Hometown Business
Jordan Shutts ’18
Accounting
Hometown: Queensbury, N.Y.
Role: Outgoing president of the SUNY Oswego chapter of Enactus, which receives funding assistance from the SUNY Oswego Center for Accounting Research and Education (CARE).
Fueling the flame: CARE donors
“My freshman year, I came into school thinking I wanted to start a business. I saw these Enactus posters everywhere, and digital signage for meetings. I was looking for people like me. They took me under their wing, and that’s what got me involved.”
When Jordan Shutts ’18 stops to buy a cup of coffee at a locally-owned business in downtown Oswego, the owner sometimes asks him to step behind the cash register.
“She often has a bunch of questions for me, and I’m happy to support the business owners,” Shutts said. “They love it. Here we are college students with all this energy, and they just don’t always have the time and resources.”
Shutts is the outgoing president for Entrepreneurial Action by University Students (Enactus) at SUNY Oswego, a program that has run the Digitize community project for more than three years. According to Enactus president-elect Ryan Fitzpatrick ’17, Digitize community projects bring technology to small businesses in the region surrounding the SUNY Oswego campus, where time, know-how and finances might be barriers to integrating technology into daily business tasks.
Shops, restaurants—really any local business with need and interest—are selected for technology support by Digitize team members. Support might include cash register upgrades, inventory management, grant writing for equipment and other business technology enhancements.
“We use our connections, our time and our abilities to enhance their businesses and make them a little more prosperous,” Fitzpatrick said. “We’re trying to give back to the community.”
An international organization, Enactus has 1,600 active universities across 37 countries totaling 62,000 plus students. Each year SUNY Oswego Enactus presents its Digitize program accomplishments at a regional competition in Washington, D.C. Regional champion teams advance to the Enactus USA National Exposition in Kansas City. SUNY Oswego’s Enactus team travels with the support of SUNY Oswego’s Center for Accounting Research and Education.
“CARE is funded by the generous donations of SUNY Oswego accounting alumni,” said Thomas Tribunella, director of CARE. “The center provides the margin of distinction that defines an Oswego accounting education and gives our students the foundation to become leaders in public, corporate, not-for-profit and governmental accounting.”
In addition to supporting Enactus, CARE provides hands-on experiences and support for a wide range of student business related programs, including the Accounting Club and Beta Alpha Psi.
