Business Students Selected for Beeghly Fellows Program

Five business students pose for a photo in the Williamson College of Business Administration
Sabrina Caruso, Alanis Chew (front row), Roshan Chokshi, Ryan Sheffield, and Jenna Binsley (back row), business students from WCBA, have been selected as the John D. Beeghly Fellows for the 2020 Spring Semester.

Jenna Binsley, Sabrina Caruso, Alanis Chew, Roshan Chokshi, and Ryan Sheffield, business students in the Williamson College of Business Administration at Youngstown State University, have been selected as the John D. Beeghly Fellows for the 2020 Spring Semester.

The John D. Beeghly Fellows program provides students with a paid fellowship working with the Ohio Small Business Development Center at YSU.

Projects include financial analysis and sales forecasting, market research, export readiness studies, country research, business loan proposals, cash flow analysis and government contracting. Students gain valuable career-related work experience, and are able to position themselves to be competitive in the job market upon graduation.

The Ohio Small Business Development Center at YSU received a best practice for their service delivery model that integrates the Beeghly Fellows (student interns) into SBDC services. The ASBDC Accreditation team visiting Ohio stated that this model is worthy of specific mention, and should be an example to other university based SBDCs for integrating educational, community and economic development services.

The John D. Beeghly Fellows Program is made possible by an endowment established at the YSU Foundation by Mr. Beeghly’s wife and children.

John David Beeghly was a lifelong resident and businessman in Youngstown, Ohio, and son of area industrialist and philanthropist, Leon A. Beeghly. From 1967 until his death, Mr. Beeghly served as vice president and director of Standard Slag Co. and Stancorp, Inc., a holding company for industrial businesses.

“We are extremely grateful to the John D. Beeghly Family for making this generous investment in our business students.  Providing our students with career-related experience contributes to the success of our regional businesses and the professional preparation of our students,” explained Betty Jo Licata, Ph.D., Dean of the Williamson College of Business Administration.

This semester’s fellows are:

Jenna Binsley, of New Springfield, junior Marketing major with minors in Nonprofit Leadership and Advertising/Public Relations, is in her second semester working as a Beeghly Fellow intern at the SBDC. Binsley is a member of the Honors College, Beta Gamma Sigma Honor Society, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, The National Society of Collegiate Scholars, Secretary of Student Nonprofit Leadership Organization and vice president of Habitat for Humanity Campus Chapter. Outside of class, Binsley is involved with Beatitude House’s Immigrant Outreach Program and is part of the Executive Planning Committee for the 2020 Mahoning Valley Diversity Dinner. Upon graduation in May of 2021, she plans to pursue a career in marketing within the nonprofit sector and apply to YSU’s MBA program.

Sabrina Caruso, of Champion, is a junior Marketing major and plans to pursue a second major in Finance. Also a member of Pi Sigma Epsilon, a marketing and sales fraternity, Caruso currently serves as their Vice President of Administration. This is Caruso’s first semester as a Beeghly Fellow Intern at the SBDC. Upon graduation in Fall of 2021, she plans to apply to an MBA program to further her education.

Alanis Chew, of Youngstown, is a senior Business Economics and Mathematics double major. She is working as a Beeghly Fellow intern at the SBDC and a Peer Assistant for the Honors College. Engaging in various fields, she currently serves as president of Beta Gamma Sigma, the Association for Women in Mathematics, and the Amateur Radio Club. Over the summer, Chew participated in the X-Culture Global Symposium, where she traveled to Calgary, Canada and worked as part of an international team to help solve a business problem. Upon graduation, she will pursue a career in business analytics.

Roshan Chokshi, international student from India, is a junior Business Finance and Accounting double major. He currently works as a Beeghly Fellows Intern at the SBDC, conducting financial analysis for local businesses and helping business consultants at the SBDC with market research and exporting assistance. This past summer, Chokshi completed the Ohio Export Internship Program, where he worked as an export intern at RenovoDerm. Upon graduation, Chokshi plans to pursue a career in investment banking.

Ryan Sheffield, of Youngstown, is a junior majoring in Management with a minor in International Business. This is Sheffield’s second semester as a Beeghly Fellow Intern at the Ohio SBDC and Export Assistance Network at YSU. This past summer Sheffield completed the Ohio Export Internship Program where he worked as an export/import and supply chain intern for Haltec Corporation. Last semester at the SDBC and Export Assistance Network, he worked on various projects such as market research, cash flow modeling, government contracting opportunities, international market research and HTS product classification. Sheffield is currently the president of the Student Information and Supply Chain Association as well as the treasurer of the International Business Organization. He is also the NASBITE Student Ambassador for YSU and a member of Beta Gamma Sigma. In September, Sheffield passed the NASBITE CGBP exam and is now a Certified Global Business Professional. Upon graduation in May of 2021, he plans to pursue a career in global operations management.