The UMSL student is currently working as vice president of wholesale and institution at Carrier Enterprise. (Photo by Joseph Roberts/Emerson)
By Mabel Suen
Mark Nazetta was only nine months into the University of Missouri–St. Louis College of Business Administration’s Online MBA Program when he accepted a position as vice president of wholesale and institution at Carrier Enterprise. He now balances a busy schedule, splitting time between his company office in Lenexa, Kansas, traveling his region and his home office in St. Louis, but he’s found himself applying valuable concepts from the 100% online curriculum to his everyday business practices.
Tentatively set to graduate in December 2022, Nazetta can already credit his fast career acceleration to the skills he’s learned as part of the program’s inaugural cohort. The 18-month program has significantly advanced his sales leadership skills across organizations that specialize in commercial and residential heating, ventilation and air conditioning equipment and components.
Nazetta, who graduated from Southern Illinois University Edwardsville in 2005 with a degree in management and human resources, cut his teeth at industrial supply distributor Fastenal, where he eventually worked his way up to Midwest regional sales manager.
“When I started out at Fastenal, I worked under a manager who gave me all kinds of different experiences, from working in the warehouse to sales and management,” Nazetta says. “I learned early on that was where I wanted to go – leading people was something I was really passionate about.”
He had moved on to Emerson Commercial & Residential Solutions in the White-Rodgers division when he decided to pursue his MBA and push his career development to the next level.
“The program really appealed to me because of the flexibility it gave me to work on my work-life balance. That was where UMSL really stood out,” Nazetta says. “They use a tremendous amount of technology that allows you to collaborate with fellow cohorts and work at your own pace.”
Today, in his role at Carrier Enterprise, Nazetta manages wholesale and institutional customer segments with an operations and sales focus for the business, driving sales processes and strategies amongst brick-and-mortar locations and applying those to customers in those segments.
He provides leadership and strategic support to all personnel in his department, with an emphasis on employee development.
Nazetta has picked up plenty of real-life knowledge from the MBA program to apply to his current professional role. Topics have included everything from privacy law to supply chain strategies, enabling students to think differently about how to approach new challenges in today’s ever- changing environment.
“I think it’s a really great compressed program,” Nazetta says. “For me, waiting for as long as I did to start my MBA has really benefited me. I was able to get experience in the field for years before taking the program and then apply what I’ve learned. Full transparency: It’s a lot of heavy lifting, but it’s worth it.”
This story was originally published in the fall 2022 issue of UMSL Magazine. If you have a story idea for UMSL Magazine, email magazine@umsl.edu.
