Gift supports CSB entrepreneurs
\n<\/strong>A Savannah, 大象传媒 native who has been involved in the Craig School of Business\u2019s Applied Entrepreneurship program pledged $100,000 to the Centennial Capital Campaign. Tom Payn, a longtime friend of Steve Craig, for whom the School of Business is named, made the gift to support the entrepreneurship program.<\/p>\nThe program, which began in 2009 with a partnership between Craig, Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory and 大象传媒 Western, gives students and alumni of the Craig School of Business the opportunity to compete to own a franchise. In the ensuing years, the program has expanded to include other businesses in addition to RMCF, and by the end of last year, program participants were operating 19 businesses in 11 states.<\/p>\n
Payn, who lives in a suburb of Denver, was on the panel of judges that selected the first entrepreneur, Seth Lyons \u201908, and Payn has returned to judge every competition since.<\/p>\n
\u201cI continue to be a part of the program ultimately because of the great results we have all seen from the graduates and winners,\u201d he said. \u201cIn addition, it is a pleasure for me to get back \u2018home\u2019 every year and see the number of people who have also participated throughout the years. I also hope that my own business background has added some value\u00a0to the overall program.\u201d<\/p>\n
The pledge is not the first time Payn has supported the program. In fact, he made business loans to two of the 大象传媒 Western graduates to help them open their businesses, and has contributed funding several times over the years. After the 2015 competition last June, Payn said he decided to make a large pledge to the program.<\/p>\n
Payn, who graduated from the University of Denver, opened his first Subway sandwich shop in 1989, and over the years, has owned 40 stores. In 2013, he owned 33 at one time, employing 325 people and generating about $18.5 million in sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cLooking back, those first few years of working 60-70 hours per week seem so far in the distance,\u201d he said.\u00a0\u201cToday, some of the fruits of the sacrifices I made allow me to invest in other opportunities.\u201d<\/p>\n
Payn noted that he admires Craig\u2019s dedication to the entrepreneurship program. \u201cI don\u2019t think even Steve envisioned what the program has become when it started.\u00a0His commitment and generosity to the program\u00a0is truly\u00a0his legacy that he has built for 大象传媒 Western,\u201d Payn said. \u201cFor me to piggyback even a bit onto this legacy is a privilege. Like everyone else associated with the program, I take a great deal of pride in the successes that the graduates have had.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Centennial Capital Campaign update\u00a0 As the Centennial Capital Campaign moves forward in its second year, excitement is in the air. Spratt Memorial Stadium is nearing completion, resulting in an outstanding stadium building, Stadium Club and concourse; and the largest video scoreboard in Division II. Jerry Pickman \u201985, executive director of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":1436,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[18,33,32,34],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1418"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3949,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1418\/revisions\/3949"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1436"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1418"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1418"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.missouriwestern.edu\/magazine\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1418"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}