Entrepreneurship Practice

With his name prominently emblazoned on Aggie sporting venues and academic departments, Artie McFerrin ’65 made a substantial philanthropic impact that is easily seen across Texas A&M’s campus. Yet, McFerrin’s most far-reaching contribution to both Texas A&M and the state of Texas is housed at Mays Business School—the McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship.

Creating an educational environment that combines the entrepreneurial can-do spirit with the Aggie Core Values, the McFerrin Center is molding the next generation of transformational entrepreneurs from across Texas. While the Center offers a lasting legacy honoring the visionary McFerrin, who died in 2017, the family’s entrepreneurial contribution to Mays continues.

Now McFerrin’s daughter, Jennifer McFerrin-Bohner, has stepped into a leading role.

As part of the McFerrin Center’s Advisory Council, McFerrin-Bohner brings to the table her own experiences from working in entrepreneurial settings and with entrepreneurs, as well as her father’s wisdom. “It is no secret that entrepreneurship is the key driver of our economy. Wealth and a vast majority of new jobs are created by small entrepreneurial businesses started and run by entrepreneurially minded individuals. Entrepreneurs are also the innovators who find new solutions to world problems,” she said. “The McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship serves as the hub of entrepreneurship across Texas A&M’s campus, and is open to all students, faculty, and staff. There are programs for every spectrum of practicing business and for all stages of being an entrepreneur.”

HEADING WEST

Like other entrepreneurs, McFerrin-Bohner marches to the beat of her own drum—and that trait began emerging early in her life. Growing up in a suburb of Houston, she became an elite water polo player and was determined to complete at the collegiate level. Texas A&M didn’t have an NCAA water polo team, so she decided to attend the University of California Los Angeles, receiving one of the first women’s athletic scholarships for that sport. After earning her bachelor’s degree at UCLA, McFerrin-Bohner remained in California to attend graduate school at Pepperdine University.

Those decisions mean that she’s among only a handful of McFerrins who do not have an Aggie ring. Yet, her family’s close ties to Texas A&M greatly influence her. “My parents love Texas A&M and everything that the university encompasses. From the unique culture and traditions that Aggies share to the sporting events that bring people together, they just enjoy being a part of Aggieland,” she said, adding that she remembers wearing black trash bags as the family watched Aggie football games from Kyle Field’s third level during rainstorms.

Even McFerrin-Bohner’s current LinkedIn profile reflects her affinity for Aggieland. In the education section, she proudly lists Texas A&M right under UCLA and Pepperdine—along with the disclaimer “born and raised an Aggie…happen to not get a degree there.”

A SLIGHT DETOUR

Despite her father’s early influence in entrepreneurship, McFerrin-Bohner was not initially convinced that she wanted to join the family business after college graduation. When McFerrin offered her a position at one of his companies, his hard-headed daughter declined. “I can make it on my own,” she remembers telling him. “But then, after a while, I started thinking, ‘They’re pretty successful, and all these people want to teach me everything they know and how to run a business.’ I finally caved in.”

In 2003, she joined South Coast Terminals, a McFerrin family business where her father and brother Jeff didn’t have an onsite presence. She remained with the company for close to 15 years, performing roles in every function of the organization.

In 2009, she also joined the McFerrin Foundation as managing director, strengthening the family’s already strong ties with Texas A&M. “It wasn’t until my dad joined the 12th Man Foundation’s board and my mom served on the College of Education and Human Development Advisory Board that I started becoming more involved with the university. My brother Jeff McFerrin ’92 also was named to the Chemical Engineering Advisory Board, where he continues to serve to this day, and was recognized as a Distinguished Alumni in Chemical Engineering,” she said. “As my dad began spending less time with the day-to-day operations of the businesses, he enjoyed spending more time developing the leadership of Texas A&M and supporting initiatives to increase A&M’s impact. We could talk for days, strategizing and identifying issues, finding ways to solve them, and mentoring leaders inside A&M. Then he began putting his money into these programs that he wanted to help shape and grow.”

The family’s significant philanthropic support can be seen across Texas A&M’s campus, including the Artie McFerrin Department of Chemical Engineering, the McFerrin Athletic Center, the Cox-McFerrin Basketball Center, the Thornton-McFerrin Coaching Academy, and support for the Parsons Mounted Cavalry. The family also has created over 45 gifts for buildings, chairs, and programs across the campus, most of which bear the names of impactful faculty, donors, and leaders. “He lived a life of service,” McFerrin-Bohner said. “We are so proud that his impact will continue for generations.”

After selling his initial company, KMCO, in 2012, Artie McFerrin built an office in Kingwood. His daughter joined him and began learning how to oversee the various family-owned companies and the different types of investments. In addition to working alongside Jeff to run the family office, McFerrin-Bohner continues to manage the Foundation and The McFerrin Collection. 

MOLDING AGGIE ENTREPRENEURS

Artie McFerrin, who earned a degree in chemical engineering, spoke often about the influence Texas A&M had on his life. “My dad credited his experience at A&M as a vital steppingstone in both his personal and professional successes,” McFerrin-Bohner said. “His time in the Corps of Cadets helped to develop his grit and teamwork skills and taught him how to strive for excellence.”

The businessman eventually was drawn to the idea of making a significant investment to support Mays’ work—but before that happened, the father and daughter team did their homework. “My dad and I worked together for months on what we felt A&M needed in an entrepreneur center before endowing and naming the center,” she said. “It was challenging because there is not a blueprint to create an entrepreneur, and each college we studied manages their centers differently.”

Ultimately, believing that a concentrated effort to develop Aggie entrepreneurs could build on Texas A&M’s history and bring something different to the marketplace, the family made their decision. The Center for New Ventures and Entrepreneurship was renamed McFerrin Center for Entrepreneurship in 2017, prior to Artie McFerrin’s death from leukemia. “My father wanted to elevate Aggie entrepreneurship to the next level and ensure the next generation of Aggie entrepreneurs could find their passion and hone their skills while still students,” McFerrin-Bohner explained.

The McFerrin Center, which remains an internationally respected leader in entrepreneurial education, now serves more than 1000 students and 1500 former students through 30 unique programs. “A great way to describe the McFerrin Center’s programming is that it creates the scaffolding for the entrepreneurial mindset,” McFerrin-Bohner explained. “This allows Aggies to learn faster and in a safe environment. They get to experience business, learn from missteps, shift, and recover from mistakes, and ultimately learn how to think like an entrepreneur.”

The McFerrin Center has expanded and extended its services to Aggies outside of the business arena—and created programs that are steeped in practice, with a significant emphasis on mentorship. “It takes grit, bravery, and constant learning to run a business. The earlier one gets mentoring and practice, the quicker they can start impacting the world,” McFerrin-Bohner explained. “We liken the example to a doctor in medical school who never saw a patient or a cadaver, who only had academic training. How could they perform a successful surgery, or identify problems in real time? How could they be a good physician without hands-on experience, mentoring and support? The McFerrin Center programming offers this equivalent of medical residencies to anyone who wants to practice business.”

ENTREPRENEURSHIP FOR CHANGING TIMES

As the United States continues to experience the “Great Resignation,” the McFerrin Center has helped position Mays Business School to assist Aggies and others as they pursue the next stage of their careers. “This is a significant time where the McFerrin Center can offer mentoring, networking, and continuing education about each step of the business’s growth,” she said. “Having a safe environment to learn how to identify problems, find solutions, and practice all aspects of business will accelerate the growth of the entrepreneur’s mindset.”

To that effect, the Center is focused on increasing its offerings that are specifically tailored to individuals at mid-life who are starting businesses. “In 2018, research from Harvard established that the average age of all U.S. entrepreneurs at the time of founding was 42,” McFerrin-Bohner noted. “This suggests that many Aggie entrepreneurs enter the job market at graduation and then cultivate their entrepreneurial passions over a long period of time before they feel ready to launch their own businesses.”

The McFerrin Center’s programs—such as McFerrin on Tour—can help these budding older entrepreneurs build their network and develop the skills and confidence to become successful earlier in life. Additionally, the McFerrin Center also assists Aggies who are working in more traditional job settings to learn “intrapreneurial” skills so they can help their current employer be more effective.

“Regardless, the McFerrin Center aims to produce the highest quality Aggie entrepreneurs who are equipped with the experiences and mindset to allow them to solve the biggest problems of today and tomorrow,” said McFerrin-Bohner. “Working with individuals from different backgrounds, cultures and college majors allows for a problem to be dissected from multiple perspectives. It allows the practice of working with people who think differently and for ideas to be scaled for the whole population, whether it’s creating a prototype, marketing plan, app, or service.”

FULFILLING HER FATHER’S LEGACY

Over the past five years, McFerrin-Bohner’s work with Mays Business School and the McFerrin Center has deepened. “I am so fortunate to be able to work with such talented and passionate people inside Mays and to collaborate with supporters of Mays who are nothing short of brilliant,” McFerrin-Bohner said. “The talent and professional mastery of those who give back to the university is a major part of what makes Texas A&M so great.”

In advising Mays and the McFerrin Center on emerging opportunities, McFerrin-Bohner regularly reflects back on her father’s lessons. “WWAD—What Would Artie Do?—still enters my head every week. He knew how to think—to think big and to think long-term,” she said. “His legacy is all of ours, and we want it to have a lasting impact long after we are all gone.”

Ultimately, she wants his namesake center to equip future business leaders to thrive, which ultimately contributes to the world’s prosperity. “Our goal is to work with Texas A&M leaders and talented alumni to enhance programming to prepare the future leaders and business owners of America. Our country’s future is dependent on the decisions our leaders make—and the health of our economy is based on decisions that our business owners make,” McFerrin-Bohner said. “We want to equip these entrepreneurs—no matter what stage they’re in—with the knowledge and skills so they can join the next generation of successful Aggie business leaders. I know that my father would be so proud of the integral role that the McFerrin Center is playing in making these entrepreneurs’ dreams a reality.”