Business News - 2022

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Black School of Business WINTER/SPRING 2022/2023
6 Franchise Proves To Be Good Business 2 Alumnus Presented with Achievement Award 8 Student-Managed Fund Turns 10 10 School Helps Cover Cost of Certifications 11 Lab Advances Study of Business Ethics 12 ERIE Conference Explores Cybersecurity
PENN
STATE BEHREND

Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce recently released a report on the economic value of 5,500 business programs at more than 1,700 colleges in the United States.* I am thrilled to report that the Black School of Business was ranked in the top 10 percent of all business schools!

Not only is our school ranked highest among all other undergraduate business programs in the Penn State system, we outpaced all other business schools in the region. Our graduate ranking tied with that of University Park and, again, placed us ahead of regional competitors.

We credit the success of this ranking to many factors, including the quality of our academics, as evidenced by the expertise of our faculty and the preparedness of our students.

Penn State Behrend’s Open Lab philosophy—what we also call “Learning by Doing” in the Black School of Business—gives our students theoryto-practice opportunities to apply their learning in meaningful ways, working with a wide array of corporate and strategic partners. As Gene Natali, president of Troutwood in Pittsburgh, has said, Black School of Business students are “workforce ready” upon graduation, prepared to hit the ground running and make an immediate contribution.

We hope you enjoy this edition of Business News, which offers a variety of articles reflecting student, faculty, and alumni success. A big thank-you for all your support as we engage in continuous improvement, also with a focus on student-centric success.

In Brief

MIS/MBA ALUMNUS PRESENTED WITH BEHREND ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

Steven Bugajski, a 1994 Management Information Systems and 2004 MBA graduate, was recently presented with the Behrend Distinguished Alumni Achievement Award.

The award is presented annually to a graduate of Behrend who has made significant contributions to and achievements in their profession, in their community, and at Behrend. Recipients are those who have demonstrated professional leadership, been active in community affairs, and contributed to the betterment of society, social values, and/or justice.

Bugajski is the vice president and chief information officer for U.S. Steel, where he leads the company’s global IT operation, including digital strategy and cybersecurity.

He serves as an executive in residence for the Black School of Business, has mentored dozens of Behrend students, and together with other U.S. Steel IT professionals, has developed programs for students to learn about business, technology, and cybersecurity in the corporate world. He also sits on the executive committee of the Black School’s advisory board and the MIS program advisory board.

ON THE COVER

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DIRECTOR’S MESSAGE
DR. GREG FILBECK Karla (Murray) Mazza ’07, ’08 MBA, is the co-owner of four Fyzical Therapy and Balance Centers in Corry and Erie. She and her business partner were named the Fyzical franchisees of the year in 2022. Read more on page 6.
*https://tinyurl.com/BlackSchoolValue
Steven Bugajski, center, at the awards ceremony with his wife, Yvette, and son, Adam, a current Behrend student majoring in Project and Supply Chain Management and Management Information Systems.

BLACK SCHOOL A SMART INVESTMENT

A report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce has ranked the programs of the Black School of Business among the top 10 percent in the country for value, or financial return. The report ranks more than 1,700 colleges and universities nationwide based on graduates’ annual net earnings two years after graduation and their level of student debt. At all levels—associate, bachelor’s, and master’s—the net earnings of graduates of Behrend’s business programs were among the best.

Faculty and Staff News

NEW FACULTY AND STAFF

The School of Business welcomed four new faculty members: Dr. Amit Agarwal, assistant professor of marketing; Dr. Ben Lee, assistant professor of marketing; Kevin Pratt, lecturer in marketing; and Dr. Hafez Shurrab, assistant professor of project and supply chain management. In addition, Lea Saunders has joined the school staff; she serves as academic programs coordinator.

PROMOTIONS

Ten School of Business faculty members have been promoted: Dr. William Johnson to professor of management; Dr. Jeffrey Coy to associate professor of finance; Linda Hajec to associate teaching professor of accounting; Dr. Christopher Harben to associate teaching professor of management; Dr. Byung-Cheol (BC) Kim to associate professor of project and supply chain management; Dr. Babajide Osatuyi to associate professor of management information systems; Dr. Xianghui (Richard) Peng to associate professor of project and supply chain management; Eric Robbins to associate teaching professor of finance; Phil Stuczynski to assistant teaching professor of finance; Dr. Hyunsoon (Sean) Yim, to associate professor of marketing.

DID YOU KNOW?

The Black School of Business is a leading partner in Behrend’s Virtual/Augmented Reality (VAR) Lab, directed by Dr. Chris Shelton, assistant professor of clinical psychology. The VAR Lab has three spaces— the VAR Lab research and development unit; the VAR Studio, an extended reality (XR) maker space; and VAR Edu, where students and faculty can interact with VR/AR technologies.

“The Black School of Business is our biggest partner, and the school’s investments in the VAR Lab have helped us to purchase equipment and expand capabilities,” Shelton said. “The school is forward-thinking and can see the future of these technologies in business sectors.”

Learn more at behrend.psu.edu/VARlab

OTHER NEWS

Dr. Ray Venkataraman, professor of management and department chair of the Marketing and Project and Supply Chain Management programs, recently celebrated 25 years with Penn State.

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In Brief

FILBECK GIVEN LIFETIME JA ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

JA

CELEBRATING THE START OF THE NEW ACADEMIC YEAR

The Black School of Business held its annual welcome-back event—“Back 2 Business”— during the first week of the 2022-23 academic year. Each business club had a table to share information, and faculty members were on hand to talk with new and returning students. There were games, fun, and food, including Penn State’s famous Berkey Creamery ice cream!

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Dr. Greg Filbeck, director of the Black School of Business, was recently honored with a lifetime achievement award from Junior Achievement (JA) of Western Pennsylvania. The award is given just once every five years. is a global organization dedicated to educating students in grades K-12 about entrepreneurship, work readiness, and financial literacy. The Black School of Business has partnered with JA of Western Pennsylvania for many years, offering professional expertise, assisting with materials, and hosting events.

HAN CHOSEN FOR EARLYCAREER PROFESSORSHIP

Dr. Eunjoo (EJ) Han, assistant professor of marketing in the Black School of Business, is the second Behrend faculty member to receive a new early career professorship designed to support the teaching and research of a faculty member in the first decade of their career.

The endowment for the Dr. Chester “Chet” L. Wolford Early Career Professorship was made possible through a gift from Ed Auslander, retired president and chief executive officer of LORD Corporation, and his wife, Elaine, to honor the late Wolford, a former professor of English at Behrend. Auslander, a 1985 graduate of the Penn State College of Engineering, earned an MBA at Behrend in 1991.

Auslander said that, throughout his career, which included oversight of business operations in twenty-six countries, with annual revenue in excess of $1 billion, he relied on skills he learned in a business writing course taught by Wolford.

Han teaches courses in marketing, marketing research, and buyer behavior and applied research. Her research focuses on sustainable consumption, charitable giving, and consumer goals and motivation.

The first recipient of the professorship was Dr. Joongseo Kim, an assistant professor of management, whose term ran from 2020 to 2023. Han will hold the professorship from 2023 to 2026.

NEWS FROM THE CENTER FOR FINANCIAL LITERACY

Dr. Jeffrey Coy, associate professor of finance, has been named academic director of the Black School of Business Center for Financial Literacy, which provides research-based financial education to high school students, secondary school educators, and adults.

The Center partners with CFA Society Pittsburgh, a world leader in financial literacy outreach, and also with the nonprofit organization Next Gen Personal Finance, which has a mission of ensuring all students take one semester of personal finance courses before graduating high school. Pre- and post-assessment tools developed and implemented by the Center are currently being piloted through Next Gen with more than 400 teachers and 10,000-plus students from 41 states participating. Next Gen is the largest provider of financial literacy content in the United States, reaching more than 58,000 teachers and 1,000,000 students nationwide.

BLACK SCHOOL SUPPORTS 5K RUN/WALK

Inaugural event drew nearly 200 participants

Penn State Behrend’s rich history of influential women began with Mary Behrend, who in 1948 donated her Glenhill home to the University in memory of her husband, Ernst, founder of Hammermill Paper Company. The first Behrend student was a woman—Dorothy Holmstrom, an engineering major, who was at the front of the line to enroll in the initial class of 146 students.

Recognizing that legacy and the growing importance of engaging women in leadership roles, Penn State Behrend formed the Women’s Engagement Council (WEC) in 2020.

In August, the organization held its first public event, the Run for Women 5K run/ walk, drawing nearly 200 participants who completed the 3.1-miile course in Behrend’s Knowledge Park.

Among the highlights: Berkey Creamery ice cream at the finish line, courtesy of the Athletics Department, and Nittany Lionshaped awards that were designed and 3-D printed by students in the college’s James R. Meehl Innovation Commons. The Black School of Business provided funds to buy much of the race equipment that can now be used year to year.

WEC’s future plans include a mentoring program, an awards program/luncheon, and a woman-focused speaker series designed to engage women at Penn State Behrend and in the greater Erie community.

The board recently began accepting applications for free membership in the council.

Learn more at behrend.psu.edu/wec. Follow WEC at facebook.com/PSBwomenscouncil and instagram.com/behrendwomenscouncil.

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DR. EUNJOO (EJ) HAN DR. JEFFREY COY

Franchise Proves To Be Perfect Partnership

Former student-athlete finds formula for business success in physical therapy centers

When she started at Penn State Behrend, Karla (Murray) Mazza planned to major in kinesiology, offered at University Park. An avid volleyball player, she joined the varsity team at Behrend, and after a year, she knew she wanted to find a major she could complete at the college.

“I just loved the team and Behrend, so I had to think about my skillset and where I could apply it. My mom suggested marketing,” said Mazza, who graduated with a Marketing degree in 2007 and an MBA in 2008. “It aligned with what I wanted, which was to have a lot of options in the business world and to one day be my own boss.”

That day came sooner than she imagined when she and her husband, Dave, ran into a college friend, Christopher Bailey, a physical therapist who was considering buying a physical therapy franchise, Fyzical, in Corry in 2017.

At the time, Mazza was working for Patterson-Erie Corporation, which owns and operates Burger King franchises in the Erie region, so she had some experience with the franchise model and told Bailey she would look at it and give him her thoughts.

After doing the research, Mazza was impressed. “I liked the business opportunity that Fyzical offered to someone without a medical degree, and their

approach to providing more holistic health care,” she said.

Bailey suggested they join forces. He would handle the clinical side of things and Mazza would manage the business side.

“Dave and I believed in Chris’ vision and Fyzical, and bought into the business,” Mazza said.

It turned out to be a great partnership. In 2021, Bailey and Mazza were named the Fyzical Franchisees of the Year, and the two recently opened their fourth location.

GROWING FYZICAL

After taking ownership of the Corry facility, Bailey and Mazza noticed they had a lot of patients who were driving from Erie for treatment of vertigo and balance issues, a specialty of the Fyzical franchises.

“Fyzical has expertly trained clinicians for patients with balance problems,” Mazza said. “People assume they have to leave the region in order to get help, but it can be found right here.”

Knowing they had existing clients in Erie made expansion an obvious next step. They opened their second location, in West Erie, in 2019.

“That was eye-opening,” Mazza said. “Splitting our time between multiple clinics highlighted the need to have consistency, or it would’ve been overwhelming, operationally.”

The solution, Mazza said, was to build a solid team. “Having the right staff is

huge,” she said. “Mood matters. We want a positive workplace with employees who share in our vision and enjoy their jobs. If we take care of them, they will take care of our patients.”

Each facility, including the two that Mazza and Bailey added in 2022 in Erie’s Harborcreek and Summit townships—has a clinical director, but Mazza is a frequent presence.

“Face time is vital,” she said. “I need to be accessible to our employees, and the more time I spend in the centers, the better I understand our needs and challenges.”

FROM PLAYER TO “COACH”

Recalling her experience playing volleyball at Behrend, Mazza likens herself to a coach rather than a player now. “The coach is the one doing the advance work, strategy, research, and measuring results. It’s my job to make sure we’re going in the right direction.”

She has help, not only from her business partner and employees, but from being part of the Fyzical franchise. Among the benefits Mazza lists the ability for rapid growth, turnkey products, strong business support, and excellent training programs.

“That said, we are still a mom-and-pop operation,” she said. “We’re still locally owned and operated. I go to the same grocery stores and restaurants as our patients, and we live in this community. It’s the best of both worlds.”

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“MY BEHREND VOLLEYBALL COACH, PHIL PISANO, USED TO TELL US THAT IT WAS IMPORTANT TO FIND

PARALLEL LINES

Though Mazza doesn’t provide treatment to patients (Bailey and the licensed therapists fulfill that role), she enjoys being in the physical therapy environment and helping people.

“My Behrend volleyball coach, Phil Pisano, used to tell us that it was important to find a career that aligned with our purpose in life,” Mazza said. “I think I have done that.”

Are there more grand openings in her Fyzical future?

“I think four is the right number,” she said. “I’d like to help other franchisees grow now. It wasn’t long ago that I was a single proprietor trying to figure everything out. Helping someone who is just getting started would be rewarding for me.”

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A CAREER THAT ALIGNED WITH OUR PURPOSE IN LIFE. I THINK I HAVE DONE THAT.” KARLA MAZZA ’07, ’08 MBA Karla (Murray) Mazza ’07, ’08 MBA

Intrieri Fund Now Providing Scholarships for Student Analysts

In its tenth year, and with more than $1 million in holdings, the Intrieri Family Student-Managed Fund at Penn State Behrend paid a different kind of dividend: Thirteen student analysts earned scholarships that were paid from the fund’s profits.

Additional scholarships will follow, as long as the fund’s balance remains above $1 million. That provides an additional incentive for students, who manage a portfolio with approximately 40 stocks.

“No one wants to be the one who tanks the fund and ruins this for everyone,” said Michael Tejchman, a 2021 graduate who now works at BNY Mellon.

That pressure increased over the last year as the Federal Reserve tried to tame inflation by raising interest rates. The S&P 500—the primary benchmark for the Intrieri fund—fell by more than 19 percent.

The Intrieri fund ended the year ahead of the benchmarks but still lost approximately 8 percent of its value.

“Nobody panicked,” said Dr. Tim Krause, director of the fund and an associate professor of finance. “We kept meeting, and I kept saying to the students, ‘Look, we have a strategy, and we’ve executed it. Trust in that. Hold on. We’ll see how this works out.’”

A bear market was always a risk for the student-managed fund, which launched in 2012, building on a $100,000 gift from Behrend alumnus Vincent Intrieri and his wife, Joanne. Because the fund uses real money, the student analysts feel a responsibility that can’t be matched by a classroom simulation.

“Mock portfolio classes tend to be a waste of time,” said Vincent Intrieri ’84, the founder and CEO of VDA Capital Management LLC and a former senior managing director of Icahn Capital LP. “Students don’t really do the work. They listen to their buddy, or their uncle, or whomever, and they put all the money into a few big-name stocks. It doesn’t really teach them anything.

“When you’re dealing with real money,” he said, “you very quickly learn to appreciate the stakes.”

As a result, the student analysts tend to favor value stocks. When the market is down, they look for bargains: In 2022, the fund added stocks in Tesla and Meta Platforms, the company that runs Facebook.

Most students pitch at least four stocks every semester. They offer detailed valuations, including price targets, and the team votes. A smaller group manages the portfolio during the summer months.

Krause serves as the team’s adviser, with help from Phil Stuczynski, an assistant teaching professor of finance. But the students have the final vote.

“Their immersion in the fund really becomes the marquee item on their resúme,” said Dr. Greg Filbeck, director of the Black School of Business. “They learn to be careful and thorough with their research and to be strategic as they balance the fund. They also hone their communication skills. They need to be able to convince the rest of the team that the stock they picked is the right fit.”

Even in a down market, with the S&P and other benchmarks wobbling, students can point to their experience with the Intrieri fund as they meet with potential employers.

“It’s a differentiating experience,” Filbeck said. “These students enter the job market having managed an investment portfolio that is worth more than $1 million. They can point to something more than classroom knowledge. They can show the fund’s growth and say, ‘I contributed to that.’”

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“NO ONE WANTS TO BE THE ONE WHO TANKS THE FUND AND RUINS IT FOR EVERYONE.” MICHAEL
TEJCHMAN
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PROJECT MANAGEMENT IS ONE BIG PUZZLE

Dual degrees help recent graduate find her niche

While some students cringe when professors assign a group project, Grace Blackford ’21, ’22, wasn’t one of them.

“I’m a people person,” said Blackford who dual majored in Project and Supply Chain Management (PSCM) and Management Information Systems (MIS) and went on to earn an MBA at Penn State Behrend. “I like to be around other people and work on a team. I also am very organized, so being able to use my organizational and social skills to help manage projects and understand complex supply chains is a good fit for me.”

Blackford is an associate information technology project manager in the IT Apprentice Program at Erie Insurance. It’s a two-year rotational program in which participants work on different IT teams, learning and expanding their skillset.

“The IT Apprentice Program was one of the things that attracted me to Erie Insurance because I knew I wanted to gain a breadth of knowledge early in my career,” she said.

Business News talked with Blackford to learn more about her career path: Why did you decide to dual major?

Initially, I was pursuing only a PSCM degree, but after taking a few MIS courses, I realized that I wanted to learn more about it. MIS was completely unfamiliar to me when I started at Behrend, but I liked coding and knew it would be useful in any sector.

How would you explain your degrees to people unfamiliar with them?

I explain that I have two business degrees, one is focused on logistics and managing projects, while the other is focused on using technologies, such as Excel, to interpret data.

How does your education help you in your current role?

I use my project management skills every day to coordinate project tasks. The skills I learned in MIS help me grasp the technical aspects of the projects I

manage. It’s nice because I can understand and speak the jargon of both the business and IT sides of a project team.

In what other ways did the Black School prepare you?

Group projects really helped because almost everything I do now involves working collaboratively. At Behrend, I learned how to work with people I might not have otherwise, people who had different ways of communicating, approaching projects, and dividing the work.

How did you get your job?

I started at Erie Insurance in the summer of 2020 as an IT intern in a business analyst role. I worked remotely throughout my senior year. When I graduated, I started working full time in the apprentice program. After completing the two-year

program, apprentices join an IT team as a professional level employee.

What do you like about your job?

I like that project management is one big puzzle with competing priorities, and my role is to find harmony and keep everyone happy. I feel accomplished when I am able to help the pieces fall into place, my team members are confident in their work, and our project is making progress.

What are your future goals?

I’d like to pursue Project Management Professional certification. My long-term goal is to be an IT supervisor.

What advice do you have for current students?

Raise your hand when opportunities arise. Say yes to every learning experience. Join different clubs. Try new things.

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EASING EXPENSES FOR BUSINESS STUDENTS

Black School helps students cover the cost of certifications

Professional certifications and designations are an often-overlooked expense for business majors. Students can spend hundreds of dollars, or more, on exam fees and preparation materials pursuing certifications and designations that are important in their chosen fields.

Students in the Black School of Business can get help with these out-of-pocket expenses by applying for up to $1,000 in reimbursement for study guides, training materials, and exam fees.

Joseph Waeltz, a student in Behrend’s Finance program offered through World Campus, was pleased to qualify for funding through the Professional Designation Fund.

“In my case, it covered nearly $700 in expenses and exam preparation for my CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) Level 1 exam, which I took last fall,” Waeltz said. “The application process was easy, and I was beyond excited to learn that I would be reimbursed for those costs. They really add up.”

In the past five years, the Black School of Business has awarded more than $75,000 to nearly 125 students.

“The expenses must be for items outside of classroom work, and our students initially pay for them out of pocket and apply to be reimbursed,” said Dr. Ozgun Demirag, professor of operations and supply chain management and a member of the committee that evaluates award applications. “The average amount we have awarded over the past five years is about $15,000 annually.”

Peter Lamis, a senior dual majoring in Finance and Management Information Systems, used the funding to pay for his Scrum Master Certification.

“I plan on applying for my Data Analytics certification after I finish my data warehousing and business intelligence classes,” Lamis said.

With the help of the awards, students have been able to complete certifications such as Certified Financial Planner, Certified Public Accountant, and Project Management Professional at little to no cost, something any business major can recognize as a smart financial move.

Jessica Snider, who earned an Accounting degree in 2021 and a Master of Professional Accounting degree in May, received $1,000, which covered the exam fee for each of the four Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam sessions as well as the application fee. Her goal is to become a Certified Management Accountant.

“The Black School of Business is always looking for opportunities to help students achieve their professional goals, and this is just one of the ways the school contributes to our success,” Snider said. “I am extremely thankful for the fund. It relieved me of the large financial burden it takes to become a CPA.”

MAJORS FUNDED

Students in these majors have received funding in the last six years:

• Accounting

• Business Economics

• Finance (Behrend Residential and World Campus)

• Interdisciplinary Business with Engineering Studies

• International Business

• Management Information Systems

• Marketing

• Project and Supply Chain Management

• Master of Business Administration

• Master of Professional Accounting

• Master of Project Management

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Behrend Lab Advances Study of Business Ethics and Buyer Behavior

At Fort Hood, where he conducted integrity studies for the U.S. Army, Dr. Joongseo Kim administered the “pen test.” He’d pass out administrative forms and offer the soldiers a selection of pens.

Some of the pens were expensive. As the soldiers completed the forms, Kim watched what they did with the pens. Some left them on the table. Some handed them back to the proctor. A few kept them.

“Businesses are built on many people making decisions,” said Kim, now an assistant professor of management in the Black School of Business. “When you understand how people make those decisions, you’re more likely to be successful as a business.”

Outside influences often complicate the process. For example: If you order dinner at a restaurant and feel rushed by the waiter, you may, when the food arrives, wish you had chosen what is on your companion’s plate. That’s called “bounded rationality,” said Kim, the 2020-2023 Dr. Chester “Chet” L. Wolford Early Career Professor. It occurs when an individual lacks the time, energy, or information to consider all possible outcomes.

At dinner, the impact is negligible. In other settings, Kim said, bounded rationality can hobble a business.

“Our behaviors are often, to some degree, irrational,” he said. “That is evident when we make investment decisions, when we make a management decision, or when we hire employees based on a gut feeling.”

At Behrend, in the Raimy Behavioral Lab, Kim studies how decisions are made —how people rationalize their choices, based on beliefs and other motivators, and why they often select an option that isn’t the best fit.

“We assume that people make decisions in a rational manner,” he said, “but that isn’t always the case. We buy things on impulse. We trust our hunches.”

The Raimy lab is equipped with twenty

computer workstations, where students participate in behavioral experiments or respond to survey questionnaires. The data collected from those studies supports academic research in the fields of marketing, supply chain management, economics, accounting, and management information systems.

More than 600 students participate in the research each semester. They receive course credit or cash incentives and gain experience in behavioral and marketresearch environments.

“It really helps you understand the process,” said Abigail Cochran, a junior in the marketing program in the Black School, who works in the lab, administering surveys. “I’ve taken the surveys, and I had a data analytics class where we learned how to create surveys. This is teaching me the other end of it.”

Kim and other researchers sometimes observe the sessions from a side room with a one-way mirror. They also use that space for structured, team-based simulations. Observers watch the teams work and assess their strengths and shortcomings.

The simulations often focus on an aspect of business ethics—a boom market since the Enron scandal, which cost shareholders $74 billion.

“One corporate scandal can liquidate an entire business,” Kim said. “After Enron, people in business looked closely at their leadership and the culture of their companies and said, ‘We’ve got to get this right.’ A big part of that is situational factors, including the climate in the workplace.”

He plans to upgrade the Raimy lab, adding eye-tracking technology, which can measure the interest and intensity of focus of a study’s participants, and tablet computers, which will enable researchers to collect data beyond Behrend.

“There’s a lot that goes into this,” Kim said. “You have to be asking the right research question and make theorybased predictions. Then, you have to have the right methodology in place to collect and analyze the data to examine whether the predictions are supported or not. But, at the end of the day, empirical studies all come down to gathering data. Without that, you can’t study and learn anything.”

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ERIE CONFERENCE EXPLORES CYBERSECURITY RISKS

Cyberattacks drain billions of dollars from the national economy every year, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration. Small businesses are particularly vulnerable to these attacks, which can include malware, ransomware, and phishing.

The Economic Research Institute of Erie (ERIE), an outreach center of the Black School of Business, focused on the issue at its seventeenth ERIE Conference held at Behrend in December. The program featured security experts from Fifth Wall, Networking Technologies, Erie Federal Credit Union, and Channellock.

“Cybersecurity is not just an information technology issue, it’s a business risk issue,” said Jim Bahm, president and CEO of Networking Technologies in Erie. “No matter what size a company or organization is, they need to be concerned about cybersecurity.”

One of the biggest risks? Human error. “Eighty to 90 percent of the breaches today involve a human element,” Bahm said. “Someone clicked on a bad link or entered information somewhere they shouldn’t have.”

Presenters and faculty members from the Black School of Business and the school’s Center for Family Business discussed ways to manage business risk while connecting with local industry and academic experts.

At the conference, Dr. Ken Louie, ERIE director and associate professor of economics, also gave an update on the Erie area economy, which he summed up as “stable, but sluggish.” You can read the full report at eriedata.bd.psu.edu.

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