The School of Business gives a warm welcome to College of Charleston’s 22nd President, Glenn McConnell, who begins his tenure today at his alma mater.

McConnell earned a bachelor’s degree in political science from the College of Charleston in 1969, and went on to earn a Juris Doctorate from the University of South Carolina School of Law and was admitted to the South Carolina Bar that same year.

McConnell also joins the faculty in the School of Business as part of his term as president.

College of Charleston President Glenn McConnell ’69 at 2014 South Carolina Supply Chain Summit in April.

“President McConnell will be a great asset to the College as his legacy and track record in the South Carolina Senate indicate,” says Alan T. Shao, dean of the School of Business. “We all look forward to his leadership and vision for the College as he builds relationships with the students, faculty, staff, alumni, and business community.”

McConnell, who had been a member of the South Carolina Senate for more than 30 years, most recently served as the 89th Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. During his legislative career, McConnell earned a reputation as a skilled parliamentarian and mediator able to forge political compromises between opposing sides and bring people together.

More: Lt. Gov. Glenn McConnell is 22nd President of College of Charleston.

Forty students from the College of Charleston School of Business will complete the one-year, full-time MBA program on Saturday, June 28, 2014 at a formal ceremony in the Cistern Yard.

“The Class of 2014 has been our most impressive, determined, and accomplished group so far,” says Dean Alan T. Shao, School of Business. “We are especially proud of where our graduates are headed into the job market after Saturday’s ceremony. While many are working for top companies in Charleston, others are headed to the northeast, west coast, and to their native countries.”

Companies who have hired or are interviewing this year’s graduates include BB&T Corporate, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Marriott International, Kaleidoscope Youth and Family Marketing, Gildan, PeopleMatter, The Cambridge Institute, Blackbaud, Momentum Marketing, and more.

RELATED: Watch a video about the MBA program.

This group is the fourth to complete the one-year program, which continues to evolve in quality and diversity. Of this year’s 40 graduates, six are from China, Germany, Russia, Vietnam, and Italy. Collectively, the class had an average GMAT above 600.

Two students recently scored in the top 99^th percentile for the national exit exam that all MBA graduates take upon completion of a program. In addition, two graduates will return to the Charleston School of Law to complete their joint MBA-Juris Doctorate degrees.

The MBA Class of 2014 visiting Petrobras in Brazil.

Each year, the MBA cohort travels abroad to study foreign markets and cultures. The Class of 2014 traveled to Brazil, the world’s 7^th largest economy. During the trip, students were immersed in Brazil’s political and economic landscape, attended lectures at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, the largest university in Rio de Janeiro, and visited international companies including Petrobras, Coca Cola Bottling Company, the Brazilian Stock Exchange, and the 2014 World Cup Soccer and Olympic Stadium. Past MBA classes have traveled to Vietnam, China, and Dubai. In 2015, the students will return to Brazil.

Approximately 90 percent of the students are paired with a senior-level executive mentor who helps to guide the mentees in their career aspirations by helping them navigate industries, corporate contacts, and organization structures. In many instances, the mentors are also paving the way for job placements for the new MBA graduates.

RELATED: Learn more about the MBA mentor program.

“The mentor program strengthens and builds on our pragmatic, student-focused program,” says Jim Kindley, director of the College’s MBA program. “We want every one of our MBA graduates to enter and succeed in a satisfying career. The professional development and mentors help them in that regard.”

Saturday’s keynote address will be delivered by Steve Swanson ‘89, a math major and Charleston entrepreneur who launched and led of Automated Trading Desk (ATD) which was acquired by Citigroup, Inc. in 2007. Today, he is the managing partner of Eladian Partners, LLC, the chairman of the College of Charleston Comprehensive Campaign, a member of the College of Charleston Foundation Board, a member of the School of Business Board of Governors, and a former member of the Honors College Steering Committee. He and his wife, Emily (class of ’89, biology degree) reside in Charleston and have two children.

The School of Business will begin accepting applications for the MBA Class of 2015 in October 2014 at mbacharleston.com.

Folly Beach has long been the epicenter of fun and sun for generations of College of Charleston students.

But for three recent graduates, the quirky little beach town is all about business.

Taylor Denny (left), Jake Cotreau (center) and Matthew Coda (right).

By the time alumni Matthew Coda, Jake Cotreau and Taylor Denny walked across the Cistern stage to receive their diplomas in May 2014 they already knew how and where they planned to begin their careers.

This month the three young entrepreneurs launched Golden Sun Taxi, a fleet of three solar-powered, golf cart taxis that shuttle passengers along the sandy streets of Folly Beach. Aimed primarily at tourists, the business is believed to be the first of its kind in the United States.

RELATED: Learn more about Golden Sun Taxi.

Each of the eight-seat taxis is equipped with a 520-watt 12-foot-long solar panel affixed to its roof. The low-speed vehicles also have license plates, seat belts, mirrors, headlights and turn signals, which makes them street legal on roads with speeds limits of 35mph or less.

Peter Lucash, visiting instructor

The seeds of the business were sown during fall 2013 in School of Business visiting instructor PeterLucash’s entrepreneurship class in which students split into teams to develop ideas for potential businesses.

Denny, a sociology major, says he had always wanted to start a golf cart taxi service. “We all kind of pitched our ideas. I threw mine out there and they liked it and it went from there. We got an A on the project.”

The team for the class project included five members. But Denny, Cotreau and Coda thought they might be on to something bigger and began meeting outside of class to explore the idea further.

“We sat down and said we really want to do something and make some money off of it, really start a company, not just a class project,” recalls Coda, a business administration major.

Solar-Powered Start-Up

Peter Lucash, visiting instructor

Their original idea was to establish a golf cart taxi service in downtown Charleston. But after the team learned that the city prohibits such businesses, they began looking at other nearby locations. They eventually settled on Folly Beach because of its large number of tourists and its network of low-speed, locally owned roads.

The use of solar power to fuel the taxis also was not part of the original plan. When the College’s Office of Sustainability suggested that the company explore alternative energy sources, however, the partners knew they had found their niche.

The partners pooled their savings and tapped family and friends for the remainder of their start-up capital.

Cotreau, a business administration major, says the career-focused education the partners received through their business courses helped prepare them for the time-consuming and sometimes frustrating process of getting the business off the ground.

Throughout their senior year, the partners worked feverishly to secure the necessary licenses and approvals, conduct market research, and identify a manufacturer that could build and deliver their unique sun-powered golf carts.

Along the way, the graduates received valuable guidance and advice from other School of Business faculty and alumni, including luxury car dealer and adjunct business instructor Tommy Baker, business law adjunct professor Todd Ericsson, and business school alumnus Stewart Vernon ’02.

RELATED: Learn more about the School of Business Center for Entrepreneurship.

Golden Sun Taxi’s solar-powered golf carts have eight seats and storage space for coolers and beach chairs.

Golden Sun’s current base of operations is located in a gravel parking lot just off the beach’s main strip. Butthe partners hope to spend most of their time out on the roads hauling beachgoers to the Washout and transporting wedding parties back and forth to their hotels and beach rentals.

Golden Sun Taxi’s solar-powered golf carts have eight seats and storage space for coolers and beach chairs.

As for the company’s hierarchy, there isn’t one. For now, each partner has an equal stake and standing. There’s no CEO or president, and they all drive the taxis. They have all taken up residence on Folly Beach so they can get at an early start each morning.

The company began transporting passengers during the first week of June. Word is spreading through social media and among their beach business partners. So far, the reception from locals and visitors has been positive. And while the novelty of the solar-powered taxis has helped attract the first wave of customers, the company says the solar angle is no gimmick.

“We want to show that it is a viable part of our business model,” Cotreau says. “It actually helps the carts go further and last longer, and that helps us service more people.”

They plan to build the business day by day, but they already are thinking about opportunities to expand into other cities and, some day, even franchising their concept.

For this ambitious trio, the sky – err, the sun – is the limit.

Golden Sun Taxi can be reached at 843.597.9819 or on Facebook.

Link to original Solar-powered Taxi article.

When College of Charleston professor David Desplaces teaches business students, he repeatedly reminds them to seek educational opportunities in places that stretch their comfort zones and global mindset.  But he doesn’t just talk about it.

David Desplaces

Desplaces, associate professor of entrepreneurial studies, actually takes them on learning journeys and creates experiences that far exceed students’ expectations, not to mention his job description.  For these reasons and his leadership-by-example style, Desplaces, associate professor of management and entrepreneurship, has earned the first Howard F. Rudd Jr. Distinguished Faculty Award for Service Leadership in the School of Business.

The award was established to recognize outstanding, high-performing business professors who lead by example and advance the mission and global vision of the School of Business. The award is named for Rudd, dean emeritus of the business school who taught at the College for nearly 30 years. It is the most prestigious faculty award given in the School of Business and the only one of its kind at the College of Charleston.

“David stands out in service leadership because his high energy and enthusiasm are contagious and his results speak for themselves,” says Alan T. Shao, Dean of the School of Business.  “David does an outstanding job of leading by example with his students and among his faculty peers and is well deserving of the Rudd faculty award.”

The selection criteria, measured over a over a three-year period, looks at service leadership, teaching, research and business community engagement.  The honor comes with a $10,000 award, with up to 50 percent allotted for personal use and the balance going toward professional development.

RELATED: Read more about the establishment of Howard F. Rudd Jr. Distinguished Faculty Award.

For over three years, Desplaces has served in countless ways, including the establishment in 2009 of Possibilities Without Borders, a non-profit organization dedicated to the success of international service-learning projects.

Howard Rudd, Dean Emeritus of the School Business

“The enthusiasm and energy Howard Rudd has brought to the School of Business is unparalleled. If I only accomplish half of what he has brought to increase the student learning experience, I will have accomplished all that I could hope for in my profession,” says Desplaces.

In addition, Desplaces has raised $150,000 in funds and goods that enabled three student groups to travel to Cameroon as part of a social entrepreneurship and service-learning course. The funding and donations were also used to support a micro-lending program for women’s groups in Cameroon, including the provision of school supplies for more than 1,650 children.

As the former director of Enactus, formerly called Students In Free Enterprise, Desplaces significantly improved the quality and impact of its projects and established a solid foundation the students to compete at the national level. In addition, he dramatically increased the impact of Cougar Undergraduate Business Enterprise (CUBE), a student-run, non-profit business that sells coffee and snacks to raise money for Enactus charitable projects.

Desplaces is also involved in the community. For the past four years, he has served on the Charleston James Island Connecter Run Board. The annual road race benefits the Gavalas Kolanko Foundation, a local charity that awards scholarships to students with disabilities. He is also actively involved with Boy Scouts of America.

 About the School of Business

College of Charleston’s School of Business offers seven undergraduate majors (with one additional major pending), an honors program, an M.S. in Accountancy and an MBA.  Approximately 1800 undergraduate and graduate students attend from as far away as China, Germany and Brazil. The faculty has research expertise in areas such as global logistics, hospitality and tourism, political economics, financial investment, bankruptcy, real estate, business intelligence, and sustainable business practices. Visit to learn more about our undergraduate and graduate programs, faculty and Centers of Excellence.