St. Thomas’ Opus College of Business and the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management are joining forces to host the first Twin Cities Scholars of Finance Symposium this month. The symposium gives students an opportunity to meet face-to-face with CEOs and executives of Minnesota companies.

St. Thomas senior Ryan Quinlivan, the president of the university’s Investment Club, is leading the event on Wednesday along with students from St. Thomas and the U of M. Featuring a panel discussion and dinner at the St. Thomas Minneapolis campus atrium, the symposium will serve to “inform and inspire” students as well as connect them with executives and other driven students in the Twin Cities area, according to Quinlivan.

“The impetus for the event is to raise the profile of the financial community in the Twin Cities,” Quinlivan said. “I thought what the schools would get out of it is to show firms like Piper Jaffray that St. Thomas is on par with Carlson.”

Major executives from Craig-Hallum, U.S. Bank, Piper Jaffray, Dougherty & Co. and RBC Wealth Management will be present at the event.

Quinlivan said the partnership between the U of M and St. Thomas is a step forward.

“It’s a joint event to raise the profile of the Twin Cities as a whole and pull some people out of the woodwork but also to raise the profile of St. Thomas,” Quinlivan said. “There are a lot of sharp kids that go to the U that I wish I knew. It will just build ties between the schools.”

Coordinating such a large event between two schools is no easy feat, according to James Shovein, an Opus College of Business faculty member who serves as the club’s adviser. Still, he said, the planning has been nearly entirely student-led and offers a great business partnership experience.

“It speaks a lot to the types of students we have and the characteristics we try to instill in them,” Shovein said. “You’ve got to be a self-starter, you’ve got to be ambitious and you’ve got to have energy and passion for what you do. This is just another strategic partnership that can help elevate St. Thomas and its students to get to their goals.”

Quinlivan said he hopes that this is the first of many similar events and would like to see the collaboration continue.

“I hope it becomes an annual event for people to look forward to every year,” Quinlivan said. “I hope it grows every year. I’d like to see it be 200 students next year. It’s that next step for the business school.”

Shovein said this opportunity is a chance for students to learn outside of the classroom.

“We’re always looking for ways to create a differentiated, unique educational experience for our students,” Shovein said. “There’s nothing better than going outside of the classroom into the industry to see how people are actually working in the jobs they want.”

Junior Chad Grossmann said he’s excited to find out what advice he can gain from this experience.

“I can’t think of another more casual environment where you get to talk to these CEOs,” Grossmann said. “It’s an opportunity that you don’t really get day to day – especially to get five (CEOs) from the cities.”

While the purpose of the event is not to get students jobs, Quinlivan said he hopes this will help get St. Thomas on the business map and allow students to make high-level connections.

Grossmann hopes making these connections will help down the line in his career path.

“We’re meeting with these higher-ups and meeting some of the people who have the weight and power to influence HR and the recruiting managers and say, ‘Hey, give St. Thomas a better chance,’ instead of saying it’s just a small school,” Grossmann said. “There’s more to us than straight numbers. We bring a lot to the table.”

Simeon Lancaster can be reached at lanc4637@stthomas.edu.