Brigham Young University Academic Vice President John Tanner announced the appointment of Gary C. Cornia as the new dean of the Marriott School of Management. Cornia, the Stewart Grow Professor of Public Management, has been serving as director of the school’s George Romney Institute of Public Management since 2004.

The Marriott School of Management honored W. Gibb Dyer with its 2008 Outstanding Faculty Award, the highest faculty distinction given by the school. The award was presented at a banquet March 28 where 11 other individuals and seven retiring professors were recognized for significant contributions to the school.

During every transition of life, personal finances play an influential role in deciding goals for the future. In an effort to provide families and individuals with the tools and resources necessary to obtain financial freedom, the Marriott School of Management has introduced a personal finance Web site designed to help users at every stage of financial knowledge.

The planned addition to the N. Eldon Tanner Building is officially underway after ground was broken on the campus of Brigham Young University April 25. The groundbreaking ceremony was conducted by President Cecil O. Samuelson, with Elder W. Rolfe Kerr of the Seventy and Commissioner of Church Education, presiding over activities.

In its continued effort to provide new research information and strategies to a worldwide audience, the Economic Self-Reliance Center has released a new publication, ESR Review. The magazine, which takes the place of the center’s previous publication, the Journal of Microfinance, addresses the general topic of economic self-reliance, where the previous journal dealt mainly with the issue of microfinance.

KAM Accelerometer, Inc., a company touting an electronic personal fitness device that measures expended kinetic energy, walked away — make that ran away — with first place at Brigham Young University’s annual Business Plan Competition. A panel of business and venture capital professionals awarded KAM $50,000 in cash and in-kind services for the March 31 victory.

More than $100,000 in cash and business services are up for grabs Friday as judges pick the most promising new enterprises at Brigham Young University’s Business Plan Competition. The final event, where one of three final teams will walk away with the grand prize valued at $50,000, will take place at 2 p.m. in room 140 of BYU’s Joseph Smith Building.

BYU’s Center for Economic Self-Reliance will host its ninth annual conference Thursday and Friday, March 9-10, in the Wilkinson Student Center. This year’s conference is also sponsored by the BYU eBusiness Center. The 2006 Economic Self Reliance Conference will host a series of break-out sessions and discussions lead by keynote speakers.

At a time when public confidence in business is at a low ebb, Brigham Young University’s Marriott School of Management has released a new book that shows integrity and success are not contradictory in the business world but complementary. Featuring compelling speeches at BYU by top CEOs and educators, the book, “Business with Integrity,” inspires readers to keep the bottom line in proper perspective and conduct business with honesty and character.

How much does it cost to start a small chicken farm in Kenya? How about beginning a handbag business in the Philippines or opening a small clothing shop in New York? “Small Fortunes: Microcredit and the Future of Poverty” is an hour-long documentary that discusses how micro-lending institutions are helping people escape poverty.

The Marriott School has caught the eye of CEOs according to a new poll by Chief Executive magazine. The survey, released in the publication’s July 2005 issue, asked magazine subscribers to name their top 10 business school programs from BusinessWeek’s top 25 b-schools. However, the 477 respondents didn’t limit views to the likes of Wharton, Sloan and Columbia. They also nominated BYU along with a few other business programs.

Alianza, a company that offers reduced telephone rates to Mexican residents by routing calls through the Internet, was named winner of the 2005 Business Plan Competition. Brian Beutler, CEO of Alianza, and Scott Bell, CTO of Alianza, accepted the $50,000 award of cash and in-kind services at the BPC finals April 1.

The Brigham Young University Center for Economic Self-Reliance, the Romney Institute of Public Management and the Rollins eBusiness Center will host the 2005 Economic Self-Reliance Conference, "Building Economically Self-Reliant Families," Thursday and Friday, March 10-11, in the Wilkinson Student Center.

All it took was a simple challenge for Lisa and Jack Williams to get involved. After attending a BYU microcredit conference in 2000, Lisa and Jack started their own action group in Elk Grove, Calif. The group meets bi-monthly, educating themselves on microenterprise and discussing their goals and progress in collecting money for a microcredit bank. “What especially appealed to us was the idea of loaning money to people so they had a tool to lift themselves out of poverty by their bootstraps, preserving their dignity and self-respect in the process,” says Lisa Williams. The Williams are not alone in their desire to help those less fortunate. Hundreds of participants each year participate in the conference’s action fair. This year, the fair will be held 13 March, in conjunction with the Seventh Annual Microenterprise Conference at Brigham Young University. The conferen

Brigham Young University professor Warner Woodworth and MPA student Shon Hiatt received the Best Paper Award for the Business Division at the 2003 Utah Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters Conference. Their paper, “Socioeconomic Impacts of Microfinance in Mexico and Ecuador,” will be published in an upcoming issue of Utah Academy Journal.

Brigham Young University officials announce the creation of the Center for Economic Self-Reliance to oversee and coordinate the university’s ongoing initiatives to help families throughout the world become economically self-reliant. The new center will bring together the annual Microenterprise Conference, Journal of Microfinance and research and fieldwork support. Formation of the center was initiated by a $3 million contribution from Bob and Lynette Gay, recent recipients of BYU's 2003 President's Award for their ongoing support of BYU. "The university is very pleased to announce the creation of the Center for Economic Self-Reliance to be housed in the Marriott School of Management," says Sandra Rogers, BYU vice president for international affairs.

The Sixth Annual Microenterprise Conference, sponsored by the Program for Economic Self-Reliance at Brigham Young University’s Marriott School, will be held 13-15 March 2003. The conference — the largest of its kind — gathers microfinance institutions, non-governmental organizations, educators, students and volunteers for discussions and workshops on microenterprise innovations.

The Marriott School at Brigham Young University anticipates hundreds of participants at its fourth annual Microenterprise Conference 5-7 April 2001. The free conference, believed to be the largest of its kind, is open to BYU students, faculty, staff and the public. Microenterprise is a movement that uses small loans and business education to help the poor become self-reliant. This year’s theme, “Practical Approaches to Ending Poverty,” will bring together educators, investors and non-governmental organizations from around the world.