MSU Jake Jabs College of Business & Entrepreneurship

Our university administrators, deans, faculty members and student leaders will visit portions of SE Montana June 16-18 as part of the 13th annual President’s Bus Tour. The tour will feature stops in Huntley, Forsyth, Miles City, Ekalaka, Glendive, Terry, Broadus and Crow Agency.

President Tessman and the Montana State University Alumni Foundation will host a community-wide dinner in Miles City at the Range Riders Museum at 5:30 p.m., Tuesday, June 16, where Tessman will speak.

The FCS National Championship trophy earned by the MSU football team in January will also be on hand. Alumni, Bobcat fans, prospective MSU students, their families as well as the public are invited to attend. Registration is required for the dinner. For more information about this free event and to register, visit the MSUAF website, https://www.msuaf.org/s/1584/index.aspx?sid=1584&gid=1&pgid=7591&crid=0&calpgid=371&calcid=8335.

https://www.montana.edu/news/25399/montana-state-leaders-to-visit-southeast-montana-during-13th-annual-bus-tour-june-16-18

Montana State leaders to visit southeast Montana during 13th annual bus tour June 16-18 During the three-day tour, MSU leaders will visit with city and county officials, business and civic leaders, prospective MSU students and their families, MSU Extension faculty serving local communities, and the general public.

Orientation Session 1 is happening on campus now, and we couldn’t be more excited to welcome our newest class of Bobcats! Get ready for new friends, big opportunities, unforgettable experiences, and the start of an amazing journey at MSU.

Welcome to Jabs! 💙💛

Scores of business professionals with an interest in women’s leadership congregated in MSU’s Strand Union Building for the annual women’s leadership conference on Tuesday.

Our the highly anticipated conference welcomed around 250 women from across Montana for a day filled with interactive keynote lectures, panel discussions, a slate of breakout sessions, catered lunch and a networking hour.

The day centered around the theme of “leading without permission,” and various speakers addressed what the concept meant to them and how they apply it in their professional lives.

The day culminated with the afternoon keynote speaker, comedian and life coach Katie Goodman, who presented “Unapologetic Leadership: Now is Our Time.” Goodman, who is a longtime fixture of improvisational theater, discussed how lessons from common improv games can be used as leadership strategies in a professional setting. For example, one game involved telling a story with each person at a table saying just one word at a time. The exercise helped teach the importance of staying present and genuinely using the ideas of others to build your own.

Be sure to save the date for next year’s Women’s Leadership Conference, scheduled for June 8, 2027. Additional information can be found at https://www.montana.edu/business/wcoe/.

https://www.montana.edu/news/25364

Hundreds of women learn interpersonal, financial skills at Montana State Women’s Leadership Conference The conference featured interactive keynote lectures, panel discussions, breakout sessions and networking opportunities.

Nine finalists pitched their innovative business ventures to compete in our annual MSU $100K Venture Competition last month. We are excited to share the results:

Deep Tech/University Based Research
🥇 First place: Beeotics, whose product is designed to boost the honeybee immune system and provide protection against disease. Presented by Lauren Jonas, MSU postdoctoral researcher.

🥈 Second place: Barley Bloom, creating high-value, flavorful, functional food ingredients from barley for a growing global market. Presented by Aline Brito, postdoctoral researcher at the MSU Malt Quality Lab; Hannah Uhlmann, director of the Malt Quality Lab; Jamie Sherman, MSU professor of plant sciences and barley breeder.

⭐ Honorable mention: Ocka, which identifies each student’s strengths and weaknesses to deliver targeted, evidence-based instruction on what they need to learn next. Presented by Jayson Nissen, MSU assistant professor of physics.

Social Impact
🥇 First place: Empress of Ghee, which aims to make premium, grass-fed ghee a staple in every cupboard. Presented by Surya Milner, MSU assistant teaching professor of English.

🥈 Second place: indelible.Blob, building the protocol for reality, this solution creates proof for every image the moment it’s captured, helping people differentiate between real and fake images. Presented by Jeremy Jeffay, a senior in multi-disciplinary studies at the University of Montana.

⭐ Honorable mention: Coincident Systems, which builds coordination and decision-making infrastructure that helps rural healthcare facilities work together across large distances. Presented by Mike Poplin, Ryan Kalsher and Alex Westlund, all MSU graduate students in industrial engineering.

Traditional Venture
🥇 First place: TENT, an online marketplace for handcrafted outdoor gear. Presented by Jonah Schlee, MSU senior studying business management and, Zach Brydalski, recent MSU alum in fish and wildlife management.

🥈 Second place: COPILOT by Big Sky Dynamics, developing the first edge-AI cockpit adviser for general aviation pilots, providing real-time spoken guidance during emergencies and critical phases of flight to prevent accidents and save lives. Presented by Joshua Kornoff, UM researcher.

⭐ Honorable mention: Modulus, engineers daily carry bags that eliminate failure points through intentional design and uncompromised quality. Presented by Paul Borash, MSU senior in mechanical engineering.

A huge thank you to our judges: Tanaya Carter, Bozeman market president of First Western Trust & MSU alumna; Jim Cole, managing director for PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Managed Services; Teresa Harting, VP of Marketing at Foundant Technologies & MSU alumna; Steve Krenzer, executive with decades of experience including senior leadership roles at Groupon and Experian; Taylor Newill, VP of strategic customer engineering for Oracle.

Montana State entrepreneurs take top prizes at annual $100K Venture Competition Teams affiliated with MSU won the first-place awards, which come with $20,000 in funding to further their ventures.

When MSU junior and first gen student, Kayla Fuller heard news that she won a $15,000 national accounting scholarship, two words came to mind.

“Life-changing."

Fuller, who is from Pine, Colorado, received the scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in April. The money is designated for tuition for students pursuing a future career in accounting.

Earlier in April, Fuller said she was on the phone with her mom discussing her career options, given the expense of a master’s degree. If she could not afford it, Fuller planned to work full time at an accounting firm and study for the certified public accountant exam independently, but that is less ideal...

In Montana, a one-year master’s program reduces the work experience hours required to sit for the CPA exam, and it carries the benefit of institutional support and guidance from faculty.

A master’s program “will allow me to put more time into studying for my CPA exam as I try to become the most knowledgeable financial professional that I can be,” Fuller said.

She said she is thrilled to remain in Bozeman and continue working with some of the same professors who have taught her already.

This summer, Fuller is interning as a credit analyst for Opportunity Bank in Bozeman. She landed the opportunity thanks to Jabs Networking Night and the Bracken Center, which prepared her for networking and interviewing, and helped hone her resume.

“I’m eternally grateful for Jabs,” Fuller said. “I think the classes, professors and all the resources available have really set me up for success.”

See link below for the full story:

First-generation student Kayla Fuller wins ‘life-changing’ scholarship to continue accounting education Fuller received the $15,000 scholarship from the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board in April.

Be sure to post your vote on the Montana State Bobcats post here: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/17ZkdPdg2r/

It’s time to vote for your 2026 Gold Rush T-Shirt design!

Vote in the poll below or leave a comment with your favorite design. Voting closes Friday, May 22nd at midnight!

Go Cats!

Women’s Track & Field Claims First Big Sky Outdoor Title Since 2003 - Montana State University Athletics The Montana State women's track & field team secured its second-ever Big Sky outdoor title in dominant fashion on Saturday, tallying 181 points to defeat sec...

One of the over 350 seniors who crossed the stage in the Fieldhouse last week, Allie K***z, who is from Red Lodge, grew up working in the handful of restaurants that her parents own, including the Red Lodge Pizza Company and Carbon County Steakhouse. She chose to pursue a business management degree from MSU to gain more insight into how restaurants and other businesses run.

In high school, K***z took an EMT class and volunteered with the Red Lodge Fire Department, of which her dad is the fire chief. Her first week at MSU, K***z got involved with the Hyalite Fire Department, and she soon completed their firefighter recruit academy. The fire department has three stations that serve the Hyalite Rural Fire District, which covers the area southwest of Bozeman between Four Corners and Gallatin Gateway.

Soon, she began responding to calls as a volunteer firefighter-EMT. The first time she got in the back of an ambulance, she was hooked, she said — she felt like she was making a true difference by helping people that she didn’t know. As her passion for providing emergency services took shape, K***z dual-enrolled in paramedicine at Flathead Valley Community College during her second year of college.

She also moved to the Hyalite Fire Station after living on campus her freshman year, joining eight other residents of similar ages. Many of the volunteer resident firefighters are MSU students, she noted.

People often comment to K***z that studying business and being a firefighter don’t seem to go together, but she disagrees.

The biggest similarity is the importance of leadership, she said.

The business program also helped K***z build other key skills she uses in firefighting, including communication, strategic thinking, problem-solving and building relationships.

She has appreciated the one-on-one guidance from professors — the support of instructor Mariah Stopplecamp was particularly influential. And the classes she has taken on leadership and management where she has improved her people skills.

K***z said her time at MSU lived up to her expectations. 💙💛

Full story: https://www.montana.edu/news/25295/allie-kuntz-pursues-blend-of-business-and-firefighting-during-time-at-montana-state