Buckingham Companies Career Day with Ball State University

For one day, Buckingham Companies took over Ball State’s campus for a hands-on learning experience, with over 200 high school and college students interested in the RPM and HFM industries.

Scott Sladek, COO of Buckingham Companies, along with representatives from Ball State, and Scott Wise, founder of Scotty’s Brewhouse, took the stage to welcome students and teach them more about the hospitality and real estate industries. This gave Ball State an opportunity to recruit high school students to attend one of BSU’s numerous colleges, including Miller College of Business, which is now home to the Residential Property Management and Hospitality and Food Management programs.

College students of Ball State joined the high schoolers for a lunch presentation by Scott Wise, founder of A Pots & Pans Production, the parent management company for Scotty’s Brewhouse and Thr3e Wise Men Brewing Co. Current company sales are currently more than $50 million with a goal of having 150 restaurants across the country by 2022. Wise employs more than 2,000 employees across their 17 locations in the Midwest and Florida.

At the beginning of employment, Wise likes each employee to start with a vision statement card, which states, “I will act in a way that makes my ______ proud.” Wise encourages team members to really think about whom in their own lives they want to make proud, while also pushing his team to remember the importance of the characteristics we were all taught at a very young age - politeness, etiquette and manners.

Additionally, during this event, industry leaders and Ball State alumni joined together and held four different panel discussions for Ball State students to listen in to and ask questions. The first panel focused on Industry Best Practices for Residential Property Management and Hospitality and Food Management. Panelists included:

• Linda Ferrill, Buckingham Companies, regional vice president
• Gabrielle Gonzalez, JC Hart Co., vice president of property and asset management
• Kevin Howe, Landmark Properties, vice president of property management and operations
• Steven Moll, Edward Rose & Sons, regional vice president
• Kendra Muller, Pierce Education Properties, executive director
• Scott Sladek, Buckingham Companies, chief operating officer
• Michelle Dollens, The Alexander Hotel, director of revenue management
• Megan Johnston, Accent Indy, a DMC Network Co., manager of event services
• Jennifer McKinney0Seet, CSEP, JW Marriott, senior catering sales manager
• Michael Moros, The Alexander Hotel, general manager
• Kelsey Seger, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, season ticket experience and events manager

After the first session, the second session of panelists included Ball State alumni, who have found success in the industry:

• Sara Buckland, Landmark Properties, Inc., regional director
• JaMarcus Fanning, IRT Residential, operations manager
• Jordan Hovanec, Milhaus Management, director of residential services
• Blake McBee, Buckingham Companies, real estate analyst
• Ashley Parker, Buckingham Companies, property manager
• Shannon Sorrells, Buckingham Companies, marketing manager
• Chad Griewank, Longwood Restaurant Group, general manager
• Megan Johnston, Accent Indy, a DMC Network Co., manager of event services
• Jennifer McKinney-Seet, CSEP, JW Marriott, senior catering sales manager
• Kelsey Seger, Pacers Sports & Entertainment, season ticket experience and events manager

To add to the Career Day fun, Buckingham Companies awarded five students from Residential Property Management and five students from Hospitality and Food Management, brand new iPads and iPad covers.

This is the first of our Buckingham Companies Career Day, but not the last. We have partnered with Ball State for the next five years, so we are excited to start planning for next year’s career day.