The Linfield University School of Business hosted the YET! Business Symposium April 12 at the Sentinel Hotel in the heart of Portland. Nearly 250 attendees, including 111 Linfield students, participated in tracks focused on the future of business, wine business and Linfield’s School of Business.
The name – YET! – was chosen by event organizers as a reflection of economic, cultural and technological shocks changing the world at a pace never seen previously in human history. The symposium posed thought-provoking questions to its attendees: How can we harness these shocks as catalyst? How do we get to the positive changes, innovations and discovery possible in times of great change?
Linfield President Miles K. Davis said the symposium, the first of what will become an annual series, was organized to give critical thinkers a place to learn about, discuss and debate big ideas.
Ideas with the potential to change the world for the better.
“Businesses have the ability, and on some level the obligation, to combat problems in the world and make it a safer, healthier and better home for all of us,” Davis said. “That’s what the Linfield School of Business helps facilitate, and that’s what the YET! Business Symposium is all about. I’m heartened to see so many students and so many Portland-area business leaders here who believe the same thing.”
Brian Gerritz ’98 is president of Portland-based Pavilion Construction, a member of the university’s board of trustees and chair of the committee that organized the inaugural symposium. He said adding an annual business event has been a priority since Linfield created its School of Business in 2020, but that the pandemic delayed the rollout. Gerritz thanked the Linfield Business Advisory Council, a group made up of alumni in business leadership roles, for leading the charge to make it happen. He also cited a number of students who were involved in the planning and organization, as well as the more than 100 students who drove to Portland to attend.
“Linfield students are inspiring, curious, hardworking and incredibly resourceful,” he said. “The words of Louis Armstrong ring loudly in my head, that ‘they’ll learn much more than I’ll ever know.’ As a student, I benefited greatly from then-established business leaders collaborating with me and including me in hands-on projects. I’m proud to be able to continue that legacy and pay it forward.”
Don Antonucci, CEO at Oregon-based Providence Health Plan, told all attendees – from students to mid-career businesspeople – that the YET! Business Symposium is about reflecting not only on what we want to do with our lives, but why we do it.
“Having a ‘why’ is critical in any industry, no matter what your future holds,” he said.
