Clarksville, TN – Members of the Austin Peay State University and Clarksville-Montgomery County communities got to see the future of the University’s College of Business on Tuesday, November 14th, 2017 as it celebrated the opening of the new Larry W. Carroll Financial Trading Center, located on the first floor of the Kimbrough Building, during a public ribbon cutting ceremony.
The new center will allow Austin Peay business students to mimic the work of Wall Street’s top traders by giving them access to the same tools used by financial professionals around the world.
The center, which has been a priority for the last few years, received a boost in 2015 when North Carolina businessman and Austin Peay alumnus Larry Carroll contributed a lead gift to help finance the project. Earlier this year, Carroll was again named to Forbes’ list of America’s Top 250 Wealth Advisors.
Carroll, a 1976 Austin Peay graduate, is president and CEO of the North Carolina-based Carroll Financial Associates, and he is considered one of the top financial planners in the nation. In 2012, the Tennessee Board of Regents honored him with the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Philanthropy for his generous support and outstanding volunteer efforts on behalf of his alma mater. In 2017, he became an inaugural member of the Austin Peay Board of Trustees.
“The strategic growth of Austin Peay’s College of Business has seen it evolve from a once-small school into one of the region’s top colleges of business and a priority of this University because our alumni have come together,” Derek van der Merwe, Austin Peay vice president for advancement, communication and strategic initiatives, said. “We’re here today because of them and because they helped make that dream a reality.”
A few months after Carroll made his contribution, Dr. Mark Green, Tennessee state senator and founder of the healthcare company AlignMD, along with his wife, Camilla Green, presented Austin Peay President Alisa White with a major donation for the project. That gift was used to install the Dr. Mark and Camilla Green Stock Exchange Ticker Display within the trading center.
Family and friends of the late John K. Hopson, a longtime Montgomery County Farm Bureau agent, also supported the new trading center, allowing the Austin Peay College of Business to create the John K. Hopson Innovation Rooms. These rooms will provide a place for business students to analyze data and participate in real-world business simulations.
“The College of Business is not just an academic silo; it’s a part of community, and our students are being trained to become the next generation of business and civic leaders in Clarksville-Montgomery County and beyond,” Dr. Charles Moses, interim dean of the College of Business said. “The generous gifts made by the Carroll, Green and Hopson families, among others, has allowed us to greatly expand the opportunities available to our students and to better train them by simulating the kind of real-world experiences they’ll encounter as professionals.”
For information on the Larry W. Carroll Financial Trading Center, visit the Austin Peay College of Business at www.apsu.edu/business, or the Austin Peay Office of University Advancement at www.apsu.edu/advancement
