When students attend a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay Office of Career Services activity, there’s a good chance they will see a representative from Dental City. Founded by UW-Green Bay alumni, the distributor of quality dental supplies to 16,000 dentists is an active participant in a variety of Career Services activities from mock interviews and participating in employer panels to classroom project opportunities and the Dine Like a Professional Etiquette Lunch.

“Our founders have an appreciation for what the university provided them, especially as non-traditional students,” said Jordan Lorenz, director of special markets at Dental City and a 2012 UW-Green Bay graduate.

Career Services Director Linda Peacock-Landrum said Dental City is always looking for ways to support students. “We can always count on them. They participate in recruiting activities and are topical speakers on leadership, soft skills and more,” she said. “They also will discuss the importance of internships with students and discuss the variety of jobs available in sales.”

Beyond participating in career-related events, Dental City also sponsors UW-Green Bay’s Solving NEW Challenges business idea pitch competition. Students have up to 180 seconds to name a problem in Northeast Wisconsin, a description of their business solution and ideal customer, and a vision of the cost and revenue stream to support the business. Through the Dental City Competitive Spark Endowment Fund, a total of $3,000 in prizes are awarded to contest winners.

Competitive Spark encourages students to test their creativity and compete in a way that is not strictly classroom performance, Lorenz said.

“Dental City’s owners know from their personal experience that classroom performance is not always indicative of career performance,” he said. “The contest gives students the opportunity that may better fit their strengths and be rewarded for their performance.”

The company is also involved in the university’s Communication Week, which celebrates the past, present and future of the university’s Communication Department. “We feel these events put students in real world situations where they apply the classroom concepts to more business situations,” Lorenz said.

For the past 15 years, Dental City has also been a sponsor of the Office of Career Services which Peacock-Landrum said helps the department invest in programming. Dental City, which was founded by two 1987 graduates, John Mathys and Dave Withbroe, and Roy Stumpf received the 2017 Recruitment Partner of the Year Award from UW-Green Bay’s Office of Career Services.

“By participating in these events, they gain good visibility. They also understand how students are today — no one ever shows up in a three-piece suit,” Peacock-Landrum said.

She added Dental City looks for different ways to support students. For example, Dental City sponsors a party deck at the Kress Center for Events for men’s and women’s basketball games. For one of the games, business leaders gifted it to Career Services, which used the tickets as a giveaway item to students who attended its events. “Every time someone came to one of our events, they got to place their name into the drawing,” Peacock-Landrum said. “It was a big success.”