Butler Center Hits Ground Running in 2023-2024

A recent economic impact study authored by the Turner College's Fady Mansour has helped the city of Columbus hit a grand slam in bringing professional baseball back to the Chattahoochee Valley. In early January, Diamond Baseball Holdings announced that its Double-A Atlanta Braves affiliate team, the Mississippi Braves, would relocate from Pearl to Columbus following the conclusion of its 2024 season. As part of the move, the Columbus Consolidated Government has approved a $50 million bond issue to upgrade Golden Park. The upgrade is part of a $300 million investment to redevelop Golden Park and the South Commons Softball Complex. Mansour’s study, part of his work as the Director of the Butler Center for Research & Economic Development in the Turner College, outlines just how transformative the team’s move to Columbus and the related improvements to the Golden Park area will be to the local economy. “Our community continues to be a well-known and diverse destination for sports tourism, and this most recent announcement by Diamond Baseball Holdings underscores that,” said Mansour, who also serves as the Sarah T. Butler Associate Professor of Economics. “The team’s move to Columbus and the improvements to Golden Park that brings promise to bring a significant increase of economic activity, job opportunities and city revenue to the Chattahoochee Valley.”

Specifically, Mansour’s research cites that the region could expect an estimated $475 million in direct and indirect economic output, an increase of $260 million in Muscogee County’s gross domestic product (with $179 million in labor income), and the addition of 3,934 new jobs. Annually, the sports venue is anticipated to generate $6.26 million in revenues, create 59 jobs, and provide more than $2 million in labor income. The project includes a mixed-used development with apartment condominiums, retail and office spaces, and renovations to the sports venue. Established in 2011, the Butler Center is an applied research center in the Turner College with the vision of being the region’s leader in providing objective business and economic analysis. Researchers affiliated with the center provide timely, high-quality and affordable products to benefit business, municipal and community leaders charged with policy analysis, economic impact analysis, market analysis, forecasting and cost/benefit analysis. Their services include collecting, analyzing and generating economic and demographic data on our local region while developing students’ academic and investigative experience in the areas of business and economic research.

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Four Turner College Faculty Recognized for Outstanding Teaching

CSU Head Women's Soccer Coach Jay Entlich recently released a list of CSU faculty who have been chosen by a player as a member of the CSU faculty who has impacted the player in a positive way along their journey at CSU. Four Turner College faculty were included on the list, along with the player who nominated each. Management professor Phil Bryant was named by Sophia Leal , a freshman midfielder from Oxford, Georgia. Sophia attended Eastside High School and was a two-time all-region selection during her high school career. Through the first 10 games of 2024, she has scored one goal and recorded three assists. Next, management professor John Finley was named by Lizz Forshaw , a graduate student forward from Stockton, England. Lizz, who attended IMG Academy in south Florida, has scored four goals and recorded four assists this season. During her senior year in 2023, she scored three goals and recorded two assists. As a junior in 2022, Lizz scored three goals ...

Turner College Grad Publishes Academic Study on Corporate Culture and Strategy

Former Turner College student Tamara Todorova , now an associate professor of economics at American University in Bulgaria (AUB), recently published a study on corporate culture and strategy. Todorova earned an MBA from the Turner College in 1996 and then went on to earn a doctorate in international economics from the University of Economics - Varna in 2001. She has been on the faculty at AUB since August of 2000. Todorova's study, which appears in the current issue of the International Journal of Business Performance Management , investigates how corporate culture helps to economize on the transaction costs of internal organization. As she explains, the dimensions of corporate culture that assist in this task include increasing trust and reducing intrafirm opportunism. Todorova's study demonstrates that setting common goals and a common direction reduces the sizeable costs of internal organization. Tamara's prior research appears in Economics of Transition , International ...

Hammer joins Turner College Finance Faculty

The Turner College's Department of Accounting and Finance welcomes Melissa Ingle Hammer , who joins the group as an adjunct faculty in finance. Hammer graduated from the Turner College in 2005, after earning a BBA in finance. She later went on to earn an MBA from Auburn University, a Specialist Certificate in Conduct Risk from the University of Manchester, a Certificate in Team Culture from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Certificate in Executive Presence from Cornell University. Hammer is the SVP of Fair Lending Product Management with RiskExec at Asurity. She previously worked as Compliance Manager of Fair Lending at Synovus, a senior regulatory consultant with Wolters Kluwer, and as VP of Compliance at TD. This semester Hammer will be teaching FINC 3135, Financial Institutions and Technologies. Turner Business welcomes Melissa and wishes her a great first semester in the Turner College.

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