Community members and SVSU faculty filled the Malcolm Field Performing Arts Theatre for the dedication of the Scott L. Carmona College of Business on Feb. 24.
The project began in 2017 when the state of Michigan approved $9.8 million for the building’s construction. SVSU paid the rest of the costs with its First for Business Campaign, which raised over $15 million in private donations.
Provost Deborah Huntley said the “top notch” facility will provide students and faculty a dedicated space for innovative learning.
“This facility will help give the College of Business the prominence it deserves on our campus,” she said, “and help us recruit highly-talented students who want the personal attention an SVSU education affords, as well as highly talented faculty and staff who can take who can take us to the next level of success.”
Carmona, for whom the building takes its namesake, invited businesses in attendance to take advantage of the new building. He asked alumni and businesses to consider donating time, money, internships and other resources to SVSU and its students.
“This new building is ambitious and forward thinking,” he said, “and my family wanted to help SVSU, my alma mater, take the next step forward. It will allow our faculty, students and business leaders work together to solve real-world issues critical to the quality of business education.”
Anthony Bowrin, the business college dean, said he looks forward to the innovative teaching that his faculty will be able to provide students.
“(Faculty has) been looking forward to using this new facility,” he said, “but they continued to give high-quality education to our students while it was being built. Our facility and staff now have the tools … to better position our students to reach their professional business goals.”
SVSU President Don Bachand closed the dedication by saying the new college will help SVSU be first in business and, as such, enhance the local economy.
“This is the largest expansion of SVSU since my tenure,” he said. “It reminds us what it’s like to have a community that cares so much about our students and faculty.”
The new business college is 38,500 square feet, and groundbreaking began Oct. 22, 2018. Its first floor features a Wall of Honors, which recognizes distinguished business leaders from the Great Lakes Bay Region. Donors are also recognized on their own wall.
Building highlights include:
- The Product Innovation Lab: Provides entrepreneurs, nonprofits and businesses development resources;
- Covenant Exit Interview Room: Debriefs participants at the end of research activities and includes cameras for discreet observation;
- Leikert Collaboration Room and Frankenmuth Bavarian Inn Collaboration Room: Provides space and technology for student collaboration;
- Strosacker Consumer Behavior Lab: Supports interdisciplinary approaches to research with remote monitoring capabilities;
- Werth Active Learning Classroom and Humphreys/Yeo Active Learning Classroom: Encourages collaborative learning in technology-rich classrooms;
- Wolohan Finance and Data Analytics Lab: Focuses on practical applications of marketing concepts and behaviors using simulated trading;
- Dr. Carl A. Gerstacker Hall of Leadership and Innovation: Pays tribute to Gerstacker, who led Dow to much of its success in a new era of growth and leadership;
- Business Excellence Centers: Provides training, consulting and research services to Michigan businesses; and
- C-Suite Board Rooms: Provides a large meeting space with state-of-the-art technology.
An open house in the new facilities followed the dedication ceremony.
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