The Herd: Arrivals and departures for 1.06.2010

Sports:
The Flying Squirrels added a manager and a pitching and hitting coach.

Andy Skeels will make his Double-A managerial debut in the spring. He spent the 2009 season with the San Jose Giants (Advanced-A – California League), where he led the club to a 93-47 record. The 44-year-old also spent time as a manager or coach with the Los Angeles Dodgers (1999), Texas Rangers (2000) and Montreal Expos (2002-04) organizations. A former catcher, Skeels was originally selected by the San Diego Padres in the seventh round of the 1987 draft and played parts of 12 seasons in the minor leagues with the Padres, New York Yankees and Dodgers.

Ross Grimsley has been named pitching coach. Grimsley, who was a National League All-Star, enters his 12th season in the Giants organization. A former first-round pick of the Cincinnati Reds in the 1969 draft, Grimsley spent 11 seasons pitching in the Major Leagues with several different teams. Read more

No slow-down in football ticket sales (except at UVA)

It’s no surprise that at Virginia universities with winning football programs, season tickets sales are steady or growing. No recession there.

Take Virginia Tech, for example, which is coming off a win in the Orange Bowl and ranked No. 7 in preseason polls. Season tickets were sold out even earlier than last year, according to the school. The only available tickets are those from that go to opposing schools and have been returned to Tech.

And more fans at the University of Richmond bought season tickets, 2500 since April. That’s up 25 percent from last year, according to Jana Ross, assistant athletic director for marketing and fan development.

And sponsorships are on pace grow 5 to 10 percent at UR, according to Brandon Forbis, general manager of Spider ISP sports network, which handles the corporate marketing arm of University of Richmond Athletics. Most of those dollars are geared towards the big sports — football and basketball, he said.

“We’ve had several of loyal sponsors increase commitment and found a number of new sponsors,” Fortis said.

This is the last year UR will play off campus before moving into its new on-campus stadium. The business office for the athletic department is still marketing specials. The team is advertising a buy-one-get-one-ticket free for the game against Hofstra on September 19 and a $10 ticket against the University of Massachusetts in October.

That mirrors what’s happening around the nation, where football programs are discounting tickets and coming up with creative packages. (You can read more about that in this neat story from the AP)

Meanwhile at UVA at the end of July, season ticket sales were down 14.6 percent. Craig Littlepage, the school’s athletic director told the Daily Progress, “What we’re finding with our 2009 season ticket sale is not unique compared to many schools around the country,” said Virginia athletics director Craig Littlepage. “That’s why we’re trying to be creative in these difficult economic times by offering ticket packages that provide fans the opportunity to see Virginia football.”

UVA has several ticket packages to try and spur more sales including lower prices. Sales may also suffer this year because fewer marquee opponents are coming to Charlottesville.

Aaron Kremer is the BizSense editor. Please send news tips to Editor@richmondbizsense.com.

A dry run for entrepreneurs

“The more I practice, the luckier I get.”

Seven wise words are from golfer Gary Player. And applicable to startups, especially regarding the craft of pitching an idea to potential investors.

A panel of three angel investors will hear 15-minute pitches from would-be business owners at the University of Richmond on Sept. 9.  There is no money on the line, but the inaugural event could be great practice for local entrepreneurs. Read more

SWF seeks stability, willing to lower standards.

The weather is heating up, the economy continues to cool and love is in the air.

According to the Associated Press, people are turning to romance for stability and to distract themselves from economic woes during the recession.

The article quotes a University of Richmond neurology professor.

“Misery loves company, especially if the prospect of romance and or sex looms large,” said Craig Kinsley, a neurologist at the University of Richmond. “Really, dating, rather than being considered as expensive, can be a thrilling and inexpensive distraction. Like getting drunk without the wallet-hit or hangover.”

Kinsley said stomach-fluttering first dates also release brain chemicals that can temporarily erase worries, even about 401(k)s and layoffs and falling portfolios and upside-down mortgages.

Dating site eHarmony.com has seen a 20 percent increase in traffic, even though the site charges as much as $60 for membership. Traffic to OkCupid.com is up 50 percent.

But restaurants, which have been struggling through the downturn and have had to add cheaper menu options,  have not seen the kind of increase in sales that this “love-surgence” might seem to imply.

The article suggests that people are starting to skimp on discretionary spending directed at wooing a partner.

Continued:

Still, Sam Yagan, the founder and CEO at OkCupid.com, sees the changing dating climate as a matter of dollars and cents.

The way he figures it, a man can spend $100 buying drinks at a bar trying to pick up a stranger and leave with little more than a cold shoulder. But, when he’s in a relationship, a Saturday evening can be as simple as Thai noodle takeout, Netflix and some fun under the covers. All in all, Yagan said, that’s “more bang for your buck.”

But those on the prowl are starting to look for more substance than flash. People are looking for partners who might not have met their standards before the downturn.

A gentler tone is taking over, daters and observers say, with substance gaining over style.

For Mili Thomas, a 28-year-old graduate student in New York, that means she now spends time with men who didn’t show up on her radar screen before the recession. Among them: a Ph.D. who would have been nixed because he lives in New Jersey and an employee at a marketing firm who wouldn’t have made the grade because he is two years her junior.

David is a BizSense reporter. Please send news tips to david@richmondbizsense.com

UR appoints interim business dean

There’s a new dean on campus.

At least for now.

The University of Richmond announced Sunday that they have appointed economics chair Robert M. Schmidt to serve as interim dean of the Robins School of Business.

Schmidt has been a professor at the school for 28 years. He will take over July 1 for outgoing dean Jorge Haddock, who took the job of dean at the George Mason University School of Management.

Schmidt’s interim appointment comes on the heels of Henry N. Butler’s decision to turn down the deanship. You can read more about that here.

Schmidt will serve as dean while the search for a permanent successor continues. For more about Schmidt, check out his official university page.

Local universities keep builders building

Even with shrinking endowments and more cost-conscious students, local universities are plowing ahead with major construction projects, building dorms, athletic facilities and research centers. That’s been a blessing for some local firms. Read more

Dean search at UR Biz School back to square one

The Robins School of Business must again search for a dean after a finalist for the job turned it down.

Citing financial considerations, Henry N. Butler, a law professor at Northwestern University, has withdrawn as the next dean at University of Richmond’s business school, according to an email sent to faculty and staff. Read more

Two seniors win $2,000 in UR biz plan contest

Two University of Richmond seniors took one giant step Friday to fund their startup, which they hope to get off the ground after graduating in several weeks.

On Friday night, Daniel Brunt and apartment-mate Christopher Genualdi pitched a panel of judges about their business, Sniff-Stick LLC, and won $2,000. Read more

Robins School steams ahead in BusinessWeek rankings

The University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business moved up eight slots to No. 12 on BusinessWeek’s list of top undergraduate business schools. Read more

16 top economists to confer Jan. 31 on nation’s economic crisis

Jeffrey M. Lacker, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond, will be joined by Nobel Prize economists James Buchanan, constitutional political economist, and Vernon Smith, experimental economist, and 13 other scholars in the daylong private discussions. The participants—to include economic historians, macroeconomists, financial economists and policy makers–will sum up their discussions and take questions from an invited audience of students, faculty and guests at a 3:30 p.m. presentation.
Read more

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