Allen DykmanAllen Dykman and his wife Dixie founded Dykman Electrical, Inc., selling motors out of their home garage. Since then, the company has become one of North America’s largest suppliers of motors and electrical solutions, with presence in ten U.S. states, as well as a sales and distribution network that spans the globe. Although sales, inventory and personnel have increased dramatically over the years, the same principles of superior customer service, flexibility and integrity on which Allen founded the business, are still the driving force behind its success today.
Come be inspired by hearing Allen speak.
Open to the public, no RSVP or ticket required. Free parking is available in the Brady Garage (University Drive and Brady St. or Earle St.).
The speaker series has impact beyond the date of the event. Classes watch past presentations and instructors pull out words of wisdom for learning moments. For example instructor Karen Nicholas plans to use material from Jay Parkinson’s presentation on March 16, 20 in her Managerial Problem Solving (BUS420) class.
“When Jay talked about what makes a company valuable, he describes it so succinctly and clearly — and that’s not an easy task! I feel that our students will identify with his words. I plan to use several snippets from his talk this fall in BUS 420 and hope to use it in future classes as well.” — Karen Nicholas, assistant professor
Starting with one store while in his 20s, Jackson grew an empire of c-stores, travel centers and car washes and one of the largest privately held corporations in Idaho. Watch the presentation to learn how this nationally recognized c-store leader expanded Jacksons stores across nine western states.
On March 16, 2022, Idaho native Jay Parkinson shared the path his career took from private equity to founder and CEO to serial entrepreneur.
Founded in 2021, Stonehill provides infrastructure and environmental solutions to the upstream energy industry. Their financial partner is Golden Gate Capital, a $19 billion private equity fund based in San Francisco, California. (Video of the lecture is not available.)
November 10, 2021
Learn the what the levers are to lift any enterprise and the simple way to value you company and the competition — play the “Using Four Simple Levers to Dramatically Increase Enterprise Value” video.
November 4, 2020
Amy Gile began her career in the media and entertainment industry in multiple aspects of the industry including actor and producer. Amy identified a need in the industry for a better solution for production and for the artist. The demands of rendering, animation, and visual effects required a sophisticated approach to computing. Amy knew that there was a better, faster way to bring complex content to the masses. She co-founded Silverdraft and has dedicated herself to building the highest performance compact supercomputers on the market for various industries including Automotive, and Media and Entertainment. Amy is a TEDx speaker and is passionate about technology and pushing what’s possible. (Video of the lecture is not available.)
February 5, 2020
Learn how Albertsons LLC grew from a regional chain with $4 billion in annual sales to the second-largest nationwide traditional grocery chain and the third-largest private company in the United States with more than $63 billion in annual sales.
November 18, 2019
Learn how successful entrepreneur Cord Christensen disrupted the animal health and wellness industry and created a company with a billion dollars in sales. He gives excellent business and personal advice, too. Have a listen.
February 6, 2019
From the leaders of ClickBank and Kount. Keynetics, the parent company of ClickBank and Kount, has grown to become Idaho’s largest privately held technology company.
Tuesday, November 13, 2018 marked the inaugural lecture of the College of Business and Economics’ new Entrepreneur Connect Speaker Series. A standing-room-only crowd welcomed Micron co-founders Ward and Joe Parkinson to Skaggs Hall in the aptly named Micron Business and Economics building. The twin brothers took turns recounting the early days of founding one of Boise’s biggest success stories. Ward, the engineer of the duo, had never before spoken publicly about the company making it truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the students, faculty and community members in attendance. There were lots of laughs and lessons as the duo shared experiences. They talked of the ups and down — times they nearly lost the company and times when they worked with a team of Boise’s best to keep things going.
Many from Micron came to hear the lecture and Ward and Joe called out the names of several as stories of Micron’s early days involved them. COBE entrepreneurship faculty Jeff Sugheir and Timothy Dunne kicked off the question and answer period and several student questions followed. After the lecture in the Executive Education Classroom, a small group of MBA students was treated to the unique opportunity of having their questions answered by Ward and Joe.
Joe and Ward Parkinson and the first working DRAM chip
Groundbreaking for the Micron building in 1984
Joe Parkinson, Tom Nicholas (early investor) and Ward Parkinson at the Stagecoach Restaurant 1983
Micron Technology campus 2012
