Message from Interim Dean HassabElnaby

It is hard to believe that we are nearly half way through the Spring 2018 semester! Our students will hopefully enjoy their break in March, but the activities and achievements within the College of Business and Innovation never slow down.

For example, be sure to mark your calendars now to attend the Edwin Dodd Distinguished Lecture Series in Business Ethics on Thursday, March 22 in the Driscoll Alumni Center. This free event, which takes place every other year, is generously sponsored by our great friends at Dana and Owens-Illlinois.  We look forward to learning from our guest speaker John Naber, an Olympic multi-champion and now a professional sportscaster.  See the full story in this issue and reserve your seat at this great event.

That same day COBI will present our second annual outstanding departmental awards, recognizing individuals from each department within the college for their professional success,  all built upon what they learned here at COBI. You can read about these amazing individuals in our next newsletter.

It was a true joy to attend the recent graduation ceremony for the Klar Leadership Academy, where students and their parents heard some inspiring words on success and about keep-on-keeping-on from COBI alum Bruce Gradkowski, who still holds a slew of UT quarterback records, then went on to play 11 years in the NFL and start a number of successful businesses.

We are honored to welcome teams from 34 universities across the country for our third annual University of Toledo Invitational Sales Competition at the end of February.  Thanks and congratulations to Deirdre Jones, Director of the COBHI Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales, and her staff/team, for once again hosting and coordinating the endless details for this remarkable competition, which witnessed so much talent.

Speaking of thanks, our appreciation is endless for our devoted alumni, thousands of people across Northwest Ohio, the United States and, yes, around the world. Your professional lives vividly tell the story of what a COBI business degree can help produce. Your interest in our activities (mark your calendar now for the Celebrity Wait Night on May 21, 2018 at Ciao!) and support of our students is remarkable. Know that you are always welcome here!

Inspire. Transform. Empower. Achieve 

Go Rockets!

Hassan R. HassabElnaby, PhD

Interim Dean

Sales students from 34 universities compete in University of Toledo Invitational Sales Competition

The University of Toledo College of Business and Innovation Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales (ESSPS) presented its third UT Invitational Sales Competition (UTISC) on February 23 and 24, with teams coming to the UT campus from 34 universities across the country to participate.

At the end of the competition, the University of Toledo COBI ESSPS team took third place, with Western Michigan University claiming the first place honors and Asbury University taking second place.

The UT COBI ESSPS team won this competition last year.

Individually, the winner of the Junior Division was Kaylee VanWinkle of Asbury University, the runner-up was Stacy Zoeller of Western Michigan University, and third place belonged to Haley Orr of UT COBI.

In the sophomore/freshman division, the champion was Ryan Demas from Western Michigan University; runner-up was Jackson Thomas of Asbury University; third place belonged to Samantha Lazuka of the University of Cincinnati, and fourth place was claimed by Hanna Capell of UT COBI. Marissa Piemonte of James Madison University took 5^th place, and sixth place belonged to Mason Cordes of UT COBI.

Teams represented 34 universities across the United States, including:

Ball State University, Baylor University, Bowling Green State University, Central Michigan University, Florida State University, Georgia Southern University, James Madison University, Kansas State University, Kent State University, Metropolitan State University of Denver, Morehouse College, Oregon State University, Purdue University, Southern New Hampshire University, Temple University, Tuskegee University, University of Arkansas - Little Rock, University of Central Oklahoma, University of Cincinnati, University of Dayton, University of Minnesota, University of Missouri, University of North Alabama, University of Texas at Dallas, University of Toledo, University of Wisconsin - Eau Claire, University of Wisconsin – Whitewater, University of Wyoming, West Virginia University, Western Michigan University and others.  

“Formed in 2000 and endowed in 2002, UT’s Edward H. Schmidt School of Professional Sales (ESSPS) believes in developing the world’s future sales professionals, one student at a time, and the UTISC is an ideal platform to accomplish just that,” said Deirdre Jones, ESSPS director. “We are proud to be the nation’s first and only national sales competition dedicated exclusively to the non-senior. We believe younger students are chomping at the bit to shine outside the shadow of a senior, and we are confident they have the talent and coach-ability to compete on a national stage.”

“The ESSPS is thrilled to bring tomorrow’s top talent to UTISC sponsors so they can find the sales talent they need for internships and regular placements first and feel more relaxed knowing they have time to ascertain mutual fit and complete the recruitment cycle. The UTISC also is indicative of the bench strength that exists at the nation’s top professional sales programs, as each of the 34 participating universities has committed to recruiting for the competition’s sophomore/freshman division and junior division.”

Jones added, “The best part of the UTISCF for universities is just knowing how absolutely bright the future is for sales talent.   It’s really rewarding to see the students perform well. I and my colleagues love what we do, we’re really passionate about it, knowing that we are impacting things now and decades from now, because these are the sales professionals of the future. Our vision is developing the world’s future sales leaders, one student at a time, and I can’t think of a better way that we can accomplish this than with the UTISC.”

Corporate sponsors of the event included 3M, Goodyear, Mediasite, Intuit, Hilti, Crown, P&G, Gartner, Owens-Corning, Quicken Loans, Schindler, Federated Insurance, Aflac and Actuant.