On this episode of The Mobile Alabama Business Podcast, we sit with Lynne Chronister. Lynne is the Vice President for Research and Economic Development at The University of South Alabama. Listen in as we discuss what big things they have in store.
Transcript:
Lynne Chronister: Good morning. I'm Lynne Chronister and I serve the University of South Alabama as vice president for research and economic development.
Marcus Neto: Yay. Well, I am really excited to have you on the podcast. It took some talking to get you on here because you're not usually this person. But I am so thankful that you decided to make time for us today, because I know you are behind the scenes on a lot of things that are going on in Mobile and have your fingers in a lot of different aspects of the growth, the positive things that are going on. So I wanted to bring you on and give you a chance to share some of the things that are going on here in Mobile.
Lynne Chronister: Oh, I appreciate it. Well, yes, you're right, I somehow seem to be involved in quite a few different and disparate areas in the community, which is wonderful, because I get to see all of the wonderful growth that's going on here and all of the changes that are coming forth and evolving. But I'll start with the university. So the university is about 55, 56 years old now and we're one of the smaller or younger universities in Alabama. But universities are classified by whether or not they are universities that promote research, do research or universities that are more focused on the non-research aspects of education.
And so, in Alabama, there are five research universities and we're the smaller ones, but we're the one that's growing the fastest. And so, last year, our external awards, meaning some unit paying faculty or the university to carry out research or some other special project. We did over $100 million last year in volume. And that's a significant increase from some previous years. So what that means is our faculty are doing internationally competitive research at this point in areas like ionic liquids, which is one of those areas that is going to be very, very important in the future, in the energy environment.
Marcus Neto: Well, interesting.
Lynne Chronister: And in fact, one of the projects that they're working on is one of my favorite projects on campus, I guess I shouldn't say that on a podcast.
Marcus Neto: We'll strike that from the record. Nobody listens to this thing anyway.
Lynne Chronister: They are looking at a new CO2 scrubber for the International Space Station.
Marcus Neto: Interesting.
Lynne Chronister: That is an interesting project, and that's why it's one of my favorite because it's outer space and it's different than anything else that we've been involved in.
Marcus Neto: So there's the quick tangent, I was flipping through Instagram yesterday as a matter of fact, and I think it was the Elon Musk Instagram account posted a video. And I think oftentimes especially people that are, say, 40 years old and older, we are familiar with the Challenger, the space shuttle and all this and that genre of space travel. And we also don't think of space travel that much anymore because it's just kind of like, you don't hear about it. When you hear about it, it's like, "Well, Jeff Bezos is going to outer space," or whatever.
Lynne Chronister: Everybody goes.
Marcus Neto: Exactly. Well, it was one of the booster rockets from the Falcon and these things don't land like the shuttle does anymore, this thing literally vertically landed on... And I showed Chrissy the video and we just sat there in awe at where we've come. And so, its technological advances like what you're talking about that will make travel to Mars easier. It'll make occupancy of either the moon or Mars or wherever we want to go a lot easier. So it's cool to hear about things like that.
Lynne Chronister: One of the projects we've proposed on campus is 3D printing of replacement parts for vehicles on Mars.
Marcus Neto: Oh gosh.
Lynne Chronister: And that's something that the federal government is looking at funding.
Marcus Neto: Wow. That is so cool.
Lynne Chronister: 3D printing replacement for parts on Mars and the moon, but mostly Mars.
Marcus Neto: That is absolutely insane.
Lynne Chronister: Yeah.
Marcus Neto: Well, tell us a little bit more, maybe spend a little bit more time on USA. But also, you are extremely plugged in with the chamber. You were one of the organizations, I'll include you as part of an organization. I don't think people understand just how much the University of South Alabama puts into the other aspects of Mobile. So you mentioned the innovation portal before we started recording. And USA's role in that. And just quickly touch on all the different aspects of how USA is helping push Mobile forward.
Lynne Chronister: Sure. And I can talk about some of the things that I'm involved in, but also about three years ago, we started a community engagement office. And the purpose of that office is to reach out to not for-profits business, whomever needs the support. So for example, that office organizes a lot of student activity. And so a student might work with not for-profit or will get involved with a cleanup day in the city of Mobile, so that office organizes and coordinates all of that activity.
So over the last few years, especially, the university and other universities as well, but I'm really proud of is we have recognized that this is our community. Not that we hadn't before, but this is our community. And part of our job is to make sure that the community has the support from us that they need to grow and to improve. And so, we're not just about educating our students or doing research, we want to make our community the best it can possibly be.
Marcus Neto: And it shows in your involvement. And this is not necessarily your reason for doing a lot of these things, but one of the things that I'm hearing more of is that jobs are getting easier for college students to... Those of us that are involved in the chamber, the city or whatever, we constantly hear about the brain drain. People grow up here. They may go to a school here or Auburn or Alabama or wherever, and then they may come back for a short period of time, but then they're off to some other city where they have other opportunities.
And so, one of the reasons why I started Blue Fish is because at the time I had three boys, I now have a couple of extras that I'm getting by way of second marriage. And so, I care very much about their opportunities. I started Blue Fish so that my boys would have a place to come and work that was interesting and vibrant and stuff like that. But I'm also very excited because I was having conversations with Bill Simpson before innovation portal was even a thing, talking to him about what I was seeing in Huntsville and Chattanooga and stuff like that. And it's coming to fruition here too.
Lynne Chronister: It is. It really is. So when I came here eight and a half years ago, I came, I'd been at the University of Washington in Seattle. And before that, the University of California in Davis, and those schools are and have been, for decades, huge economic drivers in their area. And talking about innovation, ecosystems was part of everyday language. And as you remember, because you were there too, it was not the case here seven, eight, nine years ago. But now, you don't go to a presentation that doesn't mention innovation anymore. And so, a group of very dedicated people in this community have turned that around within an amazingly short period of time.
Marcus Neto: It really has. And I think the one thing that excites me most, we were talking about the 27,000 micro businesses and the 30,000 plus small businesses and the thousands of medium and large size businesses that are located here. If you didn't catch that, hit the back button and know those numbers, those are not insignificant numbers.
Lynne Chronister: No, they're huge.
Marcus Neto: But when you start thinking about the education that happens for an entrepreneur and you know this because of your son and because of your experiences, I'm sorry.
Lynne Chronister: No, it really is because my son, theoretically, I knew all this.
Marcus Neto: But he's experienced to all of this.
Lynne Chronister: I have lived through it with my son.
Marcus Neto: And so, one of the things that I think happens when you have an ecosystem that is prepared for these people is they get the education in a much faster and it increases their velocity. And so, in the business world, we talk about runway, we talk about funding, we talk about all these things. These are not things that are easy to understand. And when you start having workshops at Innovation Portal, or you have people that have already gone down that path and they have the connections, they can make the introductions, they can move you in the right direction, that increases that person's chances of success, tenfold.
Lynne Chronister: Exactly.
Marcus Neto: And so, these are extremely important things. And we still have a long way to go, but people are starting to really understand or think of Mobile in a different way, that there is opportunity here for them to take their idea and expand that and grow it and that they don't have to go to whether it's Nashville, Chattanooga, Atlanta, wherever. They don't have to go to those cities in order to have those. And as a matter of fact, I think cities or companies are now looking at Mobile as a way of increasing their runway, their burn rate is much lower here because of the cost of living than it would be in one of those bigger cities.
Lynne Chronister: That's exactly right. And there are two points there. One is that a national survey shows that what college graduates want very, very often, more often than not is they want to be their own boss. They want to start a company. And this is a change from even 10 years ago where they wanted to be part of an organization. Now they want to be out there doing whatever they love, and it gets a change in the culture and it's an age thing, but that's what they want. And one of the things that we did an economic impact report for the university that was based on 2019, well, one of the things that we saw that really speaks to your numbers from micro and small businesses is that 58% of our graduates stayed here.
Marcus Neto: Oh wow.
Lynne Chronister: They didn't go off to Memphis or Birmingham or Washington D.C. They stayed here. And many of them are the owners of those micro and small businesses.
Marcus Neto: That is so cool.
Lynne Chronister: And so the university has been trying to foster that.
Marcus Neto: It's amazing that you put a number to that because for years, I've just kind of known that people were leaving, but for you to say 58%, that's a much higher percentage than I would've thought staying here.
Lynne Chronister: Now, that was a snapshot, that was for a one year period. But what we're seeing is more and more kids are staying here. They say, "Hey, wait a minute. We can prosper here and we can grow our families here. And we can afford to buy a house here in Mobile."
Marcus Neto: Yeah. So I got you off track, you mentioned, obviously the stuff that USA is doing as far as research is going, and then obviously the innovation portal. And some of the other areas that you guys are involved in, what would you point people to?
Lynne Chronister: Well, you just spoke with David Clark and David Clark and I spend a lot of time talking to each other. Somehow I ended up having the Hospitality & Tourism Workforce Innovation Alliance, as part of my unit.
Marcus Neto: See that 10 times fast.
Lynne Chronister: I didn't even say it well the first time. We've got to shorten that name.
Marcus Neto: Come up with an acronym like they do in D.C. For everything.
Lynne Chronister: Yes. We tried to find a good one, we couldn't. And so, I've gotten involved over the last few years in the hospitality and tourism industry, and I've learned more than I ever knew. I mean, previously, I knew how to check in to a hotel and that was about the extent of it. And what I'm learning is that as a profession, and the university has a degree in hospitality and tourism as well. And so it's very much a part of what we're trying to give back to the community.
But what I've learned is that there has never been a career ladder for individuals in the hospitality and tourism industry. They saw it as a low wage, dead end profession, or never thought of it as a profession. And so, one of the things that we've been doing, and when I say we it's the David Clarks and Anitra Henderson in the city and so many other people, especially in Gulf Shores, that what we're now talking about is let's use the model that other professions use and let's start recruiting and marketing hospitality as a profession and really create the career ladder that's been there all along, but we never told anybody about it. And so that's one exciting thing that we're looking at. And it's really crucial right now because the estimate is that 10,000 jobs are available in Mobile and Gulf Coast, Baldwin County.
Marcus Neto: Currently?
Lynne Chronister: Currently that you can't fill.
Marcus Neto: Just in the hospitality industry. So that would be-
Lynne Chronister: Hospitality and tourism.
Marcus Neto: ... Hotels, restaurants, that kind of thing?
Lynne Chronister: Yeah. And if you've tried to get served at a restaurant, their hours are shorter. Hotels are having to keep rooms back because they can't hire people to service them. I was just talking to somebody this morning, it was in Denver, not here. Thankfully it's much worse some places. And the hotel had a sign that we don't clean rooms if you're staying more than one night. And so, it's a serious, serious problem. So collectively, one of the things that we're doing is working with the industries and working with Gulf Coast Community College in Bishop State to say, "Okay, let's show people that this is an opportunity for you to grow and you can make six figure salaries in the hospitality and tourism industry."
Marcus Neto: Yeah. We did touch on that quite a bit or a little bit and he was talking about his experiences going back to David's interview, which should have been released the week prior to this. But we batch record these, we're contently conversing because we just ran into David in the hallway here at Blue Fish, but he was talking about that push. When he said that, I thought, "Well, maybe there's a couple hundred jobs or something like that." 10,000 jobs is not an insignificant amount.
Lynne Chronister: That can be documented.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. And I know it was on Indeed yesterday because I just like to kind of check in every once in a while and see what's going on in the area. There were over 5,000 jobs two or three weeks ago. Now there's somewhere in the neighborhood of 4,500 or so jobs. And by the time this is released, I don't know where that will be, it could be higher or lower. But it just goes to show, like right now, there is a huge opportunity in Mobile for people if they're looking for job in whatever industry they want to go in. But I think it's interesting because you bring that up. I think Mike Rowe has brought a lot of attention to welding, plumbing, electrical, mechanics, that kind of thing. But I don't know of anybody that's advocating for that tourism industry, hospitality industry in much the same way that he is.
Lynne Chronister: I think you'll hear a lot from us in the next short while. Because it's at a critical stage, and again, that's what universities, as well as our community colleges do, we try to fill a void.
Marcus Neto: Yeah, for sure. Well, I have to go back and because I do want to hear a little bit about your story, so where are you from? Did you go to college? If so, what did you study? Obviously, are you married? Any kids? I know the answer to some of these, but the people that are listening to this don't. Why don't you just tell us a little bit about who you are?
Lynne Chronister: Sure. I'm happy, too. I'm not going to share what year I was born.
Marcus Neto: I don't want... Yeah. That's why I worded it the way that I did. I know better.
Lynne Chronister: It was a few decades ago. And I actually was born in Lafayette, Indiana. So I'm a Hoosier.
Marcus Neto: I was born in Munsey.
Lynne Chronister: Were you?
Marcus Neto: My parents went to Gulf State.
Lynne Chronister: Oh wow. Mine were at Purdue.
Marcus Neto: Very good.
Lynne Chronister: So, my father was an aerospace engineer and moved us to Dayton, Ohio to work for the Air Force and then Cincinnati, Ohio to work for General Electric and then moved us to Burlington, Vermont. And I'm probably more of a Vermonter now than I am a Midwesterner, but went to undergraduate school at the University of Vermont. And my major was experimental psychology. And so, if you wanted to know anything about positive reinforcement with rats, I could tell you. I did a lot of research.
Marcus Neto: Useful skill when raising kids.
Lynne Chronister: A useful skill, yes. The positive reinforcement part, definitely. And then was married and moved to Gainesville, Florida. My former husband did a post doc there and then came over here to Mobile when the medical school was started here.
Marcus Neto: Wow. Very cool.
Lynne Chronister: And then I guess it was the early 90s, well, I started actually, I went back and got a master's degree at the University of South Alabama. So I've lived here before.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. Very cool.
Lynne Chronister: And one of my sons, Adam Chronister was actually born here in Mobile.
Marcus Neto: Very cool.
Lynne Chronister: The first one was born in Gainesville, Florida, and he's a Californian, I don't think he'll ever leave. Although he is getting a little tired of heat out there now. And after graduate school, well, I had worked for the Vermont Department of Corrections after I graduated from undergraduate school.
So my background was criminal justice. I wrote a lot of grant proposals and managed a lot of grant programs. And so, I was sort of in the profession. So after getting the masters, I started working for the University of South Alabama, and worked there for eight years. And then took the position of head of research at Mississippi State University and stayed there five years. And then I went to the University of Utah in the same role and stayed there five years. And each time I've moved, I've gone to a bigger university. So after my five years in Utah, where I met my second husband, Robert, I moved to University of California, Davis, which is one of the larger research universities in the country and stayed there five years.
Marcus Neto: I'm sensing a theme.
Lynne Chronister: And it's not over. And I was associate vice chancellor for research at the University of California, Davis, so I was growing my career. And after five years there, I moved to assistant vice provost for research at the University of Washington. And University of Washington is one of the top three universities in the country in terms of research, as well as student size.
Marcus Neto: I did not know that. Interesting.
Lynne Chronister: The year I left my office, that I was responsible for, I handled $1.5 billion in research awards. So it was pretty big operation.
Marcus Neto: Wow. That is not an insignificant amount of funds for a university to be bringing in for research.
Lynne Chronister: No, I loved the B after the $1.5, it was kind of fun.
Marcus Neto: So I mean your background in grants and all that stuff I would imagine is the emphasis there, because you got to get those grants coming and you have to be able to write the proposals.
Lynne Chronister: Manage them and follow all the federal and state and...
Marcus Neto: Budget and all that other stuff.
Lynne Chronister: Yeah.
Marcus Neto: That's really interesting. But you find yourself in a role now where you're still responsible for some level of the research that's happening, but you have this other side of what you're doing where you're focused very much on the community assistance and stuff like that. So, I love how you're balancing that.
Lynne Chronister: And it's really part of research. So my title is research and economic development. And the economic development ties in closely with research because research does have a huge economic impact both locally and nationally. So I think at the chamber you saw the number that our national impact overall is 3.2 billion and research is a large component in there. And so, because of the economic development portion, first Gordon Moulton, and then John Smith was interim and then Tony Walder. It was at that point that they really felt that they needed someone to be more involved in the community. And because I really enjoy that anyway, I was quite happy to do that.
Marcus Neto: Put me in, coach.
Lynne Chronister: I'll do it.
Marcus Neto: Yeah.
Lynne Chronister: So I think I serve on maybe, I don't know, eight or nine different boards, something like that.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. That's really cool. And I know Tony is pretty involved in the community as far as what's going on in Mobile and stuff like that as well.
Lynne Chronister: Yes, of course, you know he's left. He left the university.
Marcus Neto: Okay. I'm sorry. I did not realize that.
Lynne Chronister: Right. Yes. I have to admire what he did. His wife, Julie followed him in his career and she has a doctoral degree in nursing. And she had a wonderful opportunity for a leadership position in nursing and he said, "Okay, I'll follow you."
Marcus Neto: You supported me for all these years, now I'll support you. That's really cool.
Lynne Chronister: Exactly.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. That's awesome. So normally, we ask some questions and I think because of the positions that you've held and the leadership skills that you have, these still make sense. But I still want to hear more about some of the things that you see happening here in Mobile, but do you remember your first job? And I mean your first job, like flipping burgers or sweeping a broom or whatever, were there any lessons that you still remember from that?
Lynne Chronister: Since my first job was working at a stable cleaning out stalls...
Marcus Neto: Stay clear of the rear of the horses. Yeah. I know shoveling shit is a ubiquitous thing that you see in business.
Lynne Chronister: Yes. It served me well.
Marcus Neto: I Hear that.
Lynne Chronister: And then also in college I was a waitress at a yacht club up in Burlington, Vermont. And that's why I have so much respect for waitress and waitresses because I was really not very good at it.
Marcus Neto: It does take a special skill.
Lynne Chronister: I almost got fired once because I dropped plate of prime rib in somebody's lap and I didn't get fired. So I wasn't particularly good at it. And it was at that point that I decided I probably need to go a different direction. And I was a psychology major. My intent actually was to go to medical school. But then when I interned at the hospital, I found that I don't handle blood very well. So that meant I had to do something that was more paper based. Right. And so worked for the Vermont department of corrections and loved it.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. Very good. If you were talking to someone that wanted us that wanted to get started and running their own business, what's the one bit of wisdom that you would impart to them?
Lynne Chronister: Get help. Mentorship.
Marcus Neto: Very much so.
Lynne Chronister: Yeah. I would say that in part, because the university does help spin, spin off small businesses from some of the research that has developed our faculty will develop a small business, but also my son has been his own small business for about five years now.
Marcus Neto: Peladin.
Lynne Chronister: Peladin, right. And when he went into that, he had come out of a completely different... He was running a part of a local business for another company. And he had no clue how to start a small business. He thought he knew, but when you get into it, you don't know. And he quickly realized he needed a lot of help. And so not only do you go for help, but you make sure that you're getting the right advice. And then when you get the right advice, you take it.
Marcus Neto: It's funny because I don't know. Has he ever told you about the first meeting that we had?
Lynne Chronister: No.
Marcus Neto: So short tangent folks, but humor me here. So Adam, her son started a company Peladin and he's been doing it for a number of years now.
Lynne Chronister: Probably six now.
Marcus Neto: When he first started, he came to the office that we had on dolphin street in the old mattress factory warehouse. And I really didn't have a whole lot of idea of what he was wanting to meet with me about or who he was or anything like that. And so he sat down and he handed me this three ring binder. And I mean, when I say three ring binder, I mean, I don't think... He didn't put two or three sheets of paper in this day. I mean it was filled and this was his business plan and all of the things that he was thinking that he needed to do and stuff like that. And it was very clear that he had a very clear vision of what was needed. And I hope he doesn't take offense to me saying, but he didn't realize what it was going to take to get there.
Lynne Chronister: Exactly.
Marcus Neto: And so we started to have a very real conversation about, listen, the book that you just handed me is hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of work. But that doesn't mean that you can't start with an MVP, a minimum viable product and start to make some successes and stuff like that. When I run into him, he didn't sign with us. He went a different route, which is totally fine. And we still run into each other. And I just very much appreciate where he's at now because it seems like he's found his way, he's found his niche and he's moving in the right direction.
Lynne Chronister: He pivoted about 180 degrees.
Marcus Neto: I was going to say, because I mean, his idea was extremely smart and I could recognize that as in this position I get pitched quite a bit and there are some ideas where I'm just like, yeah, this person walks out the door. And honestly I'm just like, well, there's a hundred other people that are doing that. This person doesn't have any funding. They don't have any experience. I wish them luck, but I don't have a whole lot of promise with them. With his, it was an idea that I had never seen before, he had the experience. I don't know that he had the funding, but I thought he had the grit in order to get there. So I'm glad that [inaudible 00:28:16].
Lynne Chronister: Didn't have the funding, but got it.
Marcus Neto: Exactly. So if you haven't heard of Peladin he's seen some successes. He's been in the Alabama launch pad within the last couple of years and I think, has he gotten funding through the innovation portal too as well? Because he didn't win the launch.
Lynne Chronister: No, he was a little beyond by the time the innovation portal was under up and running. He was a little beyond it.
Marcus Neto: Okay. Yeah. But yeah, Peladin, it's a great company. Check them out. They're doing some great things here and mobile. Yes. So let's see, where am I at? If you look to the business world, is there one person that you look at that kind of motivates you, that you see that well they're doing some really cool things. Maybe they're on a magazine cover and you pick it up and you want to see what they have to say or something along those lines.
Lynne Chronister: Oh goodness. I don't know that I could honestly name one person.
Marcus Neto: Sure.
Lynne Chronister: We have so many people that are just absolutely amazing in this community.
Marcus Neto: Well, let me clarify. Not here necessarily in Mobile.
Lynne Chronister: Not here. Okay.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. I'm just saying business world in general. So maybe it's Elon Musk or Bill Gates or whomever, is there somebody that you look to
Lynne Chronister: It's actually, it's funny that you mentioned Bill Gates because living in Seattle, you got to know a lot about the Gates foundation. I spent a good bit of time sitting in the Gates foundation buildings and then Bill Gates also donated quite a bit to the university of Washington, but I admired their business model. I really did. I admired the fact that they found it important to give back. And so that's what really-
Marcus Neto: To whom much is given, much is expected of.
Lynne Chronister: Yes, exactly. Yes. And I think it's so important to pay it forward. And if you're fortunate enough to be in a position where you've had some success yourself, I really find it important to give back. I mean, I'm not in business, I'm not self-employed but what I find important and really rewarding for me is to mentor other people in the academic setting.
Marcus Neto: No, absolutely. And I don't think you're just mentoring people in the academic setting. I think you, in your position have played an integral role in just the public sector as well, with how you share your information and interact with those of us that are in the business community and stuff like that. So I've very much appreciated what you bring to the table. Anything that you can tell us that you're currently working on, that you might want people to know about?
Lynne Chronister: Well, gosh, I work on about 50 things at one time. And that's actually not an exaggeration one thing because you mentioned the chamber and David Roger's efforts to bring in talent and to retain talent. David didn't realize that we retain about 58% of our graduates either. We've developed at the university, a new program that we're working on conjunction with Bishop State. And I think we'll be working with Coastal Alabama and that's called a talent development program and universities don't do workforce development. I mean we do because we create jobs and we create people to fill those jobs, but we don't do what's considered workforce development. That's usually within the community college realm. And we're not the only university that's looking at, hey, wait a minute. Maybe we need to broaden our horizons and partner, especially with the community colleges develop the workforce that is needed in your region.
And so our talent development program that is nascent is looking to work with the community colleges and we're working with all of the major industries to provide micro credentials and stackable credentials and working towards an associate degree, working towards a bachelor degree, starting in three areas. One in process technology, another in instrumentation and electrical and another in environmental health, safety and quality and security.
And so we have broadened our perspective on campus and how we're looking at what a university is to realize that we need to be partnering with these other organizations to respond directly to what our industries need, the manufacturing industries, as well as the hospitality and tourism that we talked about earlier. And so that's one of them, that the university's working on that I'm really excited about. Another one is because of so much that's happened over the last year, we're certainly looking very closely at what we need to do in the social justice arena.
And so through Margaret Sullivan and our development office has established a social justice scholarship fund, and people are being very generous and donating to the scholarship fund. In addition to that, we have started a social justice internal grant program. So we have funds internal to the university that our faculty are... We've had one round now that our faculty are competing for and the focus is social justice initiatives. And one of the faculty, Joelle Lewis, who's probably fairly well known to you perhaps turns out her great grandfather was on the Clotilda. And so one of them is she's working with a couple of the schools. I know BC Range was one of them for underserved children providing coding opportunities for them.
Marcus Neto: Very cool.
Lynne Chronister: And that's one of our social justice projects.
Marcus Neto: I think it's interesting if you take the social justice part out of that, but one of the things that I found very interesting, especially as a first generation American, is the way that the internet has leveled the playing field in a way.
Lynne Chronister: Oh yeah.
Marcus Neto: So what I mean by that is if you have access and maybe there's some answers there as well. But if you have access to a computer with an internet connection, there is not much that you can't learn on your own if pointed in the right direction. And coding is one of those things. I mean, learning how to code changed my life in ways that I don't know that I could vocalize. And I am always encouraged because there's never not going to be demand for people that know how to code computers. We can talk about all this AI coding and stuff like that.
Somebody, I think it was HubSpot, no, not HubSpot, GitHub released to their AI coding tool the other day. And everybody was like, "Oh my gosh, I can't believe this." And I'm like, that's nice. You know what I mean? Maybe in 10 or 15 years we'll be there. But for right now, there is going to be such demand for people that can do that. And the jobs are like... They're fun. They're good jobs. They have benefits. They pay well. And you don't have to have a... I mean, I hate to say this because you're sitting in front of me.
Lynne Chronister: You don't need a degree.
Marcus Neto: You don't need a college degree. There's so many things now that don't really require a college degree that you can go and do and make good money. By all means go to college if you're going into something that requires a degree.
Lynne Chronister: You mentioned internet access. Do you know who Brian Copes is?
Marcus Neto: I do not.
Lynne Chronister: I am on his advisory board. And he's fairly new to mobile. I think he moved here from Birmingham and he has pulled together a group of students that are working on a project that when he asked me to be on the advisory board, I couldn't possibly say no. And we brought other people at the university. And so he has right now, two shipping containers that were donated to him from... And I apologize, I don't remember what company at the port but they donated two shipping containers to him. And what he is doing is retrofitting these two shipping containers and collecting computers and retrofitting it so that it will be solar operated.
And he is raising funds and has a good bit of the funding, especially I know Alabama Power has donated. So he and these students are taking these shipping containers down to the Honduras, to a community that doesn't have electricity. And so they will set up these two shipping containers and set up the solar power for them and teach the community how to use them. I mean isn't that totally amazing.
Marcus Neto: That's a hell of an experiment.
Lynne Chronister: Well, he's got all of the expertise that he needs, although I know he's looking for more expertise, but he's amazing. Google him, they had him on one of the channels, local channels, a little blurb about what he was doing now.
Marcus Neto: That's really interesting because not only do you have to have the ability to put together the package that you're delivering to these people, but then there's the handoff, the educational aspect of bringing them in and teaching them about something that is something that we all take advantage of or that we have access to it. Like I'm sitting here with an iPhone next to me that has more computing power than probably most of the computers that I've had in my life up until recently.
Lynne Chronister: And I mean, these communities didn't even have electricity,
Marcus Neto: So to have electricity and computers and internet access is going to be insane.
Lynne Chronister: And think about what it's teaching his kids that he's taking with them to install it.
Marcus Neto: Yeah, for sure.
Lynne Chronister: I mean these kids, this will be a lifetime experience for them.
Marcus Neto: That is so cool. Are there any books, podcasts, people or organizations that have been helpful in moving you forward? And I mean you personally, when you think about things that you're... Because I know you're still kind of learning and consuming and meeting people and stuff like that. Because really the emphasis here is if somebody is just getting started, where would you point them?
Lynne Chronister: It depends on what they're just getting started to do of course. If you're just getting started in a small business, go talk to Mel Washington, go to the innovation portal and go talk to the folks at the chamber, talk to everyone who will talk to you. And so if you're doing that, I would say that if you're going into academia, it's a whole different group of people.
Marcus Neto: I figured as much.
Lynne Chronister: Yeah. In fact, right now I'm reading a book that has to do with women in academia and some of the challenges that women face in academia and I've been in academia for a long time.
Marcus Neto: A long time. You can probably write a book yourself on some of the things that you've learned over the years.
Lynne Chronister: Well, I suppose I could write a book, but despite the fact that I've been doing this for a long time and have been somewhat successful, I still learn from a book that talks about how to be a female leader in academia.
Marcus Neto: Oh for sure.
Lynne Chronister: So I say that because women can be just as successful as men, there is just no saying no to that. There are a few different barriers and you simply recognize those barriers and you find a way over them or through them or you crush them and you get a mentor who will help you do that.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. No, that's awesome.
Lynne Chronister: Yeah.
Marcus Neto: What's the most important thing that you've learned about running a business? Because I know you don't necessarily run a business, but you work with a ton of people that do. So if you were to give a bit of advice, what's the most important thing that you've learned?
Lynne Chronister: Well, I don't run a business, but traditionally and nationally, what someone in my position will say is that they lead the research enterprise and we deal with every aspect of a business that there is. Except that our salaries don't depend on the revenue usually. So we have the financial aspect, we have the reporting, we have the marketing, we have facilitating other people being successful.
We have clients in the form of faculty. So in many ways it really is a business. And right now I'm running a hundred million dollar business. And previously I ran a $1.5 billion business.
Marcus Neto: Yeah, that's crazy.
Lynne Chronister: And so running a business, I think one of the most important things, and I can only speak within the purview of a university, and it's knowing what is needed and being able to fill those gaps. And so I watch very closely what grant opportunities or contract opportunities or opportunities for our faculty to meet people so that they can get support for their research. And so I think it's all of that networking and that perseverance because in any business, I think, you don't get a quick return on investment. And so you have to be very, very, very patient and persevere. And so I think those are the two important that I see.
Marcus Neto: Yeah. You mentioned something about network and it's funny because we've been having some conversations just internally that I hired a sales guy about four months ago and to his credit, he's extremely eager in wanting to make sales. He's thinking I have the title of salesperson. My job is to sell and yes, there is some level of that. But I've told him really what, I don't want you focused on that because that makes you desperate. What I want you to focus on is to meet as many people as you possibly can.
Lynne Chronister: Exactly.
Marcus Neto: The opportunities will present themselves. We're not a hard selling organization. That doesn't mean that we don't sell, because we do. We actively go after certain companies that we want to work with. But we're not a hard core sales organization. So it's been kind of a mind shift to get Rick into that space where he is like, okay, well, as long as I'm going to the chamber meetings and as long as I'm setting appointments and meeting new people and going to the right events and stuff like that, then I'm okay. And I've just kind of tried to calm him in that respect. But pulling along with what you've said is somebody's network can present them with opportunities that they would never imagine. And so if you just go out and be friendly and meet people and be yourself, then there's a lot there.
Lynne Chronister: To that point there's an article that I have shared, especially with a lot of women and it's probably no longer politically correct. But if you look beyond-
Marcus Neto: You're saying it, not me.
Lynne Chronister: What the title is, it's a fabulous lesson. So somebody gave it to me. Actually, they left it on my desk one day. And it's the Southern Bell Takes on the City Slicker. So again, not politically correct title any longer, 35 years ago. Sure. People didn't think so much about it, but it was a woman from New York and a woman from the south were taking a client to lunch and they had a conversation that seldom touched on the particular topic. And when the lunch was over, the woman from the south said, "Wow, he was a tough customer. It was hard to get that sale finalized." And the woman from New York said, "We never had a discussion about business. We had a discussion about who are you? Who's your family? Where did you come from? And never really got to the details." But in the end, the hard sale approach wasn't working. It was that softer approach that made the sale.
Marcus Neto: Just get to know the person.
Lynne Chronister: The get to know that made the sale.
Marcus Neto: People want to do business with others that they know, like and trust. And the only way you get there is by just talking to them.
Lynne Chronister: Precisely listening to them.
Marcus Neto: And we take a more consultative approach to our sales. But anyway. So this is the most difficult question that I'm going to ask you. And I hope you have a good answer for this. How do you like to unwind?
Lynne Chronister: Oh, I wish I unwound better than I really do. You know what, I don't have any hobbies, which is probably why I can't retire.
Marcus Neto: Nothing's calling your name. No sirens.
Lynne Chronister: Nothing's calling my name anymore, because the way I've always unwound is skiing and horses and doing a lot of active things and I am so bad at golf, so that's not going to be my retirement, but I love yard work. I love gardening. That really is. And the heavier something is that I'm moving the better. And there's so much to say about it because when you garden, you get immediate gratification and how many things in life can you get immediate gratification?
Marcus Neto: It's very true. It's very true.
Lynne Chronister: That's my unwind. And a glass of wine afterwards.
Marcus Neto: Yeah, of course. I find it interesting. Because as I talk to people, I mean, we've done, I don't know, 200 plus of these episodes now I think. And so it's always interesting to me that people in professional positions like you and I, when we go to unwind, oftentimes... Of course there's always that aspect of, I just want to lay by the pool or go to the beach or sit on my boat or whatever. But there's something very relaxing or soothing to us with working with our hands.
Lynne Chronister: Yes.
Marcus Neto: Because that's not what we do all day long.
Lynne Chronister: Exactly.
Marcus Neto: And so it calls to us because we want to have that physical connection with something that we're working on, that we just don't get in our daily life. So it's interesting to me that-
Lynne Chronister: I think that's true. I hadn't thought about that, but you're absolutely right. It's not that we're not even working. I guess we work all the time because our play is work sometimes, but it's that gratification.
Marcus Neto: Well tell people where they can find out more about what the organization that you represent is working on. And if they want to get more information about that, where can they find that?
Lynne Chronister: Well, they can go to the University of South Alabama website.
Marcus Neto: I wasn't sure if there was a department.
Lynne Chronister: And all of us, if you go to the top and you want to talk to me, email me or something, there's a tab that says research. And if you go under there, you can find my office and you can find me and I am more than happy to talk to anyone.
Marcus Neto: That's awesome. Lynn, I just can't tell you. I want to thank you again for coming on the podcast. I'm going to divert here just a little, little bit. I am going to ask you if you have any final thoughts or comments, but I do. I just so appreciate the stance that you USA has taken in Mobile. And especially I think you bring just a tremendous amount of understanding and caring and you just bring something different to the community at large. And I do, I just really appreciate what you're doing here at mobile. So to wrap up any final thoughts or comments.
Lynne Chronister: Oh, I appreciate it. I actually just appreciate the opportunity to be involved in the community. Yeah. I really, really care about this community, it's an adopted community, but I don't feel like I was adopted. I feel like the community has been welcoming and when we recruit people, that's one of the things I'm telling them is that this is going to be a welcoming community.
Marcus Neto: Well, here's what I tell people. And maybe you will agree with this. Mobile is a community that wants you to get on the rope and pull with them.
Lynne Chronister: Yes.
Marcus Neto: If you're just here and you're just going to observe or you're just going to do your thing, there's not much ease in that position, but if you come alongside other business owners and you help pull in the direction that everybody's pulling, then doors will open up for you in ways that you can't even imagine.
Lynne Chronister: Absolutely.
Marcus Neto: And they want to know that you care.
Lynne Chronister: If you offer a hand, it will be taken.
Marcus Neto: Absolutely. And I appreciate your willingness to sit with me and share your journey as a leader in our community. It's been great talking with you.
Lynne Chronister: And thank you so much for the opportunity. It's been fun.
