Business Stories & News

Group photo of the students who competed in the 2018 Stock Pitch Competition

Preparing to pitch: Finance competitions help students look at real-world scenarios

In the two weeks leading up to the 2018 Stock Pitch Competition, Rhea Wieditz (Financial Management ’19, Vinton) knew she had to pack both her lunch and dinner when she left for class in the morning. Between courses and meetings, Wieditz and her competition team — Edin Tutic and Patrick Gold — spent all day deep into preparations.

Vermeer Group Photo

Advance Iowa helps family-owned businesses thrive

It’s taken years for the Vermeer family to find their secret sauce. As owners of one the most well-known family businesses in Iowa — Vermeer Corp. in Pella — the Vermeer family has seen three generations come through the business. Jason Andringa, the grandson of Gary Vermeer, who founded the business in 1948, is president and CEO.

MBA students next to an old truck

MBA international students hit the mother road

Eleven days. 3,781 miles. One University of Northern Iowa graduation ceremony.

That was the journey of Jingjing Yu (MBA ‘19) and Ziyi Li (MBA ‘19), two international Chinese students who graduated with a master’s degree in business administration last spring by utilizing a unique program that allows Chinese business professionals to earn an MBA through UNI in Hong Kong and Shanghai.

Luma, Al Faisal and Abdallah Yasin

A sibling journey: Three-fourths of quadruplets find success at UNIBusiness

Iowa is a second home for siblings Luma, Al Faisal and Abdallah Yasin, who came to the Midwest in 2016 from Jordan, a country just east of Israel, to attend college. Even when Al Faisal leaves for his hometown in Jordan, he misses the distinct feeling of comfort the University of Northern Iowa provides.

Al Faisal, Luma and Abdallah make up three-fourths of a set of quadruplets. The fourth Yasin quadruplet is a medical student in Jordan. They also have two younger siblings who might come to the United States for college as well.

University of Northern Iowa business students in class.

UNI MBA enrollment sees dramatic increase

The MBA program at the University of Northern Iowa has seen record growth in the past five years – and numbers continue to trend upward as many U.S. companies seek out recent MBA graduates for promotions and new positions.
Group of Students Talking

Does your level of education impact your political views?

The Pew Research Center recently published a report indicating that a clear majority of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents (let's call them conservatives) believe that U.S.

Stack of Coins

Minimum wages and minimum ethics?

The current national minimum wage is $7.25. Many people claim that this is not a "living wage," although the reality is there are workers earning such a wage and sending money back home to their families. These workers endure unenviable lives, often living with four or six workers in a two-bedroom apartment and eating bland meals. The ethical issue is whether we have a duty to raise wages for low-wage workers.

Volkswagen logo

The Volkswagen scandal in not an ethical issue

You are most likely familiar with the most recent Volkswagen “ethics scandal,” in which VW engineers programmed computers in their diesel cars to detect emission tests. During the tests, the vehicles would alter their engine operations to meet legal emission standards. But under normal driving conditions, the cars released emissions into the air that were forty times the legal limit.