University of Dallas MBA Students Create Lasting Change for the Town of Greenwood
Date published: Oct. 2, 2017
Nine months before the town of Greenwood, Louisiana, unveiled their new logo, officials
charged a team of University of Dallas MBA students with the task of collecting and
analyzing community input for the design of the logo.
The goal: discover what makes Greenwood, Greenwood.
One of the MBA students on the consulting team, Marty Weisse, MBA ’17, played an integral
role in the market research for the project, which included attending town hall meetings,
conducting online surveys and urging residents to share their opinions through social
media.
“I enjoyed getting the responses to the surveys and talking with the citizens. The
people were interested in moving their town forward — even though there were several
points of view on how to do that,” said Weisse. “On the last day of the semester,
we gave our presentation to the mayor and city officials.”
During their final year, MBA students at the University of Dallas are required to
complete the Capstone Consulting Experience, where they apply their skills to an organization
facing a challenging business problem.
The results from the Capstone team’s market research were then sent on to a branding
company that designed the logo based on feedback from the community.
The new tree logo, which features a silhouette of a flourishing tree above the name
of the town, was designed to symbolize several things unique and dear to the residents:
the slower pace of rural life, abundant green space, and a place for families and
businesses to put down roots. The logo was unveiled to the community at the 38th annual
Pioneer Heritage Festival, an annual event held to celebrate the town’s heritage,
in September.
“Seeing the logo gave me a feeling of accomplishment, that our work had a positive
impact,” said Weisse.
University of Dallas Associate Professor Scott Wysong, Ph.D., who has both an MBA and a Ph.D. in marketing, was the faculty adviser for the project.
“In the Capstone Consulting Experience, we look to help any organization that needs
our students’ expertise. In this case, the town of Greenwood didn’t have the resources
to hire a marketing research firm, so they turned to us. And the students delivered,”
said Wysong. “The mayor and other leaders of Greenwood were very pleased with all
of the data collected and the recommendations made by the students.”
Learn more about the more than 900 projects that the Capstone Consulting Experience students have completed for local businesses, Fortune 1000 firms, entrepreneurial
ventures and nonprofit organizations.
