The Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal released in January their annual “40 Under 40” list, which recognizes the best young entrepreneurs and business leaders in the Twin Cities. Ten award nominees were either former students or currently employees at St. Thomas.

The award recognizes individuals under the age of 40 who have a great impact in their field and who display characteristics of leadership in their community. PubPass founder Nick Dyer was one of the nominees. The other nominees with a St. Thomas connection were Alvin Abraham, Jordan Benning, David Burke, Liz Deziel, Lindsey Hickey, Mary Jane Melendez, Adine Momoh, Marcus Owens and Jamie Tharp.

Dyer started PubPass in 2014 with business partners Rett Martin and Jake Nyberg. The company currently works with 25 Twin Cities bars and offers a pass for one free beer at any of those bars to pass users.

“I think there was a nod to starting a brand new company,” Dyer said, “but I think they were also acknowledging some of those other smaller things too.”

In 2015, Dyer participated in the mini-MBA business program, an intense eight-week experience to further develop business skills.

“I loved the staff, and the faculty were amazing,” he said. “Every guest speaker that they brought in was excellent and from a great background, and I learned so much.”

He credits his experience at St. Thomas for giving him the knowledge essential to turning a good idea into a longstanding, reputable business.

Alvin Abraham, dean of the Dougherty Family College, is another nominee with a St. Thomas connection.

A first-generation American from Texas born to Indian parents, Abraham graduated with a political science degree from Texas A&M University before starting his career first as a teacher. He became dean in July 2017.

“It’s really fun being part of something brand new at St. Thomas and to get to build a brand new college and build a brand new team,” Abraham said.

Abraham attributes his career success to the people in his life, especially his parents.

“I’m fortunate to have my parents,” he said. “They’re pretty amazing, and I think of them as leaders in my life. I learned a lot from them.”

Jack Cunningham, a senior at the Schulze School of Entrepreneurship and founder of BarBud, credits his St. Thomas education with helping him build a successful company while still in college.

“I think the biggest take away is that it’s just super experiential based,” he said. “Not just ‘here are ideas you guys can go run with,’ but more like ‘here are the tools you guys can use to go test things.’”

Cunningham is not surprised that the “40 Under 40” list includes nine former and one current Tommie. The recognition of St. Thomas in the Twin Cities business community motivates him to one day be on a similar list, he said.

“Everyone says St. Thomas is a great business school,” he said. “It’s cool to see that it’s having a lot of economic impact in our area and people definitely respect it.”

Ignacio Garcia can be reached at garc3913@stthomas.edu