Economic Impact of the Sports and Entertainment Industry to be Discussed

The University of Findlay’s College of Business will host an All Stars of Sports and Entertainment event on Monday, April 15. A session at 11 a.m. and a session at 2 p.m. are free and open to the community.
For more details, contact Jenna Kramb at kramb@findlay.edu or Kathy Bradford at bradford@findlay.edu.
At 11 a.m., UF alumna Meredith Scerba, senior vice president of event management, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission (GCSC), will share her insight and experiences on the economic impact of the sports and entertainment industry. This session will be held in the Alumni Memorial Union North Multipurpose Room.
At 2 p.m., attendees are invited to engage in an interactive discussion, “Economics of Sport/Entertainment on Local, Regional and State Economy,” with a panel of professionals. Panel members include Scerba; Carolyn Copus, executive director, the Hancock County Agency on Aging; former NFL tight end Mark Inkrott, director of strategic initiatives, Dairy Management Inc.; and Jack Ruscilli, CEO and chairman of the board of Ruscilli Construction Co. Inc. This session will be held in Old Main, Ritz Auditorium
Scerba oversees the planning, budgeting and operations of all GCSC events. She also is responsible for the community development and programming committee, managing and recruiting for both the volunteer and internship programs. Scerba has been involved in a variety of events, including the NCAA Women’s Final Four, and she is the executive director of the 2013 National Senior Games, which has an estimated $35 million economic impact to the city of Cleveland.
Copus began her post at the agency in January. She worked at the Arts Partnership of Greater Hancock County for 14 years, the last nine of which she served as executive director. She also worked for Blanchard Valley Health System, first with its Foundation and later at Birchaven Village.
Inkrott played football for The University of Findlay before graduating and playing for the Carolina Panthers and the New York giants. He also played one NFL Europe season in Cologne, Germany. In his position at Dairy Management Inc., Inkrott manages a national partnership with the National Football League. Inkrott is instrumental in the FuelUp to Play 60 Program, which encourages students to get 60 minutes of exercise each day and to live healthy lifestyles.
Ruscilli, a member of the Findlay College class of 1966, joined his father’s construction company as a salesman. Ruscilli guided the company from a small specialty contractor to one of the Midwest’s largest full-service general construction companies, building shopping malls, schools, churches, medical facilities, condominiums, hotels, country clubs and large-scale projects such as the Franklin County Courthouse, COSI and Ameriflora, all in Columbus. Since 1945, the Ruscilli Construction Co. Inc. is the nation’s oldest and largest pre-engineered building systems dealer and has put up more than 40,000,000 square feet of pre-engineered steel throughout the U.S.
This event is the first in the Gupta Distinguished Chair Series presented by the College of Business and hosted by John Wolper, Ed.D., associate professor of hospitality management, chair of the business administration programs.