Forget waiting for this year’s tax refund. For the first time ever, the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) center at Brigham Young University can help you file your taxes electronically – cutting the wait for your refund by as much as two weeks. The VITA center, a free tax preparation help lab sponsored by BYU’s Marriott School and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), is now equipped with TaxWise, an electronic filing software.

How much is an idea worth? The Marriott School’s Center for Entrepreneurship thinks its worth $5,000 in cash — the award for this year’s Business Plan Competition winner. All Brigham Young University students are invited to submit business plan ideas before 5 p.m. on Monday, 12 March in 610 TNRB. “We’re looking for the next success story,” said Donald H. Livingstone, Director of BYU’s Center for Entrepreneurship. “Some of the best business plans come from non-traditional sources.

One Marriott School student recently received a big boost from the Kemper Foundation. Kyle Widdison, a sophomore from Hooper, Utah, majoring in accounting, has been named one of 80 national Kemper Scholars. The honor, which provides financial support and summer internships for three years, will assist Widdison in fulfilling his aspiration to become a successful business leader.

The founder and CEO of WinFiles.com (formerly Windows95.com) will be the keynote speaker at Brigham Young University’s semi-annual e-business conference on Friday, 9 Feb. Steve Jenkins, who sold WinFiles.com in February 1999 to CNET, Inc. for $11.5 million, will address the conference’s theme, “Dot-Coms Melt Down: How Companies Survive and Thrive in our Current Economic Situation.” Hosted by the Marriott School’s Kevin and Debra Rollins Center for eBusiness, the conference will begin at 9:30 a.m. in room 151 of the Tanner Building.

One student’s experience at Brigham Young University has driven him nuts. Nathan Murray, a senior majoring in mechanical engineering from Shelley, Idaho, is the founder and president of Nutty Guys, a business selling a variety of nuts at discount prices. Murray is not only a budding entrepreneur but also the 2000 Student Entrepreneur of the Year.

Paul Dishman, visiting associate professor of business management at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School, has been voted vice president of the Society of Competitive Intelligence Professionals (SCIP). “Paul Dishman is an excellent teacher and a fine colleague,” said J. Michael Pinegar, department chair of business management at the Marriott School.

Accounting students at Brigham Young University have done it again! For the third consecutive year, Marriott School graduate and undergraduate teams placed among the top three schools at the Arthur Andersen National Tax Challenge. The school's 2000 graduate and undergraduate teams both placed third at the tax challenge.

Other than being very large, the 17–foot Christmas tree, trimmed with angel ornaments, looks like most other trees. But it’s not. The ornaments on The Little Angel’s Christmas tree are more than just decorations — they contain the names and ages of children, their clothing sizes and gift ideas. Sponsored by the Campus Chapter of the BYU Management Society and the United Way, the goal is to undecorate the tree by 8 December.

Master of Public Administration (MPA) students at BYU’s Marriott School have more combined gender, cultural and ethnic diversity than ever before. About one of every five students admitted to the class of 2002 is an ethnic minority. Approximately one-third of the students are female. And, 21 percent are international students.

The Marriott School at Brigham Young University named Keith Bailey, Chairman, President and CEO of Williams, as the 2000 International Executive of the Year (IEY).President James E. Faust, second counselor in the First Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, will present Bailey with the IEY Award at a banquet Friday, 17 Nov.

The Kevin and Debra Rollins Center for eBusiness at Brigham Young University will host its first e-business conference on Friday, 17 Nov. The conference will begin at 9:30 a.m. with a ribbon cutting ceremony to launch the school’s new e-business web site (ebusiness.byu.edu)on the second floor atrium of the Tanner Building.

Although students have been lining up to interview for months with some of the nation's best companies in the Marriott School's business career center, the new facility doesn’tofficially open until Thursday, 16 Nov. BYU President Merrill J. Bateman, Marriott School Dean Ned C. Hilland benefactor Georgia A. White will participate in a brief ribbon cutting ceremony at 5:30 p.m. to open thecenter.

Three professors at BYU’s Marriott School hope their e-businessaccounting book will give students the upper hand when it comes to electronic commerce. Steven M. Glover,Stephen W. Liddle and Douglas Prawitt’s book, E-Business: Principles and Strategies for Accountants, waswritten to prepare accounting students to meet the demands of a business world being transformed bytechnology.

In conjunction with Homecoming 2000, the Marriott School at Brigham Young University is proud to name Alan J. Folkman as its honored alum. Folkman will speak Thursday, 19October at 11:00 a.m. in room 151 of the Tanner Building. All are invited to hear his address, “A Formula for Success and Personal Peace.” “Alan Folkman is one of the best financial managers in the country,” said Ned C. Hill, dean of the Marriott School.

For more than ten years, the Marriott School and LG, Korea’s third largest company, have exchanged students and knowledge. In September, the company honored two Marriott School faculty members for their integral role in building this relationship. Ned C. Hill, dean of the Marriott School and Chris Meek, associate professor of organizational behavior, were recognized for their support in educating LG managers in organizational effectiveness.

For more than thirty years, LDS public management professionals from across the nation have gathered together at the International City/County Management Association (ICMA) conference to exchange more than just business information. LDS city and county managers met this year in Cincinnati to attend the ICMA conference and to build on shared beliefs.

Touting the fastest payback in the nation, Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management is a steal according to BusinessWeek’s new ranking of the best b-schools. The magazine reports that BYU’s MBA graduates take only 3.5 years to recoup their investment in lost work and tuition. “Our management core and specialized tracks add a lot of value to already talented students,” said Ned C. Hill, dean of the Marriott School.

Besides gaining professional experience, a group of Brigham Young University students showed they have what it takes to make it in the financial services industry. While interning at Northwestern Mutual Financial Network, a team of eight BYU students including four from the Marriott School became the company’s top selling intern team. Northwestern Mutual named BYU interns the1999-2000 College Team of the Year.

New research suggests collaboration may turn the traditional view of competition on its head. “Firms are recognizing the tremendous advantage of collaborating with supplier networks and competing as teams rather than as individual enterprises,” said Jeff Dyer, a professor at BYU’s Marriott School and author of an eight-year study on competitive advantage.

First-year graduate students at BYU’s Marriott School left their laptops home Saturday to help alleviate wildfire danger in Provo Canyon. “We wanted to do a local service project with real consequences,” said Eric Rowlee, a second-year MBA student, who helped organize the event. Wildfires have already burned over six million acres in the West this year.