B.B.A.'08, Success Despite the Recession
Jason Morse graduated from the Haworth College of Business in 2008, one of the most difficult economic times America has seen in decades. While he continued his internship at Verlin Asset Management after graduation, there was no longer a full-time position available upon graduation and he moved back to his hometown of Grand Rapids and began a career with Spectrum Health. Spectrum Health is a large not-for-profit medical group with facilities across Michigan, including nine hospitals, 180 service sites, Priority Health (a medical plan) and over 600 health care providers. It is west Michigan’s largest employer and was named a Top 10 Health System by Thomson Reuters.
Morse started at Spectrum in an office position but soon after moved up north to Reed City where he began a position in finance where he was able to apply what he learned at the college. “Dr. Balik’s computers in finance course was an invaluable tool when I started my career. I never realized how important Microsoft Excel was in the field until I began using it every day,” he recalls. He also adds that the accounting and general business classes were beneficial as well and uses skills learned from those classes daily.
During his time at the Haworth College of Business, Morse studied finance and commercial law. While he found his law classes interesting, he didn’t think they would apply to his future career, until he was approached by the CFO about becoming a contract administrator for the hospital. As a contract administrator, Morse maintains contract databases and reviews details of all new contracts. “It has been a unique challenge, as law was never my focus but now I deal with contracts on a daily basis,” he notes.
When he is not working, Morse enjoys reading “anything by Hemingway” and traveling. He has taken advantage of the opportunity to travel since graduating, visiting Texas, Las Vegas and Florida in the past year and adds, “I enjoy the different cultures you can find within our own borders, but I hope to make it to Europe in the near future.”