News

Sedler Center Aims to Spur Business Growth

Faculty member Joseph Carter named director

01/04/10

The Williams College of Business at Xavier University is developing a center that will help launch and sustain businesses in Greater Cincinnati and beyond.

 

It will be named the Sedler Family Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation in honor of the Sedler family, which has made generous donations of time and money to Xavier. The Sedler family owns Home City Ice, based in Cincinnati.

 

Dean Ali Malekzadeh of the Williams College of Business has named Joseph Carter the director of the Sedler Family Center. Carter spent 27 years in business leadership positions before joining the faculty in 2007 to teach management and entrepreneurship.

 

The Sedler Family Center will be housed in the college’s new $29 million building, which is scheduled to open in August 2010.

 

At the Center, students, faculty, alumni and business leaders will be brought together to promote entrepreneurship. The center will help students start businesses and will support their businesses after graduation. It also will support businesses in the community by providing faculty and student expertise. And it will support faculty research into proven strategies for launching and sustaining businesses.

 

Other efforts could include helping entrepreneurs find funding and write business plans, and holding workshops to teach people in the community how to run businesses.

 

The Sedler Family Center is an outgrowth of what had been known as the Center for Entrepreneurship, which did not have space exclusively for its activities.

 

Student-owned businesses will be housed in the center. Williams College of Business students own at least a half-dozen businesses on-campus and off-campus, including FliX, a movie rental business, and Heads Up! Inflatables, which rents inflatable water slides and bounce houses.

 

“The Sedlers are helping these students’ entrepreneurial dreams come true,” Malekzadeh said.

 

Tom Sedler, president of Home City Ice, graduated from Xavier University and so did his four sons, Tommy, Ted, Tim and Terry, who help run Home City Ice. Tom Sedler and his family have received several awards from Xavier, including the Alumni Family Business Award. Home City Ice is the largest privately owned company of its type in the nation. It manufactures 4,400 tons of ice a day, which is sold in 10 states.

 

 “I’m so impressed with the people and the programs at Xavier,” Tom Sedler said. “Our four sons went to school there and Xavier is just a part of our lives. We’re entrepreneurs who have grown a business and we want to help Xavier students realize their potential.”

 

Malekzadeh appointed Carter because of the depth and breadth of his experience in business and academia. “He is an accomplished business leader and faculty member who understands how faculty members, students and the business community can contribute to make the Sedler Family Center an effective place to spur business growth,” Malekzadeh said.

 

Carter, who lives in Miami Township, Clermont County, is excited about leading the effort.

 

"I am driven to work with key groups at Xavier and beyond to help our students and our community create, launch, sustain and grow businesses that benefit society,” he said.  “I see this as a way to attract, develop, and retain top-notch and culturally diverse talent in Greater Cincinnati.  This will help the region thrive.”

 

Carter served as director of operational excellence for Ingersoll-Rand Co., a global industrial manufacturer and service provider. He was responsible for operational strategy development and deployment for 14 sites in North America, Europe and Asia. Carter also was a faculty member for Ingersoll-Rand’s internal corporate university, where he trained and mentored executives and mid-level managers in business and operational methodologies. 

 

In addition, he worked in management jobs for Huffy Corp., Federal-Mogul and Harley-Davidson. Plus, he has 10 years’ experience as an international business consulting manager.

 

In spring 2009, he received the Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Earlier, he obtained his bachelor degree and Executive MBA from the Williams College of Business.

 

The Williams College of Business is ranked by The Princeton Review as one of the nation’s 20 best business schools for entrepreneurship studies. The college offers a major and minor in entrepreneurship.

 

The college’s new building will be part of the new Hoff Academic Quad, which will include the Conaton Learning Commons, at Dana and Ledgewood Avenues.