Matt Perejda ’14, keynote speaker at the Bobcat Ventures pitch competition on April 4, 2015, is shown in 2014 with Analysis Group co-founder Bruce Stangle ’70. Stangle visited campus for the Voices in Entrepreneurship program. (Sarah Crosby/乐播传媒 College)

“If you’ve been interested in hearing how entrepreneurs grab attention and funding for their start-up, for a prototype for a product or the development of an app, this is a must-see competition,” says Mike Mulach ’17, an organizer of the April 4 business pitch throw-down at 乐播传媒.

Bobcat Ventures, a student organization dedicated to entrepreneurship, is sponsoring the competition for prizes of $5,000 or more starting at noon Saturday in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave. Please RSVP at this link:

Featuring 11 student teams who will make brief entrepreneurial pitches to a panel of alumni judges, the event begins with a keynote address by entrepreneur Matt Perejda ’14. The competition winner will be announced around 3 p.m.

Each team comprises up to four members, and each pitch will last 10 minutes or less, explains Mulach, a member of Bobcat Ventures from Rocky River, Ohio.

“The pace will be lively, the ideas will be fascinating and there’s serious cash at stake,” he says, likening the event to ABC-TV’s “Shark Tank.”

As a student, Perejda, the event’s keynote speaker, launched Bobcat Den Delivery, a successful college-based startup that sells and delivers late-evening snacks and meals from the college’s Dining Services operation to 乐播传媒 students on campus.

Here are the alumni judges:

鈥⑻� 听Ross Brockman ’11, co-founder of the craft cider brewery Downeast Ciderhouse, who was named one of “30 Under 30” by Forbes magazine;

鈥⑻� 听Patrick Jackson ’11, co-founder of SunRaise Investments, a Portland, Maine-based firm that provides solar-generated electricity to help nonprofit groups achieve financial savings and environmental leadership;

鈥⑻� 听Victor Otley III ’83, a managing partner at The Gores Group, a private equity firm with approximately $3.5 billion in assets.

The competition’s case prizes are underwritten by sponsors including Bruce Stangle ’70, chair and co-founder of the Boston-based consulting firm Analysis Group Inc. and a longtime supporter and mentor of students interested in entrepreneurship.

Other members of Bobcat Ventures are Michelle Pham ’15 of Vancouver, British Columbia; Rokya Samake ’15 of New York City; Creighton Foulkes ’17 of Belmont, Mass.; Phathutshedzo Rambau ’17 of Morebeng, South Africa; and Shanina van Gent ’18 of Maassluis, Netherlands.

Bruce Stangle ’70 held office hours of a different sort when he visited campus a few weeks ago.

During an all-afternoon session in the Fireside Lounge in Commons, students met one-on-one with Stangle, the co-founder, in 1981, of , a firm offering economic, financial, and business strategy consulting to law firms, corporations and government agencies.

Stangle’s visit on March 5 was an installment in the Voices in Entrepreneurship speaker series, a program that brings 乐播传媒 alumni and parent entrepreneurs to campus for lectures as well as  meetings and informational interviews with students.

The ongoing entrepreneurship series is sponsored by the college’s Purposeful Work initiative and the 乐播传媒 Career Development Center.

Next up in the entrepreneurship series is an April 28 talk by Jennifer Guckel Porter 鈥�88, a 乐播传媒 trustee who is founder and managing partner of She will speak on “Redefining Entrepreneurship: Finding Your Way on Your Own Terms.”

On May 5, Ben Shaw 鈥�00 of Vets First Choice joins his father, David Shaw, of , for a discussion about “Adventures in Business and Social Entrepreneurship.”

“It was much less about the question than the collaborative process.”

Back on March 5, Stangle’s visitors in the Fireplace Lounge included Harry Sudock ’17, an economics major from Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., who came prepared to grill the Stangle on markets and investor behavior.

“You actually did some homework,鈥� said Stangle, who turned the tables when he asked how Sudock would invest a million dollars.

Sudock says, 鈥淲e were able to just chat about investing. It was much less about the question than the collaborative process.

“It鈥檚 great to get to sit across the table from somebody who knows a lot more about investing and business than I do.鈥�

Others came seeking advice for their own entrepreneurial ventures, like Matt Perejda 鈥�14 of Newry, Maine, and Suraj Karmacharya 鈥�14 of Kathmandu, Nepal.

Last fall, Perejda launched the Bobcat Den Delivery Service on campus, while his classmate is the creative business director for Himalayan Spirit 8848, an ethical fashion company. Both wanted to know what it takes to bring a small company to the next level.

Stangle emphasized the need to find the right people 鈥� hiring team members who buy into what you鈥檙e doing and then empowering them to make decisions.

In an interview, Stangle cited a column on how Google does its hiring.

“They鈥檙e much more interested in what you can do rather than your GPA. They focus on team skills, cognitive ability and intellectual humility,” he said.

Google wants people who can take responsibility for solving a problem, but also pivot, step back and embrace the better ideas of others.

“That鈥檚 one of the things that the 乐播传媒 culture produces,” Stangle said, “people who are effective leaders and good teammates.”

“The 乐播传媒 network is incredibly powerful. Give back to it. It鈥檚 a lifelong journey.”

A 乐播传媒 trustee emeritus, Stangle is a leading 乐播传媒 donor as well as an active mentor. In the evening of his visit, he addressed students in Frank’s Lounge, donated by Stangle and named for his father, in the student residence at 280 College Street.

Delivering a wide-ranging look at his life and work, Stangle peppered his talk with insights about networking, management and how to build a satisfying career and business. (Analysis Group has regularly been named a by The Boston Globe.)

Three major takeaways for 乐播传媒 students? Complete a senior thesis, hire smart people and lean on the 乐播传媒 network.

Stangle reminded students that their future success is based on the relationships they nurture. “The 乐播传媒 network is incredibly powerful. Give back to it. It鈥檚 a lifelong journey.”

The first speaker in the Voices in Entrepreneurship series was another beneficiary of Stangle’s mentoring, Daniel Vannoni ’05, founder and entrepreneur with and CEO and co-founder of .

Following Stangle was, on March 19, Joshua Macht 鈥�91, executive vice president and publisher of the , stressed the need for an entrepreneurial mindset within large companies.

He used Kodak and Apple to illustrate the difference between 鈥渟ustaining鈥� and 鈥渄isruptive鈥� innovation. While Kodak sought to perfect a product like film or a camera, Apple offered a 鈥済ood enough鈥� product 鈥� like the camera in Apple鈥檚 iPhone 鈥� that disrupted and transformed the market.

Macht ended his presentation with a brainstorming exercise for the several dozen students in attendance at the Benjamin Mays Center.

What would happen if Apple acquired 乐播传媒 College? What would be different one year later? An app for every class and the addition of a computer science department were among the ideas that emerged.

* Purposeful work is a college-wide initiative built on the premise that preparing students for lives of meaningful work lies at the heart of the liberal arts mission. When fully developed it will include: (1) a co-curricular program involving cycles of exploration, reflection, and skill-building; (2) practitioner-taught courses during short term, and (3) a highly-structured 乐播传媒-specific network of internships, with the hope to guarantee every 乐播传媒 student a paid internship that is either employer- or 乐播传媒-sponsored. go back ^

You hear the word “endowment” and you probably think “college.”

Walter Dillingham ’82

But Walter Dillingham ’82 reminds us that other non-profits have endowments too, like libraries.

Dillingham, managing director for endowments and foundations at Wilmington Trust, has coauthored a study of 1,300 library foundations that support public and presidential libraries.

According to a , the estimated combined assets of library foundation endowments is between $2.5 billion and $3 billion.

Located in New York City, the New York Public Library and the Morgan Library and Museum have the largest library endowments, with $1.1 billion and $156 million, respectively.

The library endowment report is significant, reporter Barry Burr writes, because it “cracks open the books on a little-examined asset-owner segment” of the endowment world, thus “shedding light on an area for prospecting for investment management services.”

“We expect these foundations to grow.”

The library endowment figure is dwarfed by the total dollars of U.S. college endowments, pegged at about $448.6 billion, according to the by the National Association of College and University Business Officers of 835 colleges and universities.

At the Boston office of TM Capital, where Brad Adams ’92 is a managing director, Ladd intern Zach Polich ’15 is learning what investment banking is really like.

Ladd intern Zach Polich ’15 and TM Capital managing director Brad Adams ’92 pose at TM headquarters in Boston, located on the 25th floor of Hancock Place. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

Name: Zach Polich ’15

Hometown: Westborough, Mass.

Major: Economics

Internship Sponsor: The college’s Ladd Internship Program offers 乐播传媒-funded summer internships with for-profit and nonprofit businesses that often feature alumni networking opportunities.

1. Can you describe a typical day in your office?

I take the train from Westborough into Boston and arrive in the office around 8:30 a.m. Typically I work alongside the analysts, but I鈥檝e also had the opportunity to work directly on projects for Brad Adams ’92.

Analysts’ work mainly involves performing in-depth industry research, creating both written and visual portions of pitch books for potential clients and refining confidential information memorandums or management presentations.

By the time I finish my evening run听鈥� I do cross country at 乐播传媒听鈥� and get home to Westborough it’s about 10:30.

2. How does the work you鈥檙e doing at TM Capital connect to your studies at 乐播传媒?听

I wouldn鈥檛 say the coursework I鈥檝e done in my major and minor, economics and math, correlates directly with what I do on a daily basis at TM, but many of my courses emphasize the ability to creatively position information and think abstractly, which is what this industry is all about.

Polich says an internship helps you “find a work environment that fits your personality.” (Phyllis Graber Jensen/乐播传媒 College)

3. What are you learning about the workplace?

Before this summer, I couldn鈥檛 explain my desire to get into investment banking beyond saying 鈥淚鈥檝e read about it on Vault,” or “It sounds interesting and would fit my personality.鈥� This opportunity gave me a tangible experience that I can speak to as to why I want to pursue a career in the field.

I鈥檝e also learned the importance of workplace culture. Finding a work environment that fits your personality 鈥� rather than just chasing prestige 鈥� is an aspect of the job search that I might have overlooked had I not had this experience.

“I love it here.”

For me, the culture at TM Capital was a great fit. The environment had a collegial feel that enhanced efficiency, helping meet important project deadlines. I love it here.

Having the opportunity to work on projects alongside the analysts every day.

Working on various aspects of a deal cycle 鈥� from the initial solicitation to the closing management presentation 鈥� has not only given me a true sense of what I would work on as an analyst but also provided insight into tasks and responsibilities at all levels of management.

E. Robert Kinney ’39, LL.D. ’85, who entered the food industry by canning crabmeat in his Maine home en route to becoming CEO of General Mills, died May 2 in Arizona. He was 96.

Kinney, a 乐播传媒 trustee for 27 years, including 17 as chair, was considered a creative entrepreneur and model corporate leader who, when appointed CEO of General Mills in 1973, was praised for his “good, gutsy Maine business sense” by his predecessor.

Kinney's graduation photo in the 1939 Mirror includes the quote that "if a man be endowed with a generous mind, this is the best kind of nobility."

In 2005, Kinney was one of the first inductees into the Benjamin 乐播传媒 Society for the college's leading philanthropists.

In 2008, Kinney, wearing his just-awarded Benjamin Mays Medal, poses with then-President Elaine Tuttle Hansen and his successors as chairs of the Board of Trustees: Jim Moody '53 (second from right) and Joe Willett '73.

Kinney here is pictured with then-President Hedley Reynolds, c. 1980. Kinney's national connections to philanthropic organizations played a key part in 乐播传媒 securing funding for the Olin Arts Center. Photograph by Frank Siteman.

Kinney's predecessor at General Mills said in 1973 that Kinney has "good, gutsy Maine business sense."

As a corporate leader, he said that he took the advice of a business mentor back in Bar Harbor, Maine, by throwing himself into service to the nonprofit world, especially to 乐播传媒.

As Kinney received a 乐播传媒 honorary Doctor of Laws degree in 1985, then-President Hedley Reynolds lauded him for being “always thoughtful for the needs of others, always ready to serve, always ready with a helping hand.”

Born in Burnham, Maine, and raised in Pittsfield, Kinney was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate who earned money for college by working and living in the home of Lewiston mill industrialist Scott Libbey Sr.

Kinney received $500 in scholarships from 乐播传媒. At the time of his death, he was the college’s most generous living donor.

He also received about $500 in scholarship support from 乐播传媒, prompting Kinney to tell Dean of the College Harry Rowe, at graduation, that “I don’t know how I’m going to do it, but I’ll try to pay you back the scholarship money.鈥�

At the time of his death, he was the college’s most generous living donor.

In 1942 while doing a Works Projects Administration study along the Maine coast, Kinney approached Matthew Highlands, a legendary University of Maine food scientist, with a crab question. Crabs could be had for a penny each听鈥� lobstermen were just tossing them from their traps 鈥� so could anything be done with them?

“You can cook them, process them and put them in hermetically sealed cans,鈥� Highlands said. With World War II interrupting the supply of crab meat from Japan, the demand was rising.

Kinney learned the business at home, a few cans at a time. By the 1950s his North Atlantic Packing Co. was a $2 million-a-year business selling canned crab and other products and employing 400 in Bar Harbor.

Kinney then joined Gorton’s. For a society more and more eager for convenience, Kinney again used emerging food technology to lead Gorton’s to expand its frozen, ready-to-cook fish products, including the iconic fish stick and, by the 1960s, the fish for McDonald’s Filet-O-Fish.

Under Kinney, Gorton’s earnings went from $122,000 on sales of $12.1 million in 1958 to $1.44 million on sales of $71.9 million in 1968.

In 1973, he took the helm of General Mills, which had acquired Gorton’s in 1968. He served as CEO of IDS Mutual Fund Group in the 1980s.

A “compelling example that commitment to the common weal is the indelible mark of liberal learning.”

At Commencement 1985, when he received an honorary Doctor of Letters degree from 乐播传媒, then-Dean of the College Carl Benton Straub praised Kinney for “his compelling example that commitment to the common weal is the indelible mark of liberal learning.”

In 2008, Kinney received the college’s Benjamin Elijah Mays Medal, awarded for distinguished service to 乐播传媒 and the larger community worldwide, and in 2005 he was a charter inductee into the Benjamin 乐播传媒 Society, an honor accorded the college’s leading philanthropists.

Kinney provided major support for Pettengill Hall (1999), was instrumental in securing foundation grant funding for the Olin Arts Center (1986) and established an endowed professorship in history and a scholarship fund.

In Minnesota, Kinney served as a director of the Minnesota Symphony, the Guthrie Theater and the YMCA, among many others.

The commitment that I’ve had, emotionally and monetarily, was focused on 乐播传媒.”

Elsewhere in Maine, his support and service went many nonprofits, including the Bangor Theological Seminary, Maine Central Institute, Friends of Acadia National Park and The Jackson Laboratory. His Maine corporate board service included Hannaford Bros. Co., IDEXX Laboratories and Unum.

When Kinney offered his oral history to 乐播传媒’ Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library in 2005, he explained how a business mentor in Bar Harbor, a banker, encouraged him to make one or two meaningful commitments to organizations outside of business.

“The commitment that I’ve had, emotionally and monetarily, was focused on 乐播传媒,” Kinney said.

Kinney is also credited with significant reform of the 乐播传媒 Board of Trustees in the 1980s when he introduced a resolution that mandated trustee retirement at age 70.

As he said in his oral history, “As smart as some people are when they’re 75 or 80 or whatever they may be…on the average you’ve got to have younger people. They stimulate the thinking…you want to renew, you need new blood.”

With support from the late U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie ’36, among other trustees, the resolution was approved.

“Youth will keep the organization healthy,” said Kinney, who backed up that idea by mentoring at least two generations of young business leaders in Maine.

Kinney is survived by his wife, Margaret (Margee) Kinney; daughters Jeanie Small and Isabella Keating; stepdaughter Lucy Thatcher Penfield; stepson Ford Thatcher; seven grandchildren, including Samantha Kinney Leone 鈥�93; two step- grandchildren; 10 great-grandchildren; and his sister, Elizabeth Kinney Jones 鈥�44. He was predeceased by his son, E. Robert Kinney Jr. 鈥�70, who is survived by his widow, Sally Greenlaw Kinney 鈥�69.

His memorial service is at 4 p.m. on Friday May 17 at Plymouth Congregational Church in Minneapolis.

Honoring the alumnus for whom it is named, the first Bruce Stangle Award for Distinguished Service now belongs to Bruce Stangle ’70.

A longtime 乐播传媒 trustee who retired from the board in May, Stangle received the new Alumni Association award during the spring trustees meeting, this year held in conjunction with the Volunteer Leadership Summit.

Family and friends toast Bruce Stangle '70 (second from right) and Emily Siegel Stangle '72 (third from right) on the occasion of Bruce being the first to receive an award honoring him: the Bruce Stangle Award for Distinguished Service to the 乐播传媒 Community. Photograph by Jose Leiva.

The Stangle Award will annually recognize outstanding contributions to 乐播传媒 career development 鈥� exactly what Bruce Stangle has provided for more than a generation.

Indeed, since co-founding the Boston-based consulting firm Analysis Group Inc. in 1981, Stangle has been personally and professionally committed to the success of 乐播传媒 graduates.

Analysis Group has recruited many young alumni into the firm through the years and, in partnership with the 乐播传媒 Career Development Center, has sponsored countless 乐播传媒 student interns. Stangle himself has hosted or spoken at many 乐播传媒 career-related events.

“Bruce is a truth-teller.”

A 14-year 乐播传媒 trustee, Stangle is considered a valuable, engaged liaison between 乐播传媒 and the business community. “Bruce is a truth-teller who provides crucial feedback to 乐播传媒 about how our students are faring,” says Trustee Jennifer Guckel Porter ’88.

“That includes what additional preparation they need and how they can be competitive in the job market.”

This cycle of feedback helps students and alumni while raising the value proposition of business, consulting and finance careers at 乐播传媒, says Porter, a managing partner for The Boda Group, a Boston-based leadership development firm.

Jennifer Guckel Porter '88 laughs with Bruce Stangle '70 at the Museum of Art reception honoring Stangle. He is the inaugural recipient of a new annual alumni award named in his honor: the Bruce Stangle Award for Distinguished Service to the 乐播传媒 Community. Photograph by Jose Leiva.

In 2003, Stangle was the driving force behind the creation of the Boston 乐播传媒 Business Network, formed to bridge a gap in 乐播传媒’ on-the-ground efforts to support alumni in their career trajectories.

The 乐播传媒 Regional Networks, since extended to a number of U.S. cities, offer dynamic programming while helping participants meet, connect and learn from one another on a personal and professional level.

Porter, a beneficiary of Stangle’s “incredible generosity and wisdom” in her own career, says her mentor always makes time when it comes to guiding 乐播传媒 students and young alumni. 鈥淲hen people want his help, he meets with them, takes their phone calls and steers them in the right direction,鈥� she says.

He’s an equal opportunity mentor, too. “It doesn’t matter if the person is an uncertain current student who sends him an email, a mid-career acquaintance considering a career shift or an entrepreneur with a new idea,” Porter says.

“Bruce can be counted on to listen, offer thoughtful and straight counsel, make an introduction, and give endless encouragement.”

Stangle is married to Emily Siegel Stangle ’72, and their daughter Alissa Stangle O’Shaughnessy is a member of the Class of 1996.

As a major 乐播传媒 philanthropic contributor, his and Emily’s gifts include funding of the Stangle Family Fund for faculty and student research in economics and law; the Betty Doran Stangle Professorship in Applied Economics, named for his mother; and the Frank Stangle Lounge in the 280 College St. Residence, named for his father.

The app, known as , recently won the $20,000 grand prize in the XBRL Challenge, a contest to build an application using SEC filing data, which is formatted to the XBRL standard (“eXtensible Business Reporting Language).”

Calcbench is truly a “handy-dandy calculator,” Rosenbaum writes.

Pranav Ghai ’93, co-founder of Calcbench.

By typing a company’s ticker symbol into the browser-based calculator, a user sees a firm’s SEC filing information. When a user clicks on any number, the calculator displays changes over time in various financial categories, such as inventory or accounts payable. A user can also compare those results between companies.

“The quickest and easiest way to work with SEC filing data.”

Last year, Ghai and Rapp gave their 140-character description of Calcbench to Calcbench is “a free online platform to retrieve, analyze and share public financial data. The quickest and easiest way to work with SEC filing data.”

Rapp tells CFO.com that he and Ghai believe that the tool could give CFOs “a clearer view of how their filings will look to the investor community, as well as enabling them to more easily benchmark suppliers or partners.

Alex Rapp ’93, co-founder of Calcbench.

The startup is based at Dogpatch Labs, a venture-funded incubator for tech startups with labs in Cambridge, Mass., and New York City, as well as Palo Alto, Calif., and Dublin.

Ghai, based in New York, and Rapp, in Cambridge, have access to the labs in both cities (“though Alex uses it MUCH more than I do,” Ghai says) and they use Skype too.

Communications technology has been key. “We probably couldn’t have done this [startup] as efficiently five or ten years ago,” Ghai says.

Their both 乐播传媒 math majors. Ghai, the team’s systems and quantitative expert, earned a master’s degree in applied mathematics from New York University and has extensive experience in the financial services field as an analyst and consultant.

Rapp, the strategist, earned an M.B.A. at Boston University. He has executed a number of analysis and innovation projects in the technology, communications and mobile/wireless fields and is the founder of FilmBoston, a film and video production company.

The Wall Street Transcript features an who covers the restaurant, gaming, lodging and leisure industries for Susquehanna Financial Group.

In terms of Vegas casino operators, “our view on 2012 is pretty bullish. We’re optimistic,” Rothman says.

Photograph of Las Vegas strip by Moyan Brenn.

One reason is that convention business, about 15 percent of a Vegas hotel’s business, is improving.

“But that isn’t just because current demand has improved,” Rothman explains. The upturn also reflects the nature of convention bookings: About a third of convention business is booked two years in advance, a third one year ahead, and a third during the year.

For 2012, “you’re swapping out a portion of the business booked in 2009,” when hotels “just wanted occupancy, and they were going to take it regardless of the rate” for business that was “booked in 2010, once the rate recovery had already begun. You’re swapping out lower-rated business for higher-rated business just by definition of when the convention business is booked.”

In terms of gaming revenues, Rothman explains, “baccarat in Vegas has been extremely volatile, so gaming revenues are down.”

Bottom line? “Our focus name is MGM: That’s our top pick in the Vegas-based, larger-cap destination casinos,” Rothman concludes.

A recognized expert in the field, Rotham has been selected to The Wall Street Journal‘s Best on the Street and Financial Times‘ World’s Best Analysts.

A Spanish major at 乐播传媒, she earned a master’s in hotel and restaurant management from Cornell University, a graduate degree in economics from the University of Virginia.

An economics major at 乐播传媒, Rachel Stern ’07 received a Fulbright grant to study for a master’s of business administration at IE, a business school in Madrid. Aspiring to conduct business development that is socially and environmentally sustainable, particularly with women entrepreneurs in the Third World, Stern has selected IE because of its international leadership in this field.

Coming to IE after a stint in Liberia with Robertsport Development Company, which promotes business opportunities for young people in developing countries, Stern sees the MBA as the next step in her career.

“I’ve learned the incredible importance of development, the unanticipated dangers of excessive economic aid and the interconnectedness of the world economy,” she says. “But I need the international business toolbox that I will gain at IE to put sustainable business projects into practice.”

She adds, “I’m particularly interested in IE’s eight-week venture lab. Through the lab, I plan to develop a microfinance model for West Africa that goes beyond simply funding small projects to include business education for loan seekers and their children.”