{"id":21115,"date":"2026-02-10T16:19:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:19:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/?p=21115"},"modified":"2026-02-10T16:21:29","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T21:21:29","slug":"elizabethtown-college-students-present-at-international-academic-conference","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/2026\/02\/10\/elizabethtown-college-students-present-at-international-academic-conference\/","title":{"rendered":"Elizabethtown College Students Present at Academic Conference on Business, Ethics, and Finance"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two Elizabethtown College students in the Family Business and Entrepreneurship program recently had the opportunity to present their academic research at the Key West International Academic Conference on Business, Economics, and Finance<\/a> in Key West, Fla., on Jan. 4 to 5.<\/p>\n

At the conference, Ava Barton \u201927 and Adam Pacelli \u201927 presented their individual research and received industry-relevant feedback from scholars and business practitioners. Barton and Pacelli were accompanied by Professor of Entrepreneurship and Management and Director of the Family Business and Entrepreneurship Program<\/a>, Dr. Petru Sandu, who served as their mentor and research advisor.<\/p>\n

\u201cParticipating in the conference was an incredibly meaningful academic experience,\u201d Sandu said. \u201cThe conference allowed the students to engage in conversations about entrepreneurship, private capital markets, and family business dynamics with experts in the field, while also representing Elizabethtown College on an international stage.\u201d<\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Barton, an Individualized major with a Family and Business Entrepreneurship minor, presented a research video exploring the process of family business professionalization. As part of her research, Barton interviewed several local family business executives about their personal experience with professionalization. Her research is part of an ongoing project on family business, having previously presented research on the relevance of family business in the United States.<\/p>\n

Pacelli, a Finance major with a Family Business and Entrepreneurship minor, presented his research project on the opportunities and challenges of using search funds as a succession strategy for family businesses. Using real-world case studies and insights gleaned from current researchers, the project explored how the search fund model helps preserve legacy companies facing generational transition and the complexities that arise from the acquisition of a long-standing family firm.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis opportunity also gave me a clearer sense of direction for my future goals in entrepreneurship,\u201d Pacelli said. \u201cI’m grateful for the conversations, feedback, and connections made throughout the conference, and I’m excited to keep working on this ongoing research on how search funds can play a meaningful role in preserving family businesses while creating new pathways for young entrepreneurs.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the Elizabethtown College Family Business and Entrepreneurship Program <\/strong><\/p>\n

Through engaging coursework and valuable networking opportunities, Elizabethtown College\u2019s Family Business and Entrepreneurship program equips students with the skills needed to manage an existing small business or start their own. The Family Business and Entrepreneurship Program offers a minor and a concentration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Two Elizabethtown College students in the Family Business and Entrepreneurship program recently had the opportunity to present their academic research at the Key West International Academic Conference on Business, Economics, and Finance in Key West, Fla., on Jan. 4 to 5. At the conference, Ava Barton \u201927 and Adam Pacelli \u201927 presented their individual research […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":158,"featured_media":21116,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1338,775],"tags":[197,1350,2610],"class_list":["post-21115","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics-and-research","category-campus","tag-elizabethtown-college","tag-etown","tag-etown-family-business-and-entrepreneurship","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21115","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/158"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21115"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21115\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21119,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21115\/revisions\/21119"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21116"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21115"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21115"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.etown.edu\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21115"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}