Building business bonds
by Nathaniel Miller
Natalie Moreno (B.B.A. ’17, M.B.A. ’21) is expecting to feel a full-circle moment in the Atrium of the Alkek. B. Business Building in October.
As a Global Training Enablement Manager at Rackspace Technology and scheduled guest speaker for the annual Business Week Experience, she will join a select group who have experienced the event as both a student and presenter.
The annual Business Week Experience, held at the St. Mary’s University Greehey School of Business, originally started as Business Week. Founded in 1976 by Brother Paul Goelz, S.M., Ph.D., Professor Emeritus of Management and Dean Emeritus, his goal was to bring the business world to the classroom.
This year is a special one: the annual event will be celebrating its 50th anniversary. This year’s event is scheduled for Tuesday, Oct. 27, through Thursday, Oct. 29.
Through changes, adaptations, a redesign and renaming, the heart of Goelz’s mission has always been about bringing business experts to the students.
“We figured out the secret recipe for students’ professional development through this signature program,” said Rowena Ortiz-Walters, Ph.D., Dean of the Greehey School of Business. “We’re graduating leaders who are working and leading our institutions and our organizations in San Antonio and making a huge impact. Hopefully, we have 50 more years of that.”
Classroom to boardroom experience
For decades, Business Week followed a simple, but effective, format: classroom engagement, sessions with local professionals, a keynote speaker and a concluding dinner.
Records from the Greehey School of Business actually show a dinner, then an awards banquet, predating the multi-day event by at least three years.
It didn’t take long for Business Week to turn students into active participants. In 1980, all University undergraduates were invited to write an essay about how the event was building better partnerships.
The winner received $750 and had their essay printed in the business section of the San Antonio Express-News.
The biggest change to the event came in 2020, showing how the Greehey School of Business was dedicated to the core Marianist value of adapting to change.
The beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic uprooted traditional norms. Instead of canceling, the event moved online, helping students prepare for a new virtual workforce.
In 2021, Ortiz-Walter’s first year as dean, Business Week underwent a redesign, with an official announcement made in 2022. Ortiz-Walter saw the importance of the event to the Business School’s community.
“We couldn’t do this for 50 years if it wasn’t focusing on students’ professional development,” she said.
For the 2026 event, the Business Week format will be tweaked again to resemble a business conference. Students will be expected to attend in proper business attire and learn how to navigate check-ins and networking.
Those who need clothing assistance can utilize the Rattler Wardrobe — an on-campus closet that loans professional clothing to business students.
Signature events, such as the La Quinta Keynote Lecture, moderated panels and workshops will continue to be focal points of Business Week.
New interactive events, like the Rattler Pit — a Shark Tank-inspired event in which University and high school students will pitch ideas to a panel of judges — will be added to the agenda this year.
Attendees will also have a chance to attend Speed Networking, meeting with industry leaders, similar to speed dating, allowing students to network and work on their elevator pitches.
Jurica Professor of Accounting Kent Royalty, J.D., LL.M., who celebrated 40 years at St. Mary’s in 2026, said Business Week has always been student-focused.
“Business Week provides a valuable opportunity for students and faculty to connect with and learn from business leaders,” Royalty said. “As a professor, I am continually inspired and moved by the professional, academic and service contributions of our students.”
From student to speaker
Education was always important to Moreno and her family.
Her father came to the United States as a child in the 1960s after the Cuban Revolution. He wished to see his children achieve the American Dream.
Moreno attended private, Catholic schools from grade school through high school. St. Mary’s was a no-brainer for the San Antonio native when it was time for her undergraduate and graduate studies.
“When it came time to get my master’s, I was looking at different programs and thought, ‘Why am I looking at different universities when I went to the best one that I know?’” Moreno said.
As a student, the thrill of dressing in business attire and networking at the annual event was an exciting opportunity, one that didn’t feel like classes. Free food, she jokes, was also an enticing perk.
It connected her classroom instruction with real-world scenarios, even preparing her for a career outside her Marketing bachelor’s degree.
Working at Rackspace, Moreno finds and develops internal talent. This means directing them toward training and certifications that will help them advance in their careers.
It makes sense that helping others comes naturally. Without the lessons on how to navigate the various aspects of business culture, she wouldn’t have the confidence to take risks.
“St. Mary’s prepared me to reinforce something a past manager told me, which was to treat your role like you’re the CEO of your job,” she said. “Because I was exposed to so much of the business world, I feel prepared to take on a bit of everything.”
