Mount grads get down to business

(Left) Nicole Corbett, right, and a friend at Disney World in Orlando, FL. (Right) Joe Canary, accounting major at Mount Saint Mary College, assists a local resident with income tax forms as part of the IRS Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program.

A degree in business from Mount Saint Mary College in Newburgh, NY, takes grads along the road of success.

And all the way to the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, FL.

Nicole Corbett of New Windsor, NY majored in business management and administration. At the end of the summer, she will begin working fulltime for Disney Retail.

Lodging and hospitality is the path that Corbett is pursuing, so working at Disney will be a great career boost, she said.

Graduating this May, she interns with the Hudson Valley Renegades Pitch for Kids Fund this summer, as an event planner and social media intern.

She noted that Mount faculty such as Matson Attsunyo, James Griesemer, and Shelley Love, “all genuinely cared about my well-being and getting a great education. They've taught me everything about the business world, and it will be sad to say goodbye.”

Senior Brittany Shantwell’s internship at Freedom Ford in Beacon, NY, has evolved into a fulltime position after graduation.

Shantwell, an accounting major from Middletown, NY, lauds professors Louis Fortunato and Tracey Niemotko for being “very knowledgeable and very helpful.”

With the ultimate goal of working in the banking industry, Shantwell “handles all types of accounting tasks and cash receipts” at Freedom Ford.

The business program at Mount Saint Mary College incorporates technology, international vision, and modern organizational science to prepare students for careers in a global economy.

With a liberal arts core to develop critical thinking, students learn accounting, management, finance, economics, and marketing.

Mount students also get real world experience through community service, for example, participating in the IRS VITA program assisting low income individuals with tax forms.

Accounting students teamed up with PathStone Community Improvement of Newburgh to provide the service. Seniors who volunteered their time were Joe Canary, Newburgh, NY; Leonora Liz, New York, NY; and Noelle Shalian, Salisbury Mills, NY.

They completed on-line training plus on-site training with an IRS representative. The accounting program at the Mount offers a sequence of specialized instruction in accounting theory, cost management, budgeting, auditing, taxation, accounting systems, and accounting as a management tool.

Successful alumni with business degrees include Tyler Tumminia ’09, MBA, senior vice president of marketing and operations for Goldklang Group, sports entertainment ownership consulting firm in Fishkill, NY, and Sam Firempong ’02, vice president of ICG Global Expense, Citigroup.

Nicole Corbett commented that without Mount Saint Mary College’s business program and the college career center, “I would be so lost. I owe everything to the Mount because they have prepared me well for my career.”