Summer 2021

The Franchising Genius of Shelly Sun

In less than two decades, Shelly Sun (HCB, ’92) has built a $569 million home care company, BrightStar Care, using a franchise model to grow from a local business to a national enterprise.

"Franchising has given us the opportunity to be local, yet scalable and consistent. This type of growth would have been difficult to achieve as a corporate entity."

A Graduate Success

Ben Weprin (HCB, ’01) had an optimistic vision of success and a talent for leadership. Launched during the economic recession in 2008, Weprin’s hospitality company, Adventurous Journeys, now represents more than $5 billion in holdings.

“The college provided me with great opportunities to figure out my passions.” - Ben Weprin

In This Issue

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Dick Townsend

Honoring A Legacy of Compassionate Mentorship

Tyler Young

Impact and Intentionality

The Haslam Community Makes a Volunteer Impact

Taylor Boyer

Success and Service

Building Up Real Estate

Diane Walker Markarian & Raffi Markarian

Supporting Young Entrepreneurs

Haslam Alumni Inspire on New Student-Led Podcast

Laura Cole

Investing in People

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Thought Leadership

Supply Chain Brain

Thomas Goldsby, Professor & Haslam Chair in Logistics in the Supply Chain Management Department at the University of Tennessee, sketches a picture of how supply chains might be permanently changed by the pandemic, even as they adjust to its end. The pandemic caught many supply chains off guard, lacking the ability to find alternative suppliers or inventories to make up for the severe disruptions that it caused. “Companies are much smarter now than a year ago,” says Goldsby. Those that were already making investments in agility and resilience fared better during the pandemic, while those that didn’t “learned some really hard lessons.”

Thomas Goldsby - Dee & Jimmy Haslam Chair of Supply Chain, David P. Perrot Supply Chain Management Faculty Fellow

The Great Courses Daily

“This is probably the main reason for having an IPO: to raise funds and have better access to capital markets going forward.”

Ramon DeGennaro - HCB Professor of Banking and Finance

Yahoo Finance

“Part of the use of part-time workers was related to optimizing flexibility at a time when there was a lot of uncertainty,” said Marianne Wanamaker, an associate professor of economics at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. “And my guess is the uncertainty surrounding spending patterns is starting to recede,” she added. “And so they feel like they can make better decisions about [the number of] their full-time staff.”

Marianne Wanamaker - Dean and Professor of the Baker School for Public Policy

Supply Chain Brain

Andrea Sordi, clinical assistant professor at the University of Tennessee’s Global Supply Chain Institute, weighs the risk and rewards involved in Taco Bell’s decision to introduce a major new product to its menu during the pandemic...Sordi believes that Taco Bell has a good chance of succeeding in that effort, in part because it’s already considered the vegetarian choice of many fast-food customers.

Andrea Sordi - Clinical Assistant Professor

Wall Street Journal

Fred Ehrsam’s ties to Coinbase Global Inc. run deep: He co-founded the multibillion-dollar bitcoin exchange, was its president until 2017, owns millions of its shares and was part-owner of a company it bought last year.

Terry Neal - Richard L. Townsend Distinguished Accounting Professor

The Tennessean

Recessions accelerate the American economy's normal "circle of life:" Small businesses grow and replace fading older businesses, according to Marianne Wanamaker, a former chief domestic economist at the White House and economics professor at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville. "That's part of the American story, it's part of capitalism, it's the thing that generates economic growth," Wanamaker said. "Losing small businesses artificially — meaning not because they're not good at what they do, but because they can't survive 12 months of extreme economic conditions — is a tragedy."

Marianne Wanamaker - Dean and Professor of the Baker School for Public Policy

SHRM

Debbie Mackey, SHRM-SCP, distinguished lecturer at the University of Tennessee's Haslam College of Business in Knoxville, Tenn., believes that most students will take the vaccine as soon as they can get it. "I think the majority of them are OK with the vaccine because they miss the social interaction and everything so much," she said. "They would like to have somewhat normal graduation. The majority of them that I've talked to are okay with the vaccine."

Debbie Mackey - Distinguished Lecturer, MSMHR Professional Development Coordinator

WalletHub

I think the long-term outlook is more predictable. I believe the more reliable predictions, which I do not see as controversial, are that nominal interest rates will rise and dependency on technology and automation will continue to differentiate moving forward.

Ryan Farley - Torch Fund Program Director and Clinical Assistant Professor

Freight Waves

“Part of the curriculum strategy included young women who are top college supply chain students at UT to talk about why they chose the field,” she said. “Videos and live interaction with these students, alumni, and veterans like myself, made the program fun and relevant for the girls.”

Mary Long - Lecturer

The Commercial Appeal

"I think what COVID-19 has done is to accelerate the use of AI," said Bill Fox, director of the Boyd Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Tennessee. "... Just go through the list of things that have been challenges for the labor force during COVID, and you don't have these problems with AI and with autonomous vehicles."

Alan Amling - Assistant Professor of Practice

William Fox - Boyd Distinguished Professor Emeritus, Special Advisor to the UTK Chancellor

Research

Cracking the Labor Market

Predicting Businesses' Brain Power Needs Is Possible

From analyzing past talent migration, it’s a short step to predicting future human capital flow. Read article