Dear friends,

Belonging to a community is a powerful experience. Through our common connections, we learn from one another, we inspire and encourage each other, and we both give and receive.

At the Carson College of Business, I’m proud to lead a community that includes more than 30,000 alumni, students, and supporters of the college. Together, we are creating opportunities through the study of business, and we’re creating value for the Northwest and the world.

Through events ranging from the inaugural Washington State Tax Conference hosted by our Hoops Institute, to annual gatherings such as our Power Breakfast and our Executive MBA conference, we extend our work even more broadly. We’ve recently shared key insights with the business community on topics such as executive leadership, risk management, and how data analytics can be used in business and sports. You can read more about these sessions in this issue’s events round up feature.

This issue also contains a story about Nomad Go, which recently received $2.7 million in venture capital funding to help brick-and-mortar businesses improve their operations through the use of artificial intelligence. Cofounder Jonah Friedl (’16 Entre.) traces Nomad Go’s roots to his experience in the WSU Business Plan Competition and the Center for Entrepreneurship, where he discovered mentors and established critical networks. Friedl’s story is a great segue to Professor Arvin Sahaym’s new research on how social skills and informal social networks affect success rates for startups.

Carson Cougs also build our own institution, as illustrated in our feature on several MBA graduates who are creating value for the University as WSU employees and as community members.

And what would a community be without its traditions, including those of the holiday season? We’re also featuring the college’s third annual holiday retail shopping survey highlighting Northwest consumers’ shopping preferences from Black Friday through Cyber Monday.

As we head into the holiday season, we bring you not only our research but inspiring stories from the Carson Coug community. You’ll learn how a mother’s desire to create economic stability for her family by earning a business degree encouraged her son to enroll at WSU. And you’ll find out what has motivated a Carson alumnus to give to the college for more than 50 years.

Wherever this holiday greeting finds you, please know how grateful we are that you are part of the Carson Coug community. Through your gifts of time, talent, and financial resources, you are partners with us in helping students receive a transformative education and building a strong economic future for the Northwest.

Go Cougs!


Chip Hunter, Dean