Western North Carolina’s economy ended its roller coaster ride in 2009 with three consecutive months of growth. Todd Cherry, a co-author of the report and director of the Center for Economic Research and Policy Analysis in the College, said “It appears we are turning a corner... We haven’t ended a year with three consecutive months of regional growth in about two years. There is a long way to go yet, but the first step is beginning to see consistency in positive news about regional activity.”

Students and faculty from the Association of Information Technology Professionals (AITP) club won multiple awards at the AITP National Collegiate Conference (NCC) recently in St. Louis, Mo., including one of four regional Outstanding Student Chapter of the Year awards.

Ryan M. Klinger, a senior industrial design major, has received the 2010 Student Entrepreneur of the Year Award. The $2,500 scholarship award is presented annually by the Center for Entrepreneurship in Appalachian’s Walker College of Business to recognize exceptional entrepreneurial achievement by a student. It was presented during the 2010 Young Entrepreneurs Symposium, which was sponsored by Backyard Burgers.

The namesake for the annual entrepreneur summit, Carole McLeod, has joined a new business venture in Charlotte, and is the subject of a lengthy profile in the February issue of Greater Charlotte Biz.

Learn the secrets to success, on a one-on-one basis. That’s the mission of the Dale Tweedy Mentoring Program for Entrepreneur Scholars. Each year, a group of Appalachian State students is chosen to have the opportunity to personally shadow a successful entrepreneur. The students will meet with their mentors on campus and discuss college, career and life choices, as well as focusing on student development and attitudinal needs for today’s workplace. This year 20 students have been selected to participate. Fourteen are new to the program.

Appalachian’s BIT program is designed to encourage minority, undergraduate students to consider a major and career in Risk Management and Insurance. The program provides students with a real-life view of available careers in the industry through career shadowing, industry speakers, career fairs and conference and meeting travel.

For the third consecutive year, research from Appalachian State is being honored as a “best paper” at an upcoming national management meeting. Walker College professors Jim Westerman, Jacqui Bergman and Joe Daly are co-authors of, “Are business schools creating narcissistic employees? An examination of business student narcissism.” The report will be published as a “best paper” at the 2010 Academy of Management Meeting.

A recent study of economic bloggers concluded that a Walker College blog has an impact in the blogosphere. Environmental Economics is maintained by Dr. John Whitehead, chairman of the Department of Economics. He primarily blogs about environmental issues from an economic perspective.

Dr. Harry Davis, economist with the North Carolina Bankers Association and Walker College banking professor, spoke on the current state of the national and state economy, along with his thoughts on the immediate future, at the Spring Boyles Luncheon.