UM TodayAsper school of busines – UM Today

The Free Press: A ‘magical opportunity’ to take care of business

Fiona Odlum — Fri, 30 May 2025 18:59:19 +0000

“We’ve been doing this for over 20 years now,” said Debra Jonasson-Young, the I.H. Asper executive director for entrepreneurship at the Stu Clark Centre at the University of Manitoba.

Jonasson-Young noted that participants this year included universities such Johns Hopkins, Yale, Harvard, Toronto, McMaster, and British Columbia.

“It provides students with a magical opportunity to compete with each other, make presentations, and think through everything involved with how a business works,” she said.

To read the entire story, please follow the link to The Free Press.

In partnership with the Free Press, UM offers free digital access to all students, faculty and staff.

This initiative helps support an informed and engaged campus community. Learn more.

CBC Manitoba: ‘Be vulnerable’ and own up to mistakes, NFL star quarterback Steve Young tells U of Manitoba students

Fiona Odlum — Thu, 22 May 2025 18:44:23 +0000

Students and football fans at the University of Manitoba got to share laughs with and learn from an NFL great Wednesday.

Hall of Fame quarterback Steve Young spoke at the Winnipeg university as part of its International Distinguished Entrepreneur Award student presentation. Young worked the room during a speech and Q&A session with audience members, telling stories from his playing days and also offering advice in life and in business to the crowd.

Asked what he hoped younger people in the audience would take away from his presentation, Young said he hoped they learned “to be accountable, to have the vulnerability to recognize when you’ve made a mistake.”

To read the entire article, please follow the link to CBC Manitoba.

To watch and listen to the story, follow this link to CBC News.

The Free Press also wrote an article and you can find it following the link to the Free Press.

Calgary Herald: Varcoe: Major international airlines buy stake in WestJet, amid ‘transition year’ for Calgary-based airline

Fiona Odlum — Sat, 10 May 2025 20:01:23 +0000

“Nobody is going to abandon the U.S. market, but the reality is that there just isn’t the same demand, at least in the short term,” added industry expert Barry Prentice, head of the University of Manitoba’s transport institute.

The uncertainty for the sector comes after some turbulence for WestJet last year, which included the company’s first strike and a major hailstorm that hit Calgary and damaged 10 per cent of its fleet.

To read the entire article, please follow the link to Calgary Herald.

The Free Press: Structube makes room to stretch out

Fiona Odlum — Fri, 02 May 2025 18:57:20 +0000

Shoppers may be more frugal given the trade war environment and uncertainty, noted Divya Ramachandran, a University of Manitoba marketing professor.

However, there’s a constant stream of people moving, and home upgrades will keep happening, she continued.

“A certain set of people … will make these purchases regardless of the tariffs,” Ramachandran said, adding customers might look for Canadian-made items.

Structube’s Winnipeg location has 14 staff. It’s hiring a handful more for customer service and sales, Dare said, adding he believes the roles are needed to meet demand.

To read the entire article, follow the link to The Free Press.

In partnership with the Free Press, UM offers free digital access to all students, faculty and staff.

This initiative helps support an informed and engaged campus community. Learn more.

CBC Manitoba: University of Manitoba students share business plan for AI powered platform to connect graduate students and professors

Fiona Odlum — Tue, 29 Apr 2025 18:38:35 +0000

Devon Bath and Naim Ben Younes had the chance to pitch their business plan at the 2025 Stu Clark New Venture Championships.

They didn’t win, but that’s not stopping them from going forward with their new platform.

They joined Faith Fundal on CBC’s Up to Speed to share more about GradFinder.

To listen to the entire conversation, please follow the link to CBC Manitoba.

CTV Winnipeg: Budget balloons to $310 million for revitalization of Hudson’s Bay building in Winnipeg

Fiona Odlum — Thu, 20 Mar 2025 15:38:41 +0000

The massive project transforming the former downtown Hudson’s Bay building into a new cultural, housing and services hub has hit a construction milestone, amid a retooling of the original plan and a ballooning budget.

A tower crane has been installed at the Portage Avenue site, as construction barrels forward on Wehwehneh Bahgahkinahgohn – the Southern Chiefs’ Organization’s (SCO) multi-million-dollar project.

Supply chain management professor Paul Larson spoke with CTV about the rise in costs for building supplies.

To watch and read the entire story, please follow the link to CTV Winnipeg.

CBC Manitoba: Other things to consider when buying local, Dan Shin

Eleanor Coopsammy — Fri, 07 Mar 2025 22:55:14 +0000

As Canadian ramp up their patriotism and “buy local” becomes the mantra, Asper School of Business Market professor, Dan Shin, talks to CBC Manitoba about why that approach may be problematic in other ways.

Shin said the push to buy Canadian goods could also be challenging for manufacturers.
“In a hypothetical situation where all the Canadians start purchasing only from Canadian businesses for Canadian goods, they’re not going to be able to meet that demand,” he said.

Read the full story at CBC Manitoba.