School of Business Receives $3,000 State Farm Grant

(l-r) George Lester, Neil King, Dean Eduardo, and Chris Smith

State Farm’s $3,000 gift to the Mississippi College School of Business will strengthen an MC program to enhance the teaching of economics.

Longtime State Farm agents Neil King and George Lester, both of Clinton, recently made the check presentation to School of Business Dean Marcelo Eduardo.

“We are very honored to count State Farm as one of our corporate partners,” Eduardo said.

“Their support of our economic education initiatives will have a significant impact on the future of our state and is consistent with our goal to enhance economic education throughout our region,” Eduardo added.

Based at Self Hall, the School of Business is home to the MC Center for Economic Education and Development. The center opened in July 2009 as a partnership with the Mississippi Council on Economic Education in Jackson to promote economic literacy among teachers and students in the region.

Presenting the funds to Eduardo and Chris Smith, the center’s director, was extra special for King. Returning for a visit to his alma mater, the Clintonian is a 1959 Mississippi College School of Business graduate and a State Farm agent for more than four decades. King is a new member of MC’s 50-year club and a longtime member of the Clinton Lions Club.

Based in Bloomington, Illinois, State Farm has more than 17,000 agents and 68,000 employees. Founded in 1922, the company serves more than 80 million policies and accounts in the United States and Canada. Through its grants program, the company helps build stronger and better educated communities.