Dinner Honors The Entrepreneurial Spirit

The Center for Entrepreneurship and Education in the College of Business Administration hosted its third annual Entrepreneurship Recognition Banquet Friday, May 18 at the UC Faculty Club, honoring those willing to take risks to get ahead.

"National Small Business Week falls in May this year, so it is fitting that we should come together at this time of year to celebrate the entrepreneurial spirit at UC," commented the center's founding director, Charles H. Matthews, associate professor of strategic management. "The nice thing about the banquet is that it brings together the founders of successful new ventures with the next generation of student entrepreneurs."

The center recognized two entrepreneurs with the Center's Entrepreneurial Excellence Awards this year: Timothy Johnson and Tony Shipley.

Johnson is the president of Johnson Investment Counsel, Greater Cincinnati's largest independent advisory firm. The company specializes in the management of portfolios for pension and profit-sharing plans, endowments, foundations, corporations and individuals, and currently manages more than $2.6 billion in assets. Johnson is a professor in UC's finance department and has authored three textbooks and numerous articles on finance.

Shipley is the recently retired president and CEO of Entek IRD International Corporation, one of the world's leading suppliers of software, hardware and services to the industrial plant maintenance market. He is a graduate of UC's MBA program and a former student of Johnson's.

Student efforts were also recognized at the banquet, including the 2000 Field Case Study Team of Ken Bohrer, Tom Bonifield, Tony Khaskelis and Alan Sherry. The team took first place nationally in the Small Business Institute Directors' Association National Case of the Year Competition.

Also recognized were the 2001 New Venture Champion Team of Anthony Fribourg, Jim Hummeldorf, Vanessa Kamerer, Michael Mulligan and Marcus Russell.

The keynote speaker for the evening was Richard Morley, CEO of Flavors Technology, Inc. He addressed the future of technology and the creation of wealth.