Local Business + IC MBA = Better Business

By Kim Wunner, May 4, 2026

IC students at the future of Ithaca’s independent businesses

The Ithaca Times is deepening its relationship with IC. Recent covers of the Ithaca Times have been designed by IC Communication Strategy and Design student, Kaiden Chandler ’28

Through Professor Narges Kasiri’s graduate-level Business Analytics and Technology course, MBA students at Ithaca College have worked directly with local organizations—bringing data, strategy, and fresh perspective to businesses deeply embedded in the Ithaca community. This isn’t theoretical work. It’s real, and it matters.

And in the case of the Ithaca Times , it is helping sustain one of the region’s most culturally significant institutions—while opening the door to even deeper collaboration across campus.

Where the Classroom Met the Community

Kasiri’s class is designed to function like a consulting firm. Each semester, MBA students partner with a local organization, analyze its challenges, and develop strategic recommendations to support growth and sustainability. Past partners have included public radio and TV outlet WCNY and downtown Ithaca’s State Theatre.

IC alumnus, Cameron Narimanian '22 has been working for Deloitte—the world's largest professional services network and Big Four accounting firm — in Philadelphia as a Consultant, specializing in data visualization for government clients since he graduated. He took a class with Kasiri and worked as her research assistant while at IC. He says that working with a real business “helped bridge the gap between academic concepts, practical application, and made the transition into a professional setting much more natural.”

But when the Ithaca Times became a partner, the stakes felt different.

Local journalism is in a precarious place. According to The Local News Project’s 2025 report, 40 percent of local newspapers in the U.S. have disappeared in the last two decades, with 130 closing in 2024 alone. For Roy Allen—whose nonprofit Pathways to Equity acquired the Times in 2025—the challenge was urgent.

“If we’re not good, we don’t exist. And if we don’t exist, there isn’t a good alternative in our market,” Allen said.

To help meet that moment, he turned to Ithaca College.

Real World Learning

Cover of the Ithaca Times, designed by IC Communication Strategy and Design student, Kaiden Chandler ’28

Unlike many of Kasiri’s past projects, the Ithaca Times did not come with clean datasets or clearly defined metrics. The business challenge was complex, evolving, and, at times, ambiguous.

“This was a very real case and a very real project,” Kasiri told her students. “One with possibly a lot of roadblocks.”

They leaned in anyway.

Instead of relying solely on data, students built their analysis through conversation, collaboration, and critical thinking. Allen and his team visited the class early in the semester, sharing their vision for the paper’s future—laying the groundwork for weeks of student-driven strategy development.

The result was a consulting experience that mirrored the unpredictability of real-world business—and one that delivered tangible value.

Strategy in Service of Culture

The students’ work helped the Ithaca Times think expansively about its future—identifying opportunities for revenue growth, exploring grant funding, evaluating digital strategy, and assessing operational capacity.

The Ithaca Times is not just a business. Founded in 1972 as The Ithaca New Times , it emerged from the alternative press movement—rooted in the counterculture of the 1960s and 1970s. Its voice has always been independent, community-driven, and reflective of Ithaca itself: quirky, thoughtful, and unapologetically non-mainstream.

At its core, as Allen put it, “the newspaper is where a community sees itself.”

By supporting the Times , Kasiri’s students were not just solving business problems. They were helping sustain a platform that amplifies local voices, preserves cultural identity, and strengthens community connection.

MBA students visiting the Ithaca Times.

A Legacy—and Evolution—of Connection

Cover of the Ithaca Times, designed by IC Communication Strategy and Design student, Kaiden Chandler ’28

The relationship between Ithaca College and the Ithaca Times runs deep. The paper’s first publisher, Jim Bilinski ’73, led the publication for decades, guiding it through print expansion and the transition to digital in 2000.

Today, that connection continues through a new generation of leadership. Maddy Vogel ’23 serves as Managing Editor and Associate Publisher, playing a central role in shaping both the editorial voice and the business direction of the paper. Having moved from student journalist to newsroom leader, Vogel represents the kind of full-circle impact Ithaca College fosters.

“Ithaca is a very special place to me,” Vogel has said. “Preserving its local news is one of the most important ways you can preserve its sense of community.”

That commitment extends to how the paper works with students today.

Kaiden Chandler ’28, a Communication Strategy and Design major, first joined the Times as a fall intern focused on graphic design. His work quickly stood out. Vogel brought him onto the payroll, where he continued designing covers, advertisements, and contributing to the paper’s evolving newsletter strategy—gaining hands-on experience in both creative execution and audience engagement.

Together, Vogel and Chandler illustrate how the Ithaca Times functions not just as a media outlet, but also as a learning lab—one where students contribute meaningfully to a living, breathing organization.

From One Partnership to Many

The success of the collaboration with Kasiri’s class did not end with a final presentation. It sparked new ways of thinking about how Ithaca College and local organizations can work together.

The student analysis is helping The Times identify grants and assess opportunities for revenue growth in its operations and with online and print distribution. The paper has also connected Jonathan Chalmers, Career Engagement Specialist at the Center for Career exploration and Development and Mickey Huff, Distinguished Director of Park Center for Independent Media to offer more post graduate opportunities to aspiring students seeking business careers in the local community.

What began as a single course-based project has helped catalyze additional partnerships across campus —connecting faculty expertise, student talent, and community need in more intentional ways.

The model is simple but powerful: pair ambitious students with organizations that matter to Ithaca, and let the work unfold in real time.

For Kasiri, that expansion reflects the core philosophy behind her teaching.

“I have students who love to learn,” she said. “And local and regional businesses love receiving help. The configuration works for our students and for our community.”

Real-World Experience, Real Impact

For Ithaca College MBA students, this work is more than a class project. It was an opportunity to apply their skills in a meaningful, high-impact setting—where their ideas could influence real decisions and real outcomes.

And for the organizations they serve, including the Ithaca Times , that work can be transformative. Narimanian explains, “Working with real businesses clarified my interest in analytics and its real-world impact. Seeing how curiosity can be answered through data-driven reasoning, and how those insights directly shape strategy and outcomes, reinforced my desire to pursue a career that blends analysis, problem-solving, and business decision-making.

Because when students step into real business challenges—especially within culturally relevant institutions—they don’t just gain experience. They contribute to something larger than themselves.

They help sustain the stories, voices, and organizations that define a community.

And in doing so, they ensure those stories endure.

Become a Voice for Business

Students enrolled in the School of Business MBA in Entertainment and Media and the MS in Accounting are making a difference from the classroom. Join the force that is shaping the way we do business.

Local Journalism Matters

Does the buzz and excitement of the newsroom light you up? The Roy H. Park School of Communications offers a major in journalism, preparing students for careers in broadcast, digital, and print media.