Elizabethtown College has enjoyed long-standing, valuable community partnerships throughout the College’s 125-year history. Among those exceptional partners is the Mars Wrigley Confectionary Site in Elizabethtown, which has improved student experiences and provided educational opportunities for the campus community through generous scholarships and engaging learning opportunities.
Mars Wrigley Elizabethtown Plant Director Damien Weaver speaks at a November 2021 lecture.
“At Mars Wrigley, we believe the world we want tomorrow starts with how we do business today,” Mars Wrigley Elizabethtown Plant Director Damien Weaver said. “As we make investments into our Elizabethtown factory to continue operating well into the future, we look forward to also building stronger partnerships with the Etown community.”
Mars Wrigley has been doing business in Elizabethtown for more than 90 years and has owned a factory in the borough since 1970.
The company’s investment in Elizabethtown College students includes an Impact Scholarship, a need-based award that provides a $3,000 scholarship each year to a student majoring within the School of Business.
“As the factory has expanded, the community has supported that growth,” Weaver said. “In addition to increased employment, this has enabled our ability to support local institutions through charitable giving, volunteering, and sponsorships.”
The Elizabethtown College School of Graduate and Professional Studies (SGPS) also partners with Mars Wrigley to offer a 15% tuition discount for Mars Wrigley employees, spouses, and dependents.
Each semester since 2013, Mars Wrigley has sponsored an on-campus lecture series featuring senior executives from a variety of industries talking to Etown students about their real-world experiences.
“I’m always inspired by deeper messages of resiliency in the business world and how leadership is learned,” Public Relations major Maddy Fratis ’26 said. “I am eager to take notes of wisdom from the lecture series into my career as a young professional in communications.”
During the Fall 2024 semester, three dynamic business leaders and executives, including Etown alumnus Kent Whiting ’82, carried on the initiative by providing engaging lectures to students and faculty in the Hoover Business Center.
Steve Figgatt — CEO Of Sycamore International Inc.
Steve Figgat founded and CEO of Sycamore International Inc., an Information Technology Asset Disposition (ITAD) company in 2010. Sycamore’s team of more than 70 employees focuses on sustainable electronics recycling, reclaiming old and unused IT products using zero-waste processing and sustainable business practices. Figgatt also installed one of the earliest solar-powered microgrids in the United States.
Figgat’s lecture, “Sustainable Business Startups, Electronic Recycling, and Distributed Energy Production in the Circular Economy,” gave students the opportunity to learn more about the future of green innovation.
Kent Whiting ’82 — Project Lead in Information Systems and Computing Department at the University of Pennsylvania
Kent Whiting has held executive positions at Capital Blue Cross, the Rite Aid Corporation, Evolve Advisors, and FluidEdge Consulting. He led the project and program management activities within the Technology Services area of the Information Systems and Computing department at the University of Pennsylvania from 2017-22.
“I wanted to speak with students on campus to give them an overview of experiences that shaped my career and to broaden their perspective,” Whiting said.
Whiting gave students the advice that impacted him the most at Etown, “Learn how to learn” – telling students it helped him be adaptable as his career progressed.
Velma Redmond — Leader in Corporate Governance
Velma Redmond is an accomplished leader with a career spanning from her first role as an assistant attorney general to an ongoing passion for corporate governance. Redmond is a first-generation college student and an alumna of Princeton University and Villanova Law School and recently finished a tenure on the Elizabethtown College Board of Trustees.
Throughout her career, Redmond has held leadership roles at American Water and was also board chair at Milton Hershey School. Although she is now retired, she continues to practice corporate governance and sits on the boards of several private companies.
“Leadership in business, as leadership in life, involves the technical skills, the grit, and the perseverance, but it also involves connecting with others to inspire them beyond their expectations,” Redmond said.
Redmond spoke to Etown students about grit and resilience and the importance of combining passions in the workforce. She also shared her journey and important lessons about leadership she learned along the way, including organizational dynamics and communication strategies.
