MTSU Finance Major

Tennessee Census Representative

Erran F. Persley is a data dissemination specialist for the U.S. Department of Commerce/U.S. Census Bureau whose office is located in Murfreesboro. He is responsible for assisting businesses, community-based organizations, and state and local governments in utilizing census data and data tools to make business and policy decisions, apply for federal grants, and promote community and economic development in the states of Kentucky and Tennessee.

Persley’s prior services include being senior vice president for Africa at Chemonics International Inc., one of the most technically diverse companies in the trade development industry. Persley began his career as an intern at the U.S. Department of Commerce’s office of international major projects during the George Bush Sr. administration in 1990. In 1994, Persley served under Secretary Ronald H. Brown as the international trade specialist in charge of the Japanese Official Development Assistance program at the U.S. Department of Commerce, where he assisted American companies in their efforts to bid for the $11 billion in projects financed by the Japanese government in developing countries.

Persley is an active member of the community. His public service work with youth employment and development programs and other numerous community service activities display his commitment to the reduction of poverty both in the United States and abroad.

Persley holds dual Master in Business Administration degrees from Georgetown University and the ESADE School of Business in Madrid, Spain. His undergraduate course work was in Political Science at Howard University.

Contact information:
Erran F. Persley
Data Dissemination Specialist
Tennessee and Kentucky
U.S. Department of Commerce
U.S. Census Bureau

Email: erran.f.persley@census.gov
Mobile: (615) 499-0976

Business Grads Have Most Positive Job Outlook

"Business graduates have the most positive outlook through 2017 because those with business degrees are most likely to work in industries where above average job and wage growth are expected, according to a report from industry analysis firm IBISWorld, MSNBC reports." [Read more at Memphis Business Journal and MSNBC.]

Special Report: State Sales Tax Collections

http://mtsu.edu/berc/tacir  

"State Sales Tax Collections and Purchasing Power" 

State sales tax collections for April rose 8.8% over the year. Collections for all 10 MSAs increased at least 5%, with five MSAs experiencing double-digit gains.... 

[download report pdf]

Tennessee Housing Market Newsletter

http://www.mtsu.edu/~berc/housingbrief.html 

1st Quarter 2012 newsletter online - Home sales rose significantly in the Nashville, Memphis, and Knoxville areas during the quarter, and average home prices fell again, though at a slower pace. [more at Tennessee Housing Market]

Survey Shows Mixed Views on Local Economy

"Middle Tennessee residents appear to be of two minds about the economy, based on results of the latest Middle Tennessee State University survey of consumer attitudes." [Read more about Tim Graeff's consumer confidence survey (Department of Management and Marketing) in the Tennessean.]

Comparison of Tennesseans' Income Based on Education

How much difference does a college degree make to an average Tennessean's income? Find out in this table: American Community Survey 1-Year Estimates [pdf] .

It's just one of many articles in Tennessee's Business: Job Creation [contents].

Features include:

• "Business Creations and Expansions, 2009,"
  an overview of the latest data and comparison to the 2001-2002 recession, by Tennessee State Data Center Director Randy Gustafson
• "Job Creation: What Really Works?"
  by David Hayes, MTSU Department of Economics and Finance adjunct faculty and Tennessee Workforce Development Board member

and more:

• Tennessee State Small Business Development Center's
  2011 results
• Tennessee green investments,
  an economic impact study on selected summarized by BERC Associate Director Murat Arik
• Tracking the state's economic recovery
  by staff of MTSU's Business and Economic Research Center and the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations
• State job creation initiatives, an overview

plus:

• American Community Survey 1-year employment estimates in pdf format

[Flash page-flip view]

TBR Honors Jones Foundation

tinyurl.com/777k4nm 

The Tennessee Board of Regents chancellor will honor the Jennings and Rebecca Jones Foundation for philanthropy including the establishment of MTSU chairs of excellence in Free Enterprise and Urban and Regional Planning. [more]

MTSU Professor a Top Tweeter

From the Daily News Journal: Don Roy, Management and Marketing, "has been recognized by MBAPrograms.org as one of the top 50 business school professors to follow on Twitter." [more]

Gilbert Featured on Forbes Site

http://www.forbes.com/sites/dorieclark/2012/03/13/how-to-radically-re-organize-your-office/ 

Management professor Jackie Gilbert was featured in a recent article on Forbes.com on organizing office space. [article]

Breakfast Briefing

A breakfast briefing yesterday at the Nashville City Club, sponsored by the Jones College and the Jones Chair of Excellence in Free Enterprise (Aubrey B. Harwell Jr., chairholder), featured guest speaker Kelly King, President and CEO of BB&T Bank.

From left are Dean Jim Burton, Aubrey B. Harwell Jr., BB&T Regional President Martha Wallen, BB&T President and CEO Kelly King, and BB&T Nashville City Executive Natalie Ruggiero.

Accounting Alumni Appreciation Day

Accounting Alumni Appreciation Day will be April 26 from 8 a.m. to 4:45 p.m. Available CPE credit: 8 hours. Cost: $100 for alumni, $150 for non-alumni.

• Agenda
• Brochure
• Online registration
• Directions
• Alumni update form

Martin Chair of Insurance Golf Tournament

Title Sponsor BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee announces the 28th Annual Tommy T. Martin Chair of Insurance Invitational Scramble Golf Tournament Tuesday, April 17, at Champions Run Golf Course, 14262 Mount Pleasant Road, Rockvale, TN.

The sole purpose of this annual tournament is to raise money to fund scholarships for students enrolled in the insurance program at MTSU. Students are selected on the basis of scholastic achievement, leadership potential and dedication to the insurance business.

Download pdf forms:

• tournament brochure
• participation form
• player registration

Consumer Confidence: All Signs Point to Improving Economy

"Confidence among local consumers has increased, reported Tim Graeff, director of the MTSU Office of Consumer Research, in the most recent Middle Tennessee Consumer Confidence Index." [Read more in Murfreesboro Post.]

Gift Basket Silent Auction to Benefit Journey Home

SIFE chapter members (Students in Free Enterprise) and MTSU’s Senior Seminar students invite the Jones College of Business faculty and staff to a silent auction Thursday, March 15, from 4 to 6 p.m. and Friday, March 16, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in the SunTrust Room, BAS N127. Those wishing to participate can show up any time during those hours to place bids.

Items to be auctioned include 25 baskets based on themes and filled with an assortment of goodies that would make great gifts. All proceeds will benefit the Journey Home, a locally owned and operated non-profit organization that operates “2 Acres of Hope,” a garden that provides fresh produce during the warmer months to less fortunate and at-risk individuals in the Murfreesboro community.

News from Management and Marketing

Regional Competition
Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) members are preparing for a SIFE Regional Competition in Atlanta on April 2. They will be competing on two projects: Culture Fest and 2 Acres of Hope.

Career Networking Fair
The MTSU Department of Management and Marketing is hosting a career fair called  “BEST” (Business Exchange for Student Talent) on Wednesday, March 28, in the Tom Jackson building. Local employers have been invited to network with MTSU students interested in pursuing careers and internships in marketing and management. Department faculty will host a lunch with the employers at noon, and the career fair will run from 1 to 4 p.m.

Wellness Festival at Local Elementary Schools
Jean Wilson's Managerial Decision Making EXL class and SIFE team members will host a Family Wellness Festival for Hobgood Elementary and Bradley Academy students and their families on Friday, April 13,  from 4 to 6 p.m. at Hobgood Elementary. The EXL/SIFE students will partner with local health care professionals, food vendors, and MTSU athletic teams to create a festival where the elementary students can learn about proper nutrition and exercise through hands-on activities and booths. The class wrote a grant and was awarded $2000 from the MTSU Public Service Grant Committee to help implement the plans.

Community Garden
During Earth day weekend, Saturday, April 21, beginning at 8 a.m., two of Jean Wilson's Senior Seminar EXL classes and SIFE team members will work on the Journey Home Community Garden, "2 Acres of Hope," at 2811 Barfield Road in Murfreesboro. They will build a storage shed, install shelving in the greenhouse they built last year, plant a few rows in the garden, and construct a water system that will pump water from the Stones River as the main water source for the garden. The team was selected as a recipient of a $2000 grant from Lowe's. About 55 MTSU students will be working alongside local Lowe's employees.

Mock Interviews
Jean Wilson's Senior Seminar students will practice their interviewing skills in front of a panel of local employers at the Foundation House on April 27, April 30, and May 1.

Economics and the Environment

http://tinyurl.com/7p2xf2f   

MTSU assistant economics professor Michael Hammock discusses how incentives and greed affect the environment, as depicted in the movie "The Lorax." [Tennessean, March 1, 2012]

March Economics Speakers

The Department of Economics and Finance is hosting two guest speakers in March for presentations to undergraduate audiences.

• First up on March 14 is Frank Stephenson of Berry College, who writes on a variety of public choice and sports economics topics. Professor Stephenson will be giving a talk in the Davis Science Building, room 100, on the MTSU campus at 7 p.m. The lecture is titled "Want a Job? Get a License" and will be about occupational licensing, with some particular discussion of the 150-hour rule in accounting.
• On March 28, the MTSU Department of Economics and Finance will host economist David Figlio from Northwestern University. Figlio's recent work focuses on education reform, particularly vouchers, charter schools, and teacher assessment. He will be giving a talk in the Wiser-Patten Science Building, room 102, on the MTSU campus at 7 p.m. titled "The Pitfalls and Promise of Market-Based Education Reforms." 

Students are encouraged to attend. For more information, contact Michael Hammock (michael.hammock@mtsu.edu), Department of Economics and Finance.

Consumer Marketers Learn about Sports Fans through Social Media

Dr. Don Roy (Department of Management and Marketing) is quoted in the Newark Star-Ledger (Jan. 29, 2012) on how social media can be used to gather insights on characteristics of sports fans:

http://www.nj.com/super-bowl/index.ssf/2012/01/giants_pats_fans_in_marketers_crosshairs.html

To Find Happiness, Forget About Passion

The economy has changed the job market. How can one prepare for a career? "Forget about finding your passion. Instead, focus on finding big problems," proposes Oliver Segovia in a Harvard Business Review blog post. He challenges today's students, recent graduates, and job hunters to consider "what you can do and how you can be a valuable contributor." There are many big problems from which to choose, including "climate change, sustainability, poverty, education, health care, technology, urbanization in emerging markets," to name a few. What problem would you like to help solve? How can you go about choosing one? Segovia suggests:

• Stay in touch with current issues. "Get out of the office [or classroom] and volunteer."
• "Look into problems that affect you in a very personal way." 
• "Connect with people working on big problems." 
• "Take time off and travel," not just to typical tourist sites.

[ Read more at Harvard Business Review. ]