Texas State MBAs Assist City on Projects
Four teams of students in the Master of Business Administration program at Texas State University put their business analysis skills to work this spring in Georgetown. The teams worked on four projects for the City of Georgetown as part of the capstone course for their MBA degrees.
Rather than a typical business school scenario that may involve a large corporation in another city, these projects were focused on involvement in the local community says Matt Painter, MBA program director for the McCoy College of Business Administration at Texas State.
“All the students working with the City were enrolled in the evening MBA program at our Round Rock campus,” says Painter, who lives in Georgetown. “These students are working professionals, most in their 30s, working a full-time job during the day and then taking graduate courses in the evenings.”
The Texas State collaboration with the City started in October when Painter and Dennis Smart, a business professor in the MBA program, met with City Manager Paul Brandenburg to identify potential projects. After getting ideas from City staff, Brandenburg worked with the students who started the projects in January. (Two of the groups are pictured.)
One group looked at the problem of identity theft and fraud among residents of Sun City and provided a number of recommendations to help prevent these crimes. A second group conducted a downtown business survey of Georgetown and surveyed eight comparable cities to develop strategies to for special events, marketing, and the use of public areas.
The third group used modeling projections to determine the effects of different options for landscaping and water use rules. A fourth group looked at the economic impact of development in the planned South Georgetown Tax Increment Reinvestment Zone along Westinghouse Road, including a planned Bass Pro Shop that borders the area.
Each project was completed in the spring semester and culminated two weeks ago when the students presented their projects to fellow students, professors, and City staff. The students graduated from the MBA program on May 8.
Reports from each group to the respective City departments contain practical recommendations, analysis, and background for City staff. These reports have practical value to the City at zero cost to taxpayers.
