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CBE Student Finds Opportunity with Alumni
through the Western Network

WANTED: Individual to help in an on-going project to analyze the information in a HUGE database and distill it into useful conclusions to inform future investment decisions. This person may or may not be in the throes of making career-defining decisions. A successful candidate will have: 1) dexterity with Excel database functions, etc.; 2) ability to draw conclusions from information; and 3) common sense and humility

As the outgoing President of the Financial Management Association, and the incoming president for Beta Alpha Psi (an honorary organization for Financial Information students and professionals), Ben Bortner is a great example of a Western student taking advantage of every opportunity that the College of Business & Economics has to offer. Perhaps it makes sense then why an e-mail from Don Elmer, a Western Economics grad from the class of 1970, to Dean Brian Burton led Ben to Pacific Horizon Ventures (PHV). Based on the recommendation of the faculty, Ben now has the opportunity to work with this great Seattle-based venture capital firm.

“I have a passion for finance and accounting, and I wanted to find a way to combine both,” said Ben, a senior who is double majoring in these two disciplines. “I’m excited about the possibility to learn more about venture capital and private equity investing from such a great company.”

Founded in 1993, Pacific Horizon implements hands-on, capital efficient strategies which deliver just-in-time management solutions to a number of technology companies who have extremely high financial return possibilities. “We identify them at a very early stage,” Elmer explained when talking about the kinds of companies they choose to invest in. “We focus in on companies involved in the development of new drugs or new medical devices and nurture them through the development cycle, which in some cases can last more than a decade.”

“With this particular project we are looking to draw conclusions about the number of companies which have been started in this industry in the past 15 years, and the amount of money invested in them,” continued Elmer. “When we approached the college, we were looking to find someone energetic, bright and ready to dive into a project involving the gathering of data within this sector, and even though we just started working with Ben, we are very happy so far.”

Elmer is an ideal mentor for Ben to emulate. In addition to serving on the Dean’s Board of Advisors for WWU’s College of Business & Economics, he has been involved in two other venture-stage companies before starting PHV, and has a wealth of experience with finding solutions for a wide variety of day-to-day management challenges. Don Elmer knows that finding the right person for the job, can be as easy as connecting with someone in your network, in this case his Western network.

“The best part about being at Western and the College of Business & Economics is the close personal relationships you can build with the faculty,” Ben added, “professors like Steve Smith, Earl Benson, Steve Senge, and many others have been very influential…they are the ones who set me up with this opportunity.”

Don agreed with Ben’s statement, and later explained that his desire to give back to a new generation of students, is in part, due to the debt of gratitude he has for Professor Michael Mischaikov who taught him so much. While Professor Mischaikov has passed away, his family is still a big part of Western. Ted Mischaikov, Dr. Mischaikov’s son, currently serves on the Western Foundation Board.

“Down the road I would love to be a private equity investor, hedge fund manager, or an executive in a large firm,” said Ben, “…something in the accounting or financial services industry,” - with the ability to work for, and learn from, an individual and Alumnus like Don Elmer, he is taking a step in the right direction.

Page Updated 07.21.2009