Lauren Dumke, a marketing student, recently interviewed the leaders of Business Leaders Incorporated. She wrote a two-part blog post about this exciting new opportunity at the David Eccles School of Business. To connect with these leaders please visit here.

Read Part One below:

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Starting the new school year always brings an exciting buzz to campus. Classes start, giving students the opportunity to join new clubs and be more involved in campus life. The David Eccles School of Business has plenty of opportunities to get involved. The overarching student involvement organization, Business Leaders Incorporated or BLInc is a great way to get started.

BLInc offers Eccles students opportunities for personal growth, networking, and leadership. BLInc is currently under the advisement of the Undergraduate Career Management Center, which allows students access to great counseling about careers available to students after graduation, help with resumes and networking, and resources for professional development.

The best part about BLInc: it’s all free and anyone can join! No matter your major, GPA, or class status, all students at the U have the opportunity to participate in this great opportunity. I interviewed the incoming officers to find out exactly who they are, what their goals are, and what we can expect to see this year from BLInc.

Stuart Jardine is the new CEO of BLInc and gave me great insight:

“The David Eccles School of Business is growing and more and more opportunities come up each year, so it is imperative that we keep track of these opportunities and ensure that students are aware of them. Businesses are looking for students who are ready and prepared to enter the workforce. Our mission at Business Leaders, Inc. is to make sure that students are fully aware of the extracurricular activities that are available to them at the David Eccles School of Business, and have plenty of opportunities to develop business skills outside of the classroom.”

“One of our main focuses is to help make the business school known for developing students into strong business leaders. To do this we are working to provide more leadership development resources for club leaders and students. We also want to provide events, working in conjunction with clubs and organizations, which will help students to learn more about the various business industries. We want to help students get the most out of both their time, and money, as they attend the business school. Our motto this year is “Empowering You,” which is all about empowering students in preparation for a full-time career.”

Stuart also shared exciting things to look for this upcoming school year. BLInc is working to help the school reach its goal of becoming a top business school and is currently working on a marketing campaign to promote the “Senior Survey”. These surveys are released by Businessweek and help improve the overall student body and its experience.

I finally asked Stuart to share with me his top three goals for the year:

  • To improve communication and collaboration with all business school clubs, competitions, and organizations
  • To improve how students find out about various clubs, competitions and organizations
  • To see student involvement double

After hearing what Stuart had to say, I was interested in the other leaders of BLInc. They also gave me some information about who they are, their jobs, and what they hope to accomplish in their term in leadership.

Jordan Smith is a senior majoring in Marketing. Talking about BLInc:

“I think BLInc is vital in helping students understand the importance of student involvement in general, and then showing them how to get involved and who they should get involved with. A college education is worth so much more if a student gains experience and develops a strong network of professional and academic connections. It’s apparent that a degree is important to landing the right job, but it is still more likely for an individual to be hired if they have a connection that either works for or can introduce them to the company they are interested in.”

As the COO, Jordan’s role is to support Stuart in carrying out the vision of the organization. He is more specifically responsible for working with and supporting the Marketing and Signature Experience Chairs. His goal for the year is to better familiarize students with the idea and function of BLInc and give the clubs in the business school the opportunity to coordinate and recruit in a more collaborative way.

Gina Sombatsaphay is the Signature Experience Chair. Gina is a sophomore studying finance. Her responsibilities are to highlight the signature experiences students have at the business school. I asked her about her thoughts on the position.

“I think that Blinc is so important for the students in the business school because we know the most successful students are the ones who get involved, and we want to be the central resource for anybody looking to join a club, participate in service projects, and get the most out of their time at the David Eccles School of Business.”