From the
Greetings Jaguar Nation, According to news reports, large manufacturing and production plants will be bringing thousands of jobs to our state over the next decade. That is a good thing. Jobs are great, but ownership is better. The Ovations cover story features the true workhorses of job production, small businesses. The Southern System has an important role to play on both fronts. As the nation’s only historically black college and university system, we can produce everything from construction workers to accountants to PhDs in environmental toxicology. As the home of two outstanding business schools, an Economic Development Center, a Business Incubator, an Entrepreneurship Center, a Small Business Development Center, and Business Advisory Center, we are also a statewide resource that enables industrious people to start up and maintain their own businesses. Entrepreneurship and small business development are not easy to do. They require a good idea, a good plan, start up capital, financial and personnel management, and hard work. Most people have a good idea and the commitment, but need expert assistance to fill in the other elements of success. As the stories inside will attest, our track record in providing that assistance is noteworthy. Southern has become known as Louisiana’s “go to” place for small business assistance. Southern is proud to work hand in hand with creative minds who believe enough to reach for independence and self-sufficiency by working for themselves. Also, this issue includes glimpses of exciting campus, faculty, staff, student, and alumni news and achievements, and highlights of SU Baton Rouge’s yearlong Centennial Celebration. God Bless the Jaguar Nation!
Ronald Mason Jr., J.D. President
Southern University
3 ❘ OVATIONS