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According to Amanda Besemer
‘00BBA, “Atlanta is a great place to jumpstart a
career. The city’s cost of living is relatively low when compared
to places like New York City, and the salaries are relatively comparable.
I believe this is why so many of Goizueta’s grads chose to stay and
work here.” Though a native of Pequannock, N.J., the pull of Atlanta
remained too great for Besemer. So, in 1998 while still a student at Goizueta,
she started her company called Consumer Building, a strategic marketing
and brand-positioning firm, in the area. Besemer credits the connections
established at Goizueta for helping her business grow. She also notes
that the area’s Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport
adds additional value for the businessperson looking for a city with easy
access to locations across the world.
Louis Strydom ‘04WEMBA agrees
that the region’s convenient airline service is a tremendous plus.
“This is truly a gateway to the world,” he says. In 1999, Strydom
opened a U.S. branch of Focus Solutions, his Johannesburg-based IT firm.
Though called Input Technologies stateside, the Alpharetta location handles
similar software and data automation solutions. Although Strydom hails
from South Africa, he says that Georgia “is such a wonderful and
comfortable place for raising a family.” He began his Goizueta education
after opening the company branch, noting that the school’s “practical
orientation” appealed to him. When asked why he didn’t think
to locate his IT firm in Silicon Valley, Strydom responds that Alpharetta
afforded him a great business location at a much more affordable price.
Doing business in a global environment also comes naturally for Philip
Soschinski ‘00BBA. The native of Johannesburg, South Africa,
and a German resident since 1988 says that the area was a perfect pick
for a stateside location for his family’s business. Today, Soschinski
heads up sales and business development for Expotechnik America Ltd. in
Suwanee, Ga. (Expotechnik, the Taunusstein, Germany-based company, provides
global tradeshow solutions for some of the world’s top firms.) Soschinski
says that the international makeup of Goizueta’s faculty and students
added depth to his business school experience, and continues to aid him
in his business dealings. He advises, “Take advantage of the global
infrastructure that you get at Emory.”
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Expotechnik’s Philip Soschinski ‘00BBA notes that providing state-of-the-art tradeshow exhibits and solutions to a global audience is made easier with its Atlanta location. |
Matthew Kirby ‘01MBA didn’t
come from outside of the U.S. like Soschinski and Strydom. However, the
Atlanta native recognizes the worldwide appeal of his hometown. Kirby
was originally lured away from the area when he was accepted into the
Naval Academy. After graduation in 1994, he served in the Navy for five
years. But he couldn’t pass up on the opportunity to attend Goizueta.
“The school has a great reputation for giving its students a wonderful
education. My decision was easy, especially when I considered that I wanted
to be in an area where I knew there was a thriving business community.”
Today, Kirby is the founder of Restaurant Talent Development Company LLC,
an Atlanta-based operator of Bojangles’ Famous Chicken & Biscuits
restaurants. He notes, “What I’ve done is to blend my real estate
development experience with a passion for building a talent-based, people-driven
business. The best part is that I get to do it in a city I love.”
Tom Striker ‘89EMBA may appreciate
traffic to his business, but not the real traffic of the big city. Fortunately,
Georgia has a diverse landscape with major cities, rural locales and mountain
ranges. So, Striker located his business, the Blue Ridge Bird Seed Company,
about eighty miles outside of Atlanta in the Blue Ridge Mountains area.
He left behind a successful career as a financial manager at BellSouth
to start his own company in 2002. Along with his wife Sonja, he took a
lifelong passion for nature and turned it into a profitable business opportunity.
The Woodruff fellow and former professional forester admits that the company
has brought his life full-circle. He notes, “I was a birdwatcher
for decades. This was a way to make my avocation my vocation. Goizueta
gave me the skills that enabled me to become a successful entrepreneur.”
—Myra A. Thomas with Grayson Daughters