Graduate Program: Master of Business Administration (MBA)
When the world’s leading archers took the field at the 2012 London Olympics, Ben Summers ’00 MBA recognized something on one of the bows. South Korea’s Oh Jin Hyek, the eventual gold medal winner, was using equipment Ben had sold him just a few years before — an archery sight that Ben’s family business, T.R.U. Ball Archery, made in Madison Heights, Virginia.
The company, which Ben runs alongside his younger brother, Brian Summers ’03 MBA, and sister, Kelly Reyes, makes archery releases, sights, and scopes, and markets them around the world to hunters and shooters at all levels of competition.
“Almost everyone who wins now uses both our triggers and sights,” Ben said.
Ben and Brian each said the Master of Business Administration they received at Lynchburg has helped them keep the company on target while it’s grown internationally.
“It helped me in big ways when it actually came to running the business,” Ben said, adding that he particularly remembers his operations management class, where he learned to maximize production through smart management in day-to-day operations.
Brian said the MBA gave him foundational skills in managing accounting, human resources, and distribution channels. He also valued the opportunity to learn from faculty members and classmates who were experienced in their fields.
“It was so beneficial to have an environment where I could ask a professor about something specific that was happening at my work that day and they had an answer,” he said. “We could bring it up to the class as a whole, and there were so many different students who had different jobs. I felt like I was really learning and I was able to glean from their knowledge.”
