Matt Evon ('09)

Matt and his wife, Kris, bought a house this year where they live in Fort Campbell, Kentucky. They have one child, pictured here. Her name is Ginger.

Matt says, "We are in a VERY good church down here. We have been attending Cross and Crown Baptist Church for 5 months now, and we absolutely love it. The preaching is very good, and the people truly have a heart for the Lord. I’ve been playing the piano consistently for offerings/special music, and Kris and I help out with the youth group on Wednesday nights. Many military personnel attend our church so it is nice to have brothers and sisters in Christ who can relate to the struggles of Army life."

Matt has been training extensively in his finance and accounting role for the US Army. He's also finding some time for golf.

Matt Evon ('09)

Matt says that he "arrived at [his] 'permanent' duty station of Ft. Campbell, KY just before the Christmas season." As a Finance Officer his official "title" is Platoon Leader/Disbursing Officer.

As they prepare to deploy, Matt says: "God has blessed me with a very good Platoon Sergeant who is an excellent leader. I've mostly been observing what my platoon does on a day-to-day basis and thinking of ways to make our training better."

One of the next steps in Matt's training will repelling out of Blackhawk helicopters! He's excited about that prospect: "cannot wait." Sure! This is exactly what all of his former professors would be saying if they had the same opportunity! NOT! :^)

Fellow Business Alumni, please pray for Matt and his wife as he serves our Country. We are very proud of him and understand that God must protect and guide him.

Pictured here, we dug out of the archives one of (young) Matt's color guard pictures.

Michael Johnson ('09)

Michael and his bride were married June 13, 2009. Mike started his accounting job with Jaguar Communications in Owatonna, Minnesota in the same month. Mike says,

"God orchestrated the entire scenario [housing and jobs] for us to stay close to our families, and provided us both with wonderful jobs (working at the same place), and a great place to live. We can work the same hours, take the same lunch break, and go home together every day!

"[In January 2010] we signed the papers for our new house that we are having built for us in Owatonna. God provided us with decent jobs and the financial training necessary to be able to be debt free from school, and still be able to put more than 25% down on our house. So, in that aspect, thank you [business faculty] for your part of that financial training.

"It has been very exciting to get out and apply what I learned in school in the real world. I have enjoyed my job very much. I have been working here seven months now, and was promoted to the Accounting Manager last month. I was able to come in and set up some principles and guidelines for their accounting methods, as well as do some coding and data base work for their accounting software.

"I know that it is nothing more than by the grace of God that I am where I am. He provided my wife and I with what we have and where we are at, and I owe Him so much!"

Praise the Lord, Michael. We like that attitude!

Matt Uplinger ('09)

Matt has a new job and new location. His wife, Jodi, was transferred closer to Milwaukee from her job in Columbus. Matt and Jodi now live in West Bend.

So Matt writes: "We decided it would be best for us to move closer to her job to save us money on travel and hopefully have a better chance of me finding a job near Milwaukee. At the beginning of June I got a call to come in for a job interview. The interview was a group interview and it was a very different format than I have done before. We were expected to prepare a presentation for the interview and we had to do some other role playing and Q/A time with the rest of the group. While it was a different type of interviewing for me, it was very similar to the way that we held class and I felt very comfortable in it. About a week later I got a call from the company and they offered me a job.

"On June 22nd I started my job as the Local Marketing Specialist for Babies R Us. I am in charge of marketing for the Appleton, Brookfield, and Racine stores. It is my job to go to the OB/GYN offices, hospitals, Family Practices, Pediatrician offices, and anywhere else that would have contact with expectant mothers and create a relationship where we can have them pass out materials promoting the store. I am also in charge of finding various local events and Baby expos to participate in to get the word out about Babies R Us."

The faculty guess that he's now extra thankful for those oral exams and other challenging experiences in the classroom that prepared him to do so well. :^)

Daniel Backhaus ('09)

Daniel says, "Hello from Texas!" In June, he began working for Ryan Wychopan ('08) at Security International in McAllen. The company installs fire alarm and security systems. Daniel's job title is estimator/designer. He researches construction jobs and develops bids for the fire alarm and security systems.

Matt Evon ('09)

Matt is now at Ft. Knox, KY at the ROTC Leader's Training Course. He says, "I am working on the S1 Administration Staff, and I absolutely love it. My official job title is OIC (officer in charge) of Cadet Awards. Most of my job includes making sure the correct COL's signature is on each cadet's certificate when they graduate and making sure that each of the Drill SGTs are keeping tabs on the graduation requirements for each of their cadets. Lots of paperwork."

Matt seems to be well adjusted to the Army way: heavy use of acronyms! :^) I've included a picture of Matt's commission ceremony, here with Colonel Pitz in Maranatha's Heritage Room shortly after Commencement on May 9th.

Brandon Martin ('09)

Brandon finished school in December 2008, but we'll call him a 2009 graduate. The faculty look forward to seeing him at Commencement in May!

Brandon says, "It has actually been cold here in North Carolina of late. (Brandon opened a new office in Wilmington, NC, for the firm he interned with in the summer of 2008-Eshowings.com.) In fact, my employees had not seen snow in almost 10 years and we've already had two snowfalls since I've been here so I guess I brought a little Wisconsin weather with me to North Carolina! :)

"Things at the office are going great; a staff had already been hired for me when I arrived in January, and I have since hired three more operators and a floor manager. I was on a long stretch of consecutive days working for a while, but my schedule has since smoothed out which has been very nice. I am really enjoying the area so far; I have not found a church home as of yet; however, I have visited a few churches in the area and I am looking forward to visiting a new one this coming week."