Lana Latif has already met her goal of securing a job with a Big Four accounting firm -- and she’s still in grad school. Latif will earn her master’s in accountancy in 2021 before heading to Pittsburgh to be an assurance associate at Ernst & Young. According to her mentor, Gary LeDonne, this is a great success story for Latif who came to WVU after living with her family in Palestine.
Get Hyped
How did a global megacompany decide to invest in the Mountain State in developing the transportation of the future? Well, we have the Chambers College, Vantage Ventures and its Executive Director Sarah Biller to thank for helping land Virgin Hyperloop. The company announced it would build a certification center spanning nearly 800 acres in Tucker and Grant counties. When completed, the Virgin Hyperloop system expects to carry passengers in pods through a vacuum tube at speeds breaking 600 mph. Read more about it in an upcoming feature story in 2021 in WVU Magazine.
When Life Hands You Lemons
In September 2019, our CEO Club donated the money from its Lemonade Day, which was held spring 2019, to WVU Medicine Children’s. Not only did local Morgantown kids learn how to run a profitable lemonade stand, but they were also able to support a great cause that will go on to help other children in our community.
I Scream, You Scream
Move over cones and milkshakes, there is a new way to enjoy ice cream – rolled! Marketing student and Morgantown native Tyler Lalka is bringing rolled ice cream to the hills of Morgantown and nearby cities with his business Rolling Hills Ice Cream. Lalka originally saw the concept being done in larger cities and thought to himself, “Mountaineers need this,” and opened his ice cream truck in April 2021. Not only is the ice cream mixed with toppings on top of a negative-five degree plate and rolled into pieces, but his truck also allows him to roll to birthday parties, weddings, farmer’s markets, fairs, office gatherings and more. “It was a dream of mine to bring this to Morgantown and I decided to go mobile because it would give me the opportunity to meet my customers where they are,” he said. The signature menu (which ice cream lovers can get any time) includes salted caramel pretzel, Oreo, peanut butter cup, s'mores and Nutella banana. On top of those flavors, individuals can add other sweet or savory ingredients. Lalka will graduate with a degree in marketing in December 2022.
Eight is Great
For the eighth consecutive year, the College’s Professional Sales Institute was named a Top University Sales Program in the world by the Sales Education Foundation. The listing highlights the top sales programs at higher education institutions that include 134 schools in North America and 16 international schools.
Big Data, Bigger Wins
The year 2023 was a significant one for Data Driven WV. One of the Chambers College’s research and outreach centers, Data Driven WV works to improve living and working conditions statewide through data-centric and technological solutions, with clients ranging from small businesses to large corporations.