News

Montana State University alum and successful businessman gives more than $3 million to College of Business – Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship for the New West

A Montana State University alumnus who has established one of the largest retail furniture companies in the U.S. announced today that he will give more than $3 million to MSU’s College of Business http://www.montana.edu/cob/index.php .

The gift from Jake Jabs, president and CEO of American Furniture Warehouse http://www.afwonline.com/ based in Denver, is one of the largest gifts ever given to Montana State University and the second gift of this size made to the College of Business.

"This gift, from a man who grew up in a small town in Montana, will have an impact on generations of students from Montana and elsewhere," said Dan Moshavi, dean of the College of Business. "It will pave the way for thousands of MSU students to hone their entrepreneurial skills."

Moshavi said that the gift will be earmarked for the newly renamed Jake Jabs Center for Entrepreneurship for the New West http://www.montana.edu/cob/centernewwest/ , sustaining it for years to come.

Anne Cantrell, MSU News Service

Full Story: http://www.montana.edu/cpa/news/nwview.php?article=9221

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Hi All!

I hope you are all doing well and getting ready for the Holidays. Things are going great here in Bozeman, everyone is in finals mode trying to tie everything up for the "start" of finals next week–while this week is claimed to be "dead week" it is just a precursor to finals week.

I wanted to give you all some news fresh from the College of Business:

Yesterday I was privileged to attend a special presentation where President Cruzado, MSUF, and the College of Business were presented with a generous donation of $3 million to the New West Entrepreneurship Center within the CoB. A gentleman by the name of Jake Jabs who is an Alumni of the College of Agriculture presented the college a check last night for the full amount–asking the donation to go towards better developing and building the Entrepreneurship Center. Newly named, the Jake Jabs New West Entrepreneurship Center, will greatly allow current programs in place (including the Alderson Program) to further develop and take immediate action to build a stronger center for students.

Jake has had a very successful career in entrepreneurship, currently owning and acting as the sole share holder of American Furniture Warehouse based out of Denver. Jake started his entrepreneurship career over 50 years ago in Bozeman, owning and operating Montana Music on Main Street. After selling the business and carrying on numerous other ventures, Jake transformed a hurting furniture business in Denver to what is now a $350+ million a year business.

Seeing as his donation is the third largest donation in school history, Jake also plans to continue his giving in the form of 25 $1,000 student scholarships in the coming year, as well as further donations in the future. Jake also plans to bring students from the CoB to his operations in Denver to see American Furniture Warehouse, as well as take students on his numerous yearly buying trips to Asia. All in all, quite the plans he has!

As a student in the CoB and minoring in entrepreneurship, I can say first hand this generous donation will greatly allow the center and students to continue to excel, only now in a very progressive manner. The future of the program has no limits now!

As you may be able to tell, the excitement around MSU between these donations, the football team’s success and the stadium expansion–everyday has been like Christmas!

My best to all–

Carl

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