Corey Vander Molen to receive Young Alumnus of the Year Award at MC Bicentennial Homecoming

Corey Vander Molen, president of VerMeer MidSouth, considers receiving the MC Young Alumnus of the Year Award to be 'a tremendous honor.'

As president of Vermeer MidSouth, a regional construction equipment dealership based in Richland, Corey Vander Molen ‘09 leads an organization of more than 80 employees in five locations across four states.

More importantly to him, it’s a family business: his father, Dennis Vander Molen, founded the company in 1987 and recently transitioned to the second generation of leadership. It’s a significant responsibility, but the younger Vander Molen says the education he received from Mississippi Christian University (MC) helped prepare him for the challenge.

“The experience and education I received in the School of Business at MC definitely served as one of the key pieces of the foundation for my career,” Vander Molen said. “The professors had an innate knowledge about business, from strategy and marketing to management and accounting. Understanding all of those pieces has been very beneficial to me.”

In recognition of his business success and ongoing support of his alma mater, the Young Alumnus of the Year Award will be presented to Vander Molen during the National Alumni Association Awards Brunch as part of MC’s Bicentennial Homecoming at 11 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 31, in Anderson Hall on the second floor of the B.C. Rogers Student Center.

The association bestows the honor on MC graduates 40 years of age or younger who have rendered distinguished service to their college, church and community.

Vander Molen said he will be honored to receive the award.

“It’s humbling to be recognized by your peers, and by the place where you invest your time and resources,” he said. “When you consider the depth and breadth of the people who have graduated from MC, it’s a tremendous honor, and I’m grateful for the recognition.”

Marcelo Eduardo, dean of the MC School of Business, has known Vander Molen since he set foot on campus as a freshman. He said connecting with Vander Molen is easy.

“He is engaging and communicative,” Eduardo said. “You immediately feel comfortable with him. He has a genuine interest in you, a quality that makes him a natural leader.

“The essential part of understanding Corey’s success is realizing how strongly and deeply his faith runs into his very being. The intersection of faith and business is clearly crossed with Corey, and this award reaffirms and validates the promise that he showed when he came to MC.”

A native of Clinton, Vander Molen wasn’t always sure that MC was his college destination until he reached his senior year in high school. A newfound interest in business drew him towards the institution.

“I valued the culture and personalized relationships you could enjoy at a moderately sized school like MC,” he said. “Having a more intimate knowledge of the University, its faculty, staff and programs, was important. But so was its mission that is directly tied to faith. It bleeds into all aspects of the school, from the culture to the curriculum.

“MC also made sense from a business perspective. It provided me with the skills I wanted and the competency I needed to be successful in business.”

Some of that education happened outside of the classroom. Vander Molen recalled the time one of his most impactful professors, Dr. Lloyd Roberts, led his students out of class and into the Samuel Gore Art Gallery on campus.

“Dr. Roberts told us that if we are to be in the business world, we must have an appreciation for other things, including the arts. He wanted us to know that there was more to business than running a successful company. It should be a calling, because you really have the ability to touch industry and to influence others.

“Business and the arts and the church and missions are all encapsulated in what students learn at MC.”

Vander Molen’s outlook on business was shaped by MC School of Business faculty like Roberts, Mark McComb, Dr. Gerald Lee, Dr. Mike Cudd, and others. His involvement with the Civitan men’s club taught him the importance of a well-rounded life.

Vander Molen brought those lessons to his family’s company after earning his Bachelor of Science in business administration from MC in 2009. He started in the warehouse and worked in several areas of the business, from parts and inventory management to equipment sales, before earning his first leadership post as a sales manager. More than 15 years later, he serves as president of Vermeer MidSouth and a member of the Associated Equipment Distributors Foundation Board of Directors.

A deacon at Park Place Baptist Church, Vander Molen supports Vermeer MidSouth’s workforce development partnerships with Hinds Community College, including technician recruitment, technical education and scholarship initiatives. And he remains a big supporter of MC and the School of Business. His wife, Marie, a 2009 elementary education graduate of MC, will be on hand to watch him receive the MC Young Alumnus of the Year Award, as will their two daughters, Elizabeth and Madison, and their parents. Vander Molen said they affirm to him the importance of family – inside and outside of business – every day.

“MC is celebrating its 200th birthday,” he noted. “It isn’t doing that because people didn’t give back. And giving is not just monetary. It’s time as well, which is important from the perspective of values, culture and missions.

“In the Business School, we formed lifelong friendships that reinforce our values of faith and continue to help us to this day. Being good stewards of what you have, whether money, time or resources, can lead to a proper perspective and success in business. MC prepared us for that.”