Jeff Shay has been working tirelessly to tap into Montana’s business community to create programs that allow students to interact with business leaders.
The goal in developing these initiatives is to promote entrepreneur-ship education to students and the community. He and School of Business Administration Dean Larry Gianchetta know that these initiatives benefit UM students and have a positive impact on Montana's economic development. Shay said, “It’s so gratifying working with these entrepreneurship programs because after being here for six years, I’m seeing students who started businesses or created innovative approaches for their family businesses and have become very successful.”
In October 2002, Shay and Gianchetta held the inaugural meeting of the Montana Academy of Distinguished Entrepreneurs with three primary goals in mind. They intended the program to provide networking opportunities for Montana entrepreneurs and UM students, involve creative business practitioners in the business school and create the cohesive core group necessary to pursue initiatives in the future. The academy and other entrepreneurship programs like the advanced entrepreneurship seminars and annual John Ruffatto Business Plan Competition have created the networks critical to delivering an experiential business education.
The University will always face financial challenges, but Shay sees private support as a way to continue to open doors to new opportunities. “Private contributions—be they for an endowed chair, professorships or faculty fellowships—help contribute to attracting people here, help us grow our program and provide a program that matches what the community needs and students want.”