Farmington Faculty


Frank Engert, Ph.D.

Associate Professor - Accounting

Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo
M.B.A., McMaster University, Canada
B.S., McMaster University, Canada

Learning About Business — From the Entrepreneur's Unique Perspective
In most of Frank Engert's classes, he assigns students to interview entrepreneurs and business people. This helps his students become familiar with the process entrepreneurs go through to start and grow their businesses and to discover the common experiences many entrepreneurs share. Later, students share their findings with the class in the form of a formal presentation.

Through the interview and presentation process, students learn the difficulties, the challenges, and the rewards of starting a business. They get to hear the in-the-trenches, real-life issues related to owning and running a business: the uncertainty of labor pools, issues of employee theft, profitability, insurance, business competition, marketing, etc. To many students this provides not only a keen insider's perspective of the environment in which small businesses operate, but it provides them with a reality-check to consider if starting a business is something worth pursuing.

Recent Maine-based entrepreneurs and business interviewees have included: Mountain View Chocolates of Farmington, Snow Pro Trailers of Winslow, LeBlanc Custom Homes of Casco, Sobotech Inc. of Sydney, The Boiler Room restaurant of Wilton and Rumford, the Village Inn restaurant of Auburn, Joseph's by the Sea of Old Orchard Beach, Margarita's Mexican restaurants at several locations in Maine, and many others.


Outside the Classroom: Putting Business Theory into Business Practice
Frank regularly assigns his students to help write a business plan for a small business. Working in teams of two, the students choose a business or industry they are interested in, and go out and conduct in-depth interviews with people in those fields, produce background and market research on businesses in that particular field, and work throughout a semester developing a concrete business plan. The Marriott Corporation and Holiday Inn have forwarded the class's team business plans to corporate headquarters, which are now being used as part of their hotel management programs.

In addition, two Business Economics majors in Frank's class recently used the classroom assignment to help develop their own company. Ridesidewayz is an exciting promotional events and clothing line catering to board sports enthusiasts: skateboarders, snowboarders, surfers, wake boarders, skim boarders, etc.

The two students organized and ran the first "Ridesidewayz Skate Fest" at the Anti Gravity Center at Sugarloaf/USA, attracting a big turnout, not to mention a large number of corporate event sponsors such as Sugarloaf/USA, Winterstick Snowboards, Sunny Breeze, Play it Again Sports, Twin City Boarder, Ride 207, Go Big skate shop, Imperial Board Lords, the Sign Place and many others. The students did their own public relations and marketing, including "guerilla marketing" techniques, from Portland to Kingfield to drum up interest in the event. The two are working on sponsoring a rail jam or slope-style event this winter and perhaps additional skate events in the spring.

Social Entrepreneurship — Doing Good While Doing Well
Frank's Business Economics students also participate in a number of "social entrepreneurship" projects: applying their classroom knowledge and growing business skills to real-life projects that better the community.

One community service project Frank's Business Economics students have long been involved in is the volunteer income tax assistance program. For six years, Frank's students have provided free assistance for low-income families and senior citizens to complete their federal and state income tax forms. The students are trained in partnership by the Internal Revenue Service., K.C. Family Services, and Western Maine Community Action. Last year 35 UMF Business Economics student participated in the program, helping more than 100 families in the Franklin County region.

His students also regularly participate in Operation Santa Claus with the Western Maine Community Action organization, buying and delivering holiday presents for needy children in western Maine. The students serve in a number of volunteer capacities: administration, promotion, fund-raising, inventory management — even selecting, buying, and wrapping the presents.

Another project, begun in 2006, has one of Frank's classes working on a program to help provide low-income families in western Maine with reliable automobiles so they can get to and from work. As part of the Bonnie CLAC project (a nonprofit organization) students in Frank's class have put together a business plan and wrote a grant to help families receive financial counseling, and help them receive a guaranteed loan for new reliable transportation to get to work.


A True Academic — Areas of Special Interest
Frank's teaching interests include accounting, financial management and management science, statistics and quantitative methods for business. Right now, he is focusing on social entrepreneurship and applying private sector business and marketing principles to non-profit organizations. Frank is doing this type of work outside of UMF and has been incorporating elements of it into several of his business classes as well.

Frank's research interests include: health economics and the cost effectiveness of school-based health centers; the impact of personal financial skills on turnover in selected industries; college students’ personal financial management skills; and effectiveness and efficiency for K-12 schools.


Respected in the Field — Noteworthy Accomplishments
Frank is the current treasurer of the national organization, The Institute of Behavioral and Applied Management. He has published a number of materials on school and school district efficiency and has presented on the subject many times. Frank is also a member of the Students in Free Enterprise, a global non-profit organization.


Outside of Academia — Personal Interests and Activities
Outside his academic role, Frank is an active motorcyclist, taking his Honda 919 sport bike on long-haul treks from Maine to Colorado and Alabama.

He has also long been involved in the martial arts: karate, jujitsu, kick boxing and also Tai chi (which he admits results in fewer bruises than the other activities).

Originally from southern Ontario, Canada, Frank is an avid hockey fan and has coached youth hockey in the area.

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