Troy's SCOB partners with local businesses

Troy University Sorrell College of Business (SCOB) is gearing up to officially launch the Sorrell Corporate Partnership Program.

The program aims to connect organizations to SCOB students, faculty and programs through a tiered membership process tailored to emphasize visibility and support.

Stan Blankenship, program coordinator and SCOB professor of practice, shared his goal with the program.

“We want the business leaders in our geographic area to expand their presence on our campus to help shape the future of the business education that we offer our students,” Blankenship said. “The goal of our program is to build strong partnerships with area businesses and industries, supporting one of the key strategic goals of the SCOB five-year strategic plan.”

Dr. John Stephen Grice, interim dean of SCOB, shared a similar thought.

“We’re trying to engage our students with local business leaders,” Grice said. “One of our key goals in the five-year strategic plan was just to build stronger, more meaningful partnerships with businesses and industries that make up our communities.

“It’s been really effective.”

Corporate Partners is divided into three tiers titled from highest to lowest, Dean’s Partner, Silver Partner and Cardinal Partner. Each tier comes with a variety of different benefits for the partnered organization.

Dr. Laura Dove, SCOB associate dean and associate professor of law, shared her hopes and excitement for the program.

“This is a program that we’re really excited to launch, and I really think it’s going to help deepen our engagement with some of our key partners,” Dove said. “I really hope students take away that as a college, we really are prioritizing their long-term success, and so I hope they see this as a chance to interact with some of these different industries and learn more about the opportunities that are out there.

“What I’m really hoping for is to continue to grow our program, and I would like to see it become a hallmark of the college.”

Currently, the college has 17 partnerships with the highest number of 12 at the Dean’s level, showing a level of growth before the program has even launched.

Blankenship shared how he’s feeling ahead of the launch day.

“We are so excited to see this vision come to fruition,” Blankenship said. “Dr. Judson Edwards saw the importance of getting area businesses invested in our college, and Dr. Laura Dove has spearheaded the effort to push this initiative forward.

“We have put a lot of time and effort into reaching this point and cannot wait to see how this program will grow and develop over the coming years.”

SCOB will hold a ribbon cutting on Sept. 22 at 10 a.m. at John Robert Lewis Hall to celebrate the launch of the program. The staff says this event will be a great chance for students to get their foot in the door with the corporatecorporate partners.

“I would encourage students to attend because our corporate partners are going to be here that day,” Grice said. “It’s almost an opportunity for the students to be interviewed, but it’s not an interview, it’s shaking hands, introducing yourself and engaging them in a really social environment that’s better than an interview.”

Blankenship shared a similar sentiment of building student-business connections at the event.

“The ribbon cutting event will allow all of our partners to come together to be recognized by our campus leadership team, faculty and staff and most importantly, for our students to see the business leaders from these organizations who have invested their time and capital into the program,” Blankenship said.

Anyone interested in learning more about the Sorrell Corporate Partnership can visit their website at sorrellcolab.com/sponsor.