As the West Virginia University College of Business and Economics embarks on a new chapter with plans of a new building complex and other innovative and entrepreneurial initiatives, B&E alumni like Bryan Katchur are helping to the lead the way.
Residents of Parkersburg, West Virginia, Katchur and his wife, Karen, are giving back to the College in the form of a $100,000 gift to help support the new B&E building complex project on Morgantown’s waterfront, as well as and other projects and programs at the business school.
“Our donation is a way of saying thank you to WVU and the College of Business and Economics for the role it played in my life, and I hope each can play a similar role in the lives of others. I am really excited about the idea of a new business school, and I look forward to seeing it built and occupied with future business students,” said Katchur, a 1978 B&E business administration graduate and Morgantown native. “I believe most alumni share a common goal of making the University a better place, a better school. To do so, you make the pieces better. My goal is help make the Business and Economics piece better, and this is our way of helping to do that.”
Katchur, who also serves as a member of the B&E Visiting Committee, led a successful career at SBR, Inc., a Parkersburg-based company that owned and operated many 7-Eleven convenience stores in four states, retiring as president of the company in 2005. In addition to his robust career, generosity and friendship to B&E, his affinity for WVU and business shines through in his family. His son, Michael Katchur, is also a graduate, earning an undergraduate degree in finance in 2016 and is currently working toward his Master of Science in Finance at WVU.
“Bryan is a pillar of our state’s business community and, on behalf of the College, we are honored to call him a friend and an alumnus. We are appreciative of his generosity, leadership and engagement as B&E takes steps into this next phase of innovation and forward-thinking,” Reyes said. “This generous gift from Bryan and Karen Katchur is a testament to their support of WVU’s vision for a new business school complex, as well as their confidence in the overall direction of B&E. We are so very grateful for this kind of support, which will only help continue our College’s upward trajectory and aid us in our financial goal of building a truly advanced business school at West Virginia University.”
The gift was made in conjunction with A State of Minds: The Campaign for West Virginia’s University, which ended Dec. 31, 2017, with more than $1.2 billion being donated to the University.
