into England National Sporting Teams Impact on the FTSE100 Market Index”
Graham Tufts “Nothing New Under the Sun: The Origins and Effects of the Chicago Boys Neoliberalism”

Congratulations to these outstanding students! #AlleghenyStrong

The Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business & Economics attracts Allegheny’s next generation of business innovators and entrepreneurs by providing a host of co-curricular activities that connect with and deepen their classroom experiences. 

Meet The Fellows:  Emma Black ‘20

Emma Black '20, CBE FellowEmma will graduate this year as an Economics Major and German minor after serving as a Fellow for two years.  What’s it like to serve the Business & Economics department as a Fellow?  Here’s what Emma had to say:

“Being a CBE Fellow gave me the opportunity to expand upon my relationships in the department with professors and students, which made my four years at Quigley Hall much more meaningful. I also was able to improve my networking, public speaking, and event planning skills alongside the other fellows who made the experiences so enjoyable.”

The Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business and Economics Fellows are a select group of motivated students that function as a leadership team to support CBE programming and act as student ambassadors.

Allegheny Students Earn Bloomberg Certification

Students with Bloomberg Certifications Have a Competitive Edge in Rapidly Changing Economy

Typical Bloomberg Terminal
Typical Bloomberg Terminal

During the spring 2020 semester, Assistant Professors Timothy Bianco and Michael Michaelides launched a new course, Introduction to Bloomberg Terminals.  This course is an interactive introduction to financial market analysis using a mix of Bloomberg modules and in-class software-based exercises. Students are exposed to key properties of financial data and applications to prepare for careers in financial institutions.

The first group of Allegheny College students who completed the course earned their Bloomberg certification in the Center for Business and Economics Bloomberg Lab.  The Bloomberg Market Concepts (BMC) is a course that provides an interactive introduction to the financial markets. BMC consists of 3 sections — Core Concepts (includes four modules – Economic Indicators, Currencies, Fixed Income, Equities), Getting Started on the Terminal and Portfolio Management. 

According to Gene Natali ‘01, CFA, CEO and Co-founder of Troutwood, a financial services and technology company,  “I am pleased to see the College’s inclusion of this important certification!  Efforts like this help to differentiate students pursuing internships and graduates looking for that first job.  Great work to Allegheny and to all faculty involved in making this happen. Most importantly, congratulations to the 19 participating students!

These students can now use their certificates to demonstrate market and industry knowledge that will give them the edge in the competitive job market: 

Lancaster Wu, Matt Massucci, Shannon Putnam, Alexander Lawson, Christian Geer, Rafael Balanquet, Trevor Day, Victoria Vradenburg, Anh Ta, Kevin Lee, Rachel Tobler, Alex Abadi, Samantha Valera, Robert Crowe, Emma Black, Logan Zorilla, Daeson Gibbs, Andrew Ferguson, and Cheyenne Wilson.

Reference:  Top Ten Student Uses; A Bloomberg Professional Offering

The Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business & Economics attracts Allegheny’s next generation of business innovators and entrepreneurs by providing a host of co-curricular activities that connect with and deepen their classroom experiences. 

Influencing Consumer Decision Making

Dr. Michael BarberaThe Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business & Economics welcomes Dr. Michael Barbera on Monday, February 3 at 12:15 pm in Quigley Auditorium.  Dr. Michael Barbera is an award-winning consumer psychologist and business strategist for Fortune 50 companies. He is a leading expert in the complex factors that drive the entire consumer decision-making process, including consumer behavior, emotion, and experience. His practice areas include social psychology, decision-making, brand management, marketing, product placement, and long-term business growth strategies.

As the chief behavioral officer at Clicksuasion Labs, Michael helps clients to better understand consumer influence and consumer behavior, both online and in person. With Michael’s help, companies build customer experiences that are more efficient, engaging, and effective. He also creates evidence-based solutions that affect both external marketing strategy and internal operations management with behavioral economics and behavioral finance.

Michael has worked with large organizations including Boeing, Microsoft, The Washington Post, John Deere, Harley Davidson, LendLease, the United States Department of Defense, and the United States Department of State. He has also worked with academic institutions including Ithaca College, Purdue University, Duke University, and the University of North Carolina. Michaels’s clients have also appeared on the Billboard Top 40, ABC’s Shark Tank, Bravo’s Million Dollar Listing, and Gordon Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares.

Michael champions entrepreneurs and business leaders as a teacher, moderator, and mentor. In 2015, the White House recognized Michael for his many contributions to entrepreneurship. Michael shares research, insights, and thought leadership as a celebrated keynote speaker, host of the Clicksuasion podcast, and dynamic TEDx presenter. More than 100,000 people have seen Michael speak on four continents, and he has earned more than 250,000 views online.

The Lunchtime Learning Lecture Series provides students with opportunities to gain valuable information on topics and industries related to internships and careers. Speakers often choose one of two broad areas to discuss with students. The first is career oriented, and fits under our CBE CAREERS lunches. The second is issue oriented, and fits under our CBE IDEAS lunches. Both topics enable students to navigate and explore job options, understand the steps necessary to pursue opportunities and how to self-advocate for opportunities in the workplace.

The “Whack a Mole” Syndrome:  The Economic and Environmental Challenges of Managing Trash

Jill Boughton, President W2Worth Innovations
Jill Boughton, President
W2Worth Innovations

On January 30th, Allegheny College welcomes Jill Boughton, President of W2Worth Innovations who will share her passion for discovering new solutions to the overwhelming problems associated with waste management in the US and around the world. 

Where others see problems in solving the world’s trash dilemma, Jill, a trained chemical engineer, sees solutions, so much so that her work was recently featured in the November 2019 National Geographic in an article entitled, “Others see waste. She sees worth.”

Jill Boughton is Founder and President of W2Worth Innovations – an organization that seeks to catalyze the use of solid waste as a resource as a means for mitigating the larger social, economic and environmental impacts caused by solid waste.   She began this adventure in 2012 upon retirement from a successful 24 year career at Procter and Gamble (P&G).    Over her career at P&G, Jill managed Product Development activities for several of P&G’s businesses, in categories ranging from Personal Health Care to Paper Products.    Her time with P&G included a seven year stint in Caracas, Venezuela, giving Jill first- hand knowledge of social/economic issues important to emerging regions.

Jill was well known within P&G for her specialty in developing and managing Disruptive Innovation portfolios.   One of the projects emerging from this work was P&G’s “Waste to Worth” program.  This program supported P&G’s long term environmental sustainability vision of having zero consumer waste entering landfills.  It specifically focused on addressing the growing issue of solid waste management in emerging markets through economic development and innovation.   Through this project, Jill has emerged as a leader in the field, specializing in objective evaluation of emerging technology and managing integration of technologies in this space.

When not in trash dumps, Jill resides in Cincinnati, Ohio with her husband, Bill Boughton.   They have two children, Jennifer and Benjamin, who have also pursued careers in science and the environment.

The Anatomy of a Recession

How close could we be to the next recession —and what should we watch for in the months ahead?

John Kutz ’83
Allegheny College Trustee
Sales Director, Legg Mason

The Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business & Economics will open the spring semester Lunchtime Learning lecture series by welcoming John Kutz ‘83, Sales Director for Legg Mason, who will present Anatomy of a Recession, an exploration of the important questions that can impact everyone’s financial health:

  • How close could we be to the next recession?
  • Will growth hold steady, weaken or pick up by the end of the year?
  • What factors are most important to watch to help keep people on track?

Students of all majors are encouraged to attend on Thursday to widen their appeal as potential job candidates, according to Kutz, “Your ability to understand and be able to discuss intelligently current market conditions can provide you with a competitive edge in your job or internship search.  Employers are seeking job candidates that have a grasp on capital markets and can discuss reasons for possible economic downturns and/or expansionary periods.”

Kutz will discuss capital markets and review where the US economy is relative to a possible recession.  He will introduce a Recession Risk Dashboard and discuss the 12 key variables that tend to foreshadow economic downturn.

John Kutz is a Sales Director for Legg Mason serving the Ohio Valley region. John has been in the investment industry since 1998, and he joined Legg Mason in 2011. Prior to joining Legg Mason, John spent nearly 18 years with Victory Capital Management as Managing Director, Retirement Plan Services.

John received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Allegheny College and an MBA from Katz Graduate School of Business at the University of Pittsburgh. He is a Chartered Mutual Fund Counselor SM (CMFC®) and a recipient of the SPARK Accredited Retirement Plan Consultant (ARPC) designation. John also was recognized by his clients as a Top DC Wholesaler through the National Association of Plan Advisors’ Top 100 DC Wholesalers list (also known as the “Wingmen”) in 2014, 2015, 2018 and 2019.

John and his wife, Kathy, have three children, Allison, Maggie and Tim, and they live in Kirtland Hills, OH. In his spare time, John enjoys working out, golfing and biking. John currently serves on the Board of Trustees at Allegheny College.

The Lunchtime Learning Lecture Series provides students with opportunities to gain valuable information on topics and industries related to internships and careers. Speakers often choose one of two broad areas to discuss with students. The first is career oriented, and fits under our CBE CAREERS lunches. The second is issue oriented, and fits under our CBE IDEAS lunches. Both topics enable students to navigate and explore job options, understand the steps necessary to pursue opportunities and how to self-advocate for opportunities in the workplace.

The Effect of Unconventional Monetary Policy on Credit Flows

Business & Economics Faculty SeminarsEconomics Professor Tim Bianco opened the fall semester faculty seminar series on Thursday September 26, presenting his paper, “The Effect of Unconventional Monetary Policy on Credit Flows” prepared jointly with Ana Maria Herrera, Professor of Economics, University of Kentucky. Professor Bianco presented this paper at the Ohio State University Department of Economics 29th Annual Meeting of the Midwest Econometrics Group (MEG 2019).

Their paper evaluates the quantitative effects of unconventional monetary policy in the late 2000s and early 2010s when the federal funds rate hit the zero lower bound (ZLB). They compute credit flows using Compustat data and employ a factor augmented vector autoregression to analyze unconventional monetary policy’s impact on the allocation of credit among firms. They show that the impact of unconventional monetary policy on credit reallocation was substantial, especially for long-term credit. They then inquire what groups of firms accounted for this increased credit reallocation finding that, during the ZLB, unconventional monetary policy reshuffled credit towards firms typically viewed as financially constrained: small, young, high-default and highly leveraged firms. They also show that, during the ZLB, unconventional monetary policy brought about higher credit creation for firms of relatively high investment efficiency, suggesting this policy was key to fueling future economic growth. Download the full text of paper here in .pdf format

Timothy Bianco, Ph.D.

Timothy Bianco is an Assistant Professor of Economics at Allegheny College.  He earned a Ph.D. in Economics at the University of Kentucky, specializing in macroeconomics. Bianco attended Bowling Green University, earning a Master of Arts in Economics (2008) and a Bachelor of Science in Business Administration, Economics and Finance (2006). His research focuses on macroeconomics, banking and corporate finance, and international trade and finance. He served as an Economic and Research Analyst at the Cleveland Federal Reserve Bank for four years, prior to joining the University of Kentucky (2013 – 2018).  He has been published in the Journal of Banking and Finance, the Handbook on Systemic Risk, the Journal of Financial Management and Analysis, and the Federal Reserve’s Economic Commentary.

Ana María Herrera, Ph.D.

Ana María Herrera is a Professor of Economics at the University of Kentucky. She earned both her B.A. and M.A. in Economics at the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, Colombia and her Ph.D. in Economics at the University of California in San Diego. Herrera was a Repsol-YPF Fellow at Harvard’s Kennedy School in 2005-06 and conducts research in macroeconomics, energy economics and applied econometrics. Her work has been published in the Journal of Monetary Economics, the Journal of Financial Economics, the Journal of Applied Econometrics and the Energy Journal.

The Bruce R. Thompson Center for Business and Economics organizes faculty seminars to provide Allegheny College and visiting faculty the opportunities to give presentations based on their research agendas. Students, faculty and staff attend to learn more about cutting-edge research.

Agricultural Technology, Bio-fortification & Child Nutrition in Uganda

“The immediate causes of malnutrition among children in Uganda and elsewhere continue to be the high disease burden as well as inadequate dietary intake. “ Dr. Rosemary Isoto

The Center for Business & Economics welcomes Dr. Rosemary Isoto on Monday, December 9 to present her paper entitled, “Agricultural Technology, Bio-fortification and Child Nutrition in Uganda.”

Despite big strides in economic growth, a general decline in poverty levels and an improvement in life expectancy at birth, Uganda continues to lag in terms of reducing child mortality and malnutrition. The immediate causes of malnutrition among children in Uganda and elsewhere continue to be the high disease burden as well as inadequate dietary intake. However, many other factors contribute to nutritional outcomes, among them, the performance of the agricultural sector.

Recent compelling study reviews reveal a number of key pathways that connect improvements in agriculture to improved nutritional outcomes. They include higher agricultural incomes, lower food prices, more nutritious on-farm production and consumption, and synergies between agriculture and nutrition and health arising from women’s empowerment. This study investigates the linkages between modern agricultural technology and child nutrition with a specific focus on production of bio-fortified food crops.

Dr. Rosemary Isoto is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Agribusiness and Natural Resource Economics (DANRE) at Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda.

Before joining DANRE, she was a Post-doctoral fellow at Tufts Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy in Boston. She received her PhD from The Ohio State University in the Department of Agricultural, Environmental and Development Economics.

Dr. Isoto’s main research focuses on interlinkages between agriculture and nutritional intake among rural households, financing and marketing matters, issues of financing among youth, provision of extension services in a decentralized setting, gender and productivity, landfills and environmental issues among others.

She has wide knowledge on different models of credit provision in Uganda based on her own research and teaching of agricultural and agribusiness finance. She has also published extensively in journals such as Finance Review, Food Security, and Development Studies among others.

Allegheny College Faculty SeminarsFaculty Seminars are organized to provide a platform for Allegheny and visiting faculty to give presentations based on their research agenda.  Students, faculty and staff attend to learn more about cutting edge research in the field of business and economics.