Everything Nac

Matthew Smilor, former director of the award-winning Values and Ventures program for the Neeley Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation at Texas Christian University, has been named director of the Arnold Center for Entrepreneurship in Stephen F. Austin State University’s Rusche College of Business.

During his leadership, Values and Ventures became the No. 1 undergraduate venture creation program in the United States.

“I believe that every person is an entrepreneur and possesses an entrepreneurial spirit,” Smilor said. “It is our goal to help them tap into that spirit and pursue their entrepreneurial passions.”

With a dramatic increase in 1099 contract employees and people establishing “side hustles,” entrepreneurs are the keystone to economic development and growth, Smilor added.

“It is an exciting time to be an entrepreneur, and ACE is going to be there to help, guide, cheer, support, educate and encourage,” he said.

Launched last summer, ACE houses SFA’s Small Business Resource Hub and is working to implement entrepreneurship programs for the community, including the soon-to-be-launched Piney Woods Entrepreneurship Network, to help develop Nacogdoches as an entrepreneurial city through educational initiatives.

“The network will bring together lawyers, accountants, bankers, investors, entrepreneurs and students,” Smilor said. “It will be a good learning environment for the students.”

In addition to helping launch a new center with the support of business faculty and staff and benefactor Greg Arnold, a 1987 SFA graduate and CEO of TAC – The Arnold Companies, the city of Nacogdoches was a big draw for Smilor.

“It is wonderful to have a community that is so interwoven with the university, takes a true interest in its people and wants to take an active role in ensuring success,” he said.

Small businesses and entrepreneurs make up 99.9% of the businesses in the United States, according to Smilor.

“Being able to provide the tools, resources, know-how and support in an atmosphere where starting a business is not as daunting, scary or intimidating as many perceive it to be is critical to help nurture today’s growing entrepreneurs and small business owners, especially in East Texas,” he said. “Our goal is to become a world-class center that is the hub for entrepreneurship for the entire region.”

For students, ACE offers mentoring, scholarships and internships; travel to competitions and field trips; support for SFA’s Society for Entrepreneurial Advancement; and funding for the campuswide Lumberjack Entrepreneurship Competition, planned for April 21.

Smilor holds an Executive Master of Business Administration from TCU and a bachelor’s in sociology from the University of Colorado Boulder.

In his spare time, Smilor said he works to be “the best cheer dad that I can be to two incredible daughters. I also attempt to hit golf balls long and straight and fly-fish in Colorado or wherever else they may be biting.”

ACE and its subunit, SBRH, are two of four entities launched recently by the College of Business to help bolster local businesses. The others are Business and Community Services and the Center for Business and Economic Research.

For more information, visit sfasu.edu/ace.

The story of an entrancing and free-spirited girl and the inexorable impact of fate is featured when the School of Music at Stephen F. Austin State University presents Georges Bizet’s opera “Carmen.” Based on a novella by Prosper Mérimée, “Carmen” will run nightly March 30 through April 1 in Cole Concert Hall on the SFA campus.

“‘Carmen’ is an opera full of spectacle, love, jealousy, ambition, beautiful music and dramatic conflict,” according to Richard Berry, professor of voice at SFA and SFA Opera Theater director.

“As always, we chose this year’s opera because it was one well-suited for the student voices that are available,” Berry said. “We double- and triple-cast principal roles in order to give more of our excellent students the opportunity to perform a role in an opera.”

Although construction and renovation to the Griffith Fine Arts Building on the SFA campus is winding down into the project’s final months, Griffith’s W.M. Turner Auditorium is still not available for use. As a result, the Opera Theater will be presented in the Wright Music Building’s Cole Concert Hall again this year.

“The primary challenge in this year’s production is the lack of a theater in which to perform,” Berry said. “Cole Concert Hall is an excellent concert venue; however, it is not a theater. That means that it doesn’t have a large backstage area, and it doesn’t have an orchestra pit. There is no system for lowering and raising scenery, and lighting is limited. However, those challenges are being dealt with, and the students are getting a full operatic experience.”

Additionally, the performance demands of “Carmen” are significant, Berry explained. “This is a difficult opera, and preparing undergraduates and master’s degree students to sing roles that professional opera singers find challenging is quite a task,” he said. “But the students are working hard and are succeeding.”

The element of fate in controlling the lives of the characters is emphasized throughout the work, marked by a recurring musical theme. Audiences will hear memorable tunes, including the familiar “Haban᷈era” and the bullfighter’s “Toreador Song.”

Assistant director and production manager is voice faculty member Nita Hudson. Collaborative pianists for rehearsals and performances are Ron Petti and Hyo Jeong Ham. Chorus master is Tod Fish, associate director of choral activities; and the conductor is Greg Grabowski, director of orchestral activities. Gracie O’Dell, junior theatre major from Nacogdoches, is costume coordinator.

Performances are at 7:30 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, March 30 through April 1. Tickets are $15 for adults, $10 for seniors and $8 for students and youth. For tickets, visit sfasu.edu/finearts or call the SFA Fine Arts Box Office at (936) 468-6407. For more information about the opera or School of Music, call (936) 468-4602.