Business Stories & News

Environmentalism

Can sustainable business practices be profitable?

It’s no secret that business decisions are largely driven by the bottom line. Historically, that’s how sustainability has been viewed, as a financially driven concept, said Scott Blankman (Accounting ‘89), director for energy and air programs at Clean Wisconsin, a nonprofit environmental policy advocacy organization.

In short: Does sustainability make me money? More recently, that question is becoming easier to answer.

Can sustainable business be profitable title image

Can sustainable business practices be profitable?

It’s no secret that business decisions are largely driven by the bottom line. Historically, that’s how sustainability has been viewed, as a financially driven concept, said Scott Blankman (Accounting ‘89), director for energy and air programs at Clean Wisconsin, a nonprofit environmental policy advocacy organization.

In short: Does sustainability make me money? More recently, that question is becoming easier to answer.

The team of Tyler Dau, Trent Koser (team leader), Adam Schmidt, Ryan Weber and Sydney Younge finished No. 8 out of the 409 teams

Three UNIBusiness teams compete in CME Group University Trading Challenge

Real-time trading can bring feelings of excitement and energy that is hard to replicate without real-world experience. Three UNIBusiness teams — 15 students — received that valuable experience in the CME Group University Trading Challenge, which was held from Oct. 6 to Nov. 1. 

Courier's top 20 under 40, UNIBusiness's Andy Anderson, Katie Hillyer, Mark Watje, Bart Schmitz

UNIBusiness well represented on recent 20 Under 40 list

Four UNIBusiness alumni, faculty and staff were honored on the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Courier’s annual 20 Under 40 list, which names 20 Cedar Valley professionals under the age of 40 who have made outstanding contributions to the community in their work and professional lives. 

The list includes:

Andy (John) Anderson (Supply Chain and Operations Management ’05): assistant professor of management and John Deere Endowed Fellow at UNIBusiness, mountain climber and owner of TransChina Solutions LLC.

Transamerica Business Intelligence and Analytics Lab sponsor logo and student

Transamerica helps students turn data into intelligence

In the world of data, you can know everything and still know nothing.

We are creating more data than ever before. Every minute, Google conducts 3.8 million searches. Amazon ships more than 1,000 packages. YouTube users watch 4.3 million videos. Every minute. And that was in 2018. By 2020, it’s estimated that 1.7 MB of data will be created every second for every person on the planet.

Solar panels surrounded by trees and a city

Will capitalism sustain us?

As I write this, I am attending a class, Alternative Economic and Monetary Systems, in Vienna.

I chose to spend some of my summer in this manner, because I have had increasing concerns about capitalism as a viable economic system, given its role in global climate change and increasing financial inequality. But leave it to my Strategy and Business Ethics students to ask the most relevant question: if not capitalism, then what is better? I have no answer, so I came to Vienna looking for one.

Headshot of Ryan Mahaffey

UNIBusiness grad Ryan Mahaffey uses economics education in his coaching profession

Ryan Mahaffey (Economics ’11, Grinnell, Iowa) sees a lot of parallels between coaching and economics. Both require logical, analytical thoughts. Both require the important skill of articulating those thoughts in a concise and cohesive manner. Both demand a high level of precision. 

“Those are things that continue to apply each and every single day as a coach,” said Mahaffey, now the offensive coordinator for UNI’s football team.  

Northern Iowa Accounting degree student participate at Deloitte case competition

Deloitte tax competition presents real-world tax scenarios

Al Faisal Yasin (Accounting ’20, Jordan) came to understand the value of compromise during his time as leader of UNIBusiness’ team for the Deloitte Regional FanTAXtic Competition. Compromise was essential because being open to new ideas and working as a unit were the keys to success. 

Northern Iowa Accounting degree student participate at Deloitte case competition

Deloitte tax competition presents real-world tax scenarios

Al Faisal Yasin (Accounting ’20, Jordan) came to understand the value of compromise during his time as leader of UNIBusiness’ team for the Deloitte Regional FanTAXtic Competition. Compromise was essential because being open to new ideas and working as a unit were the keys to success. 

Curris Business Building with Iowa Realty logo

Iowa realty helps students find their passion

The Iowa Realty Scholarship helped change the course of Allison Ries’ (Accounting, Real Estate and Finance ‘19) college path. She received the money in advance of her junior year, and because of the financial burden it eased, Ries added accounting as her third major.

“I was really excited,” Ries said. “This was the first scholarship I was awarded at UNI, and it was a huge help for my junior year. I was planning on graduating a year early, but when I got the scholarship, I added my additional major.”