Welcome to the 2014 Small Business Institute® Conference and Viva Las Vegas!
You’re really in for a great conference thanks to the hard work of Bill McDowell and his conference planning team. Patrick Walker has put together the SBI Proceedings that is well-designed to reflect the program. There is an exciting array of workshops, paper presentations, keynote speakers, and engaging social activities that includes a surprise celebrity at the Saturday reception! Our Thursday opening reception will give you an exciting opportunity to meet first time SBI Conference attendees as well as network with long-time members. Our camaraderie is key to what makes the Small Business Institute© a vital link to your success! Be sure and welcome our new friends and our longstanding members and Fellows. These sessions are sure to attract your attention and provide exciting professional development opportunities.
Over the past year, we have accomplished much together. I have implemented a strategic development task force. We have added our student affiliates. We have added to the conference the ability to submit abstracts as well as full papers to encourage first time attendance and also those who have papers in process to submit. We have added extra emphasis on taking papers to the next step to encourage submissions to our two sponsored journals and to encourage excellent submissions. We have expanded the Spotlight Program on the website to include not only SBI© Programs, but member research and student affiliates.
I have been honored to serve as President of the SBI©. My first SBI© Conference was in 1989 while I was a new faculty member at Eastern Washington University under the mentorship of Leo Simpson. Since then, I have regularly attended SBI© Conferences. However, I continually am amazed at the new ideas, energy, enthusiasm, sincere loyalty, and belief in the Small Business Institute© and the SBI© Model and system. It is as relevant today with the emphasis on experiential learning as it was at our beginning conference. This is further evident from the AACSB in April 2013 making experiential learning a major pillar of accreditation.
I want to personally thank each of the Board of Directors for their hard work and willingness to go the extra mile, as well as Matthew Sonfield, our Fellows Chair. We all have the best intentions to continue the work of our former leaders to grow and sustain the Small Business Institute©. We need your continued support and engagement. We all need to be cheerleaders to continue the work of the Small Business Institute and the important work we do for small businesses and real student learning!
Thank you for the honor of serving as your President.
All the best for a great conference!
Dianne H.B. Welsh, Ph.D.
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10 Major Accomplishments of SBI Board in 2013
Dianne H. B. Welsh, PhD, President, February 16, 2014
1.) 120 Members- 90 +30 student members
2.) 94 attendees- 16 new conference attendees
3.) Profitable- 4 years ago we lost $12,000
- All our conferences profitable since
- Every year in the last four years we have been either profitable or at break even for the organization
4.) EBSCO & Proquest- both SBI Journals on included as well as in Cabell’s
5.) Implemental Strategic Development Task Force- Chaired by Joy Griffin (now appointed as the VP Development after the 2014 Business Meeting.
6.) Abstracts added to conference as well as full papers to enhance participation
7.) More emphasis on taking more papers from the conference to next step to submit to SBIJ & JSBS
8.) Expanded Spotlight Program- SBI Programs, with added spotlights on Research and Student Affiliates
9.) Officer in Waiting Training- Josh Aaron, Secretary/ Treasurer under Lynn Hoffman
10.) Focus on Book Publications by members- table and and new website information
11.) Outreach presentation with an advertisement in the Academy of Management program. Dianne Welsh delivered a presentation that included SBI at the AACSB Conference in Chicago
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