Description
Stephen Poorman Tapped By Growing Elizabethtown College Entrepreneurship Program As Guest Lecturer
Successful entrepreneur returns to
alma mater to share real-world
experience with future business leaders
2/7/2011
Poorman tapped as guest lecturer
Stephen Poorman tapped by growing
Elizabethtown College Entrepreneurship Program as guest lecturer
Stephen Poorman—principal of the respected turnaround consulting firm,
Poorman & Group of Lock Haven, Pa., and an alumnus of Elizabethtown College
in Elizabethtown, Pa.—recently returned to his alma mater to share his real-world
experience with students in the College’s growing Entrepreneurship Program.
This lecture—the latest of a series of return trips Poorman has made to
Elizabethtown to lecture—offered students in the “Corporate Strategy and
Entrepreneurial Marketing” course insights into business valuations and guided
them through a realistic valuation scenario.
Poorman is the principal of Poorman & Group, which provides turnaround
consulting to troubled companies. Poorman & Group specializes in business
support services, including management audits and reports, diagnostic reviews,
and business plans and valuations. His work has benefitted a host of businesses
in need, including gas and oil investment, retail, wholesale, snack food,
manufacturing, medical, restaurant, airline, communications and insurance firms.
Reflecting on his return to Elizabethtown, Poorman says that appreciates the
opportunity to provide today’s students with real-world business insights—a
hallmark of Elizabethtown College’s business program today and when Poorman
studied at the institution four decades ago. “I think I learned the most from
these experiences. Elizabethtown faculty and guests to our classroom came from
business and industry, and I appreciated the opportunity to hear their real-life
experience,” reflects Poorman. “Now, this is my chance to offer that same
experience to today’s students.”
Poorman’s business acumen has been developed over a lifetime of experience, beginning when he was just 8 years
old with door-to-door sales and festival food concessions. His career has been marked by a string of highly successful
entrepreneurial ventures.
Poorman opened his first retail store during his senior year at Elizabethtown College. The music store chain, “The Big
Red Note”—which gained national recognition for its unique marketing programs—expanded to a 15-store mall
operation in Pennsylvania and New York. Through his hard work, the business grew to the ninth-largest Kimball organ
and piano dealership in the United States.
In 1985, Poorman sold the business and reinvested the profits in multimillion-dollar real estate syndicates, including
office, retail and apartment buildings that stretched from the Northeast to Texas. Most of the holdings now have been
sold to allow him to refocus his energies on building the U.S. economy using by guiding new entrepreneurs to
business success.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in business management from Elizabethtown College in 1972, Poorman continued
his education, earning a paralegal certification from The Pennsylvania State University in 1987 and a master’s degree
from Vermont College of Norwich University in 1990. He is certified by the Institute of Management Consultants and
The Counselors of Real Estate. He has authored a weighty collection of articles, including “Companies in Trouble” and
“Turnaround Strategies” for The Florida Bar.
Poorman hold honorary positions on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Retailer’s Association, The
Pennsylvania Crime Commission, and Transcriptions International. He also previously served as chairman of the board
of directors of Charles Chips, president and chief executive officer of Nibble With Gibbles, and assistant to the
chairman of the board of directors of Oncology Services International and Equi-Med. He has been recognized with
national sales awards in retailing, including Businessman of the Year and The Heritage Award for Restoration of
Historical Properties.
Personally, Poorman still enjoys a second “career” in music. Having studying since the age of 5, he is an accomplished
pianist. He was engaged by The Hammond Organ Company to play concerts throughout the East Coast and produced
his first record at the age of 17. He was an active musician at Elizabethtown, being a featured performer in several of
concerts benefitting children with special needs. Today, as a hobby, he still performs two concerts each year to raise
funds for charitable organizations.
doc_540420243.pdf
Stephen Poorman Tapped By Growing Elizabethtown College Entrepreneurship Program As Guest Lecturer
Successful entrepreneur returns to
alma mater to share real-world
experience with future business leaders
2/7/2011
Poorman tapped as guest lecturer
Stephen Poorman tapped by growing
Elizabethtown College Entrepreneurship Program as guest lecturer
Stephen Poorman—principal of the respected turnaround consulting firm,
Poorman & Group of Lock Haven, Pa., and an alumnus of Elizabethtown College
in Elizabethtown, Pa.—recently returned to his alma mater to share his real-world
experience with students in the College’s growing Entrepreneurship Program.
This lecture—the latest of a series of return trips Poorman has made to
Elizabethtown to lecture—offered students in the “Corporate Strategy and
Entrepreneurial Marketing” course insights into business valuations and guided
them through a realistic valuation scenario.
Poorman is the principal of Poorman & Group, which provides turnaround
consulting to troubled companies. Poorman & Group specializes in business
support services, including management audits and reports, diagnostic reviews,
and business plans and valuations. His work has benefitted a host of businesses
in need, including gas and oil investment, retail, wholesale, snack food,
manufacturing, medical, restaurant, airline, communications and insurance firms.
Reflecting on his return to Elizabethtown, Poorman says that appreciates the
opportunity to provide today’s students with real-world business insights—a
hallmark of Elizabethtown College’s business program today and when Poorman
studied at the institution four decades ago. “I think I learned the most from
these experiences. Elizabethtown faculty and guests to our classroom came from
business and industry, and I appreciated the opportunity to hear their real-life
experience,” reflects Poorman. “Now, this is my chance to offer that same
experience to today’s students.”
Poorman’s business acumen has been developed over a lifetime of experience, beginning when he was just 8 years
old with door-to-door sales and festival food concessions. His career has been marked by a string of highly successful
entrepreneurial ventures.
Poorman opened his first retail store during his senior year at Elizabethtown College. The music store chain, “The Big
Red Note”—which gained national recognition for its unique marketing programs—expanded to a 15-store mall
operation in Pennsylvania and New York. Through his hard work, the business grew to the ninth-largest Kimball organ
and piano dealership in the United States.
In 1985, Poorman sold the business and reinvested the profits in multimillion-dollar real estate syndicates, including
office, retail and apartment buildings that stretched from the Northeast to Texas. Most of the holdings now have been
sold to allow him to refocus his energies on building the U.S. economy using by guiding new entrepreneurs to
business success.
After earning his bachelor’s degree in business management from Elizabethtown College in 1972, Poorman continued
his education, earning a paralegal certification from The Pennsylvania State University in 1987 and a master’s degree
from Vermont College of Norwich University in 1990. He is certified by the Institute of Management Consultants and
The Counselors of Real Estate. He has authored a weighty collection of articles, including “Companies in Trouble” and
“Turnaround Strategies” for The Florida Bar.
Poorman hold honorary positions on the board of directors of the Pennsylvania Retailer’s Association, The
Pennsylvania Crime Commission, and Transcriptions International. He also previously served as chairman of the board
of directors of Charles Chips, president and chief executive officer of Nibble With Gibbles, and assistant to the
chairman of the board of directors of Oncology Services International and Equi-Med. He has been recognized with
national sales awards in retailing, including Businessman of the Year and The Heritage Award for Restoration of
Historical Properties.
Personally, Poorman still enjoys a second “career” in music. Having studying since the age of 5, he is an accomplished
pianist. He was engaged by The Hammond Organ Company to play concerts throughout the East Coast and produced
his first record at the age of 17. He was an active musician at Elizabethtown, being a featured performer in several of
concerts benefitting children with special needs. Today, as a hobby, he still performs two concerts each year to raise
funds for charitable organizations.
doc_540420243.pdf