For Immediate Release — Wednesday, July 20, 2005
Contact:
Mary E. McCrank
Media Relations Officer
(585) 245-5516
OR: Charles Goodwin, RIDC secretary: (585) 394-1219
SUNY Geneseo Receives $100,000 Grant to
Expand International Business Programs
GENESEO, N.Y. — The State University of New York at Geneseo's Jones School of Business has received a $100,000 grant from the Rochester International Development Corporation to expand its international business program.
The grant will provide scholarships for students from the nine-county Rochester region to attend SUNY Geneseo, support students who study abroad at the college's international partner institutions and bring to campus guest lectures who are members of the area's international business community. Geneseo also will be able to develop its curriculum and expand its international business resource library.
The Rochester
International Development Corporation (RIDC) also awarded a similar grant of
$100,000 to Nazareth College in Pittsford, N.Y. SUNY Geneseo was selected as
one of the two area colleges selected to receive the grants because the college
and its faculty have strong international ties, including a Center for
International Business; attracts numerous students from the Rochester region;
and has high academic standards, said Charles Goodwin, secretary of the RIDC.
Of the $100,000, to be
spent during the next three years, $25,000 will be allocated toward
scholarships; $25,000 to support students participating in international study
and internships; $30,000 to bring practitioners to Geneseo to give guest
lectures, two international business symposiums on campus and partial funding
for the development of undergraduate international business courses; $5,000 to
buy international resource materials, such as books and videos; and $15,000 to
support the establishment of global outreach and education and business
opportunities with institutions and business organizations in Turkey, China and
Russia.
"These funds will help both schools to better educate their international business students and,
hopefully, help the greater Rochester nine-county region to retain a larger
percentage of their 'best and
brightest' students from these schools for international business careers, here in the greater Rochester
area," said Tom Fatcheric, president
of the RIDC, which focuses on expanding
and developing additional
international business opportunities throughout the greater Rochester area.
The scholarship
assistance is available to Geneseo students or regional business executives
from the following counties: Genesee,
Livingston, Monroe, Ontario, Orleans, Seneca, Wayne, Wyoming and Yates. In
addition to Geneseo students, the scholarships will be open to full-time
business executives who live in the region and earn an annual salary of $50,000
or less.
Nader Asgary, associate professor of business and director of the Center for International Business at Geneseo, said the college is appreciative of the grant, which will provide more opportunities to students and area residents who need this training.
"The RIDC grant provides significant resource to the Center for International Business at the School of Business to internationalize its activities. The international activities will include additional courses, seminars and internships, which will support training for undergraduate students and professionals in the region for the next three years," said Asgary. "I believe RIDC has made a great decision by supporting educational training for the demanding international workforce in this region."
Goodwin said the goal of
the grant is to educate and train students and area residents about how to
conduct international trade — from the social etiquette of other
countries to how to create a Web site that markets products to consumers in
numerous countries to how to ensure a company is paid for products it already
has shipped to another country.
"If you're not in
international business, you're going to be out of business in 10 years," said
Goodwin, adding that 95 percent of the world's population lives outside
America.
The nine-county Rochester
region exported more than $12 billion of goods to other countries last year,
making it the leading per capita exporting city in the nation, he said.
The RIDC is working to
persuade the area's college students and young professionals to settle in
Rochester and to establish vibrant careers with an emphasis on international
trade, he said.
"It's a global world, and
it's a reality we have to cope with," said Fatcheric, who had a successful
career with Eastman Kodak Co. in international relations.
Fatcheric stressed the importance of Americans understanding other cultures. Not only can it help businesses succeed internationally, but it also can lead to cultural harmony. He referred to a quote by Thomas Jefferson etched on the U.S. Department of Commerce building in Washington, D.C. It reads: "Cultivate Peace and Commerce with All."
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