Utah State University students are redefining what experiential global learning can look like through the Huntsman School of Business France Global Consulting Learning Experience\u2014an immersive program combining international consulting, cross-cultural collaboration and direct engagement with global companies and economic-development leaders.<\/p>\n
Rather than traveling abroad primarily to observe international business, students spent four months serving as consultants for One Provence Promotion, an organization working to attract foreign investment and support economic growth in southern France. The 2026 project focused on healthcare innovation, with student teams researching companies across sectors including medical devices, hospital innovation, biomanufacturing, immunology and advanced biotherapies.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis program is built around the idea that students learn global business most powerfully when they are trusted to perform meaningful work for real organizations,\u201d said Sterling Bone, professor and executive director of Huntsman ProSales and faculty leader for the experience. \u201cStudents are not simply visiting another country or studying an international case. They are conducting economic intelligence, evaluating investment prospects and presenting recommendations that can inform actual business-development efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n
Working in teams, students researched international companies, assessed their potential fit with the Provence business ecosystem, and developed strategies to support foreign direct investment. They then traveled to France to present their recommendations to executives, healthcare leaders and regional stakeholders.<\/p>\n
One team, led by recent accounting graduate Nate Dent, focused on immunology, immunotherapy and advanced biotherapies. The students assembled a list of more than 60 potential prospects, developed a weighted scoring methodology and identified five high-priority companies for further engagement. They also created buyer personas, outreach sequencing and a customized engagement strategy.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis was not a simulation; the stakeholders were real, the investment decisions were real, and the energy in the room when we presented reflected exactly that,\u201d Dent said. \u201cThere is simply no substitute for that kind of live-fire experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
The project introduced students to the research and analysis underlying successful foreign-direct-investment strategies.<\/p>\n
\u201cForeign direct investment is a matter of intelligence\u2014analyzing trends and investment flows, anticipating market developments, and understanding where companies want and are likely to invest,\u201d said Christophe Perez, director of foreign direct investment at One Provence Promotion. \u201cOur relationship with the Utah State University Jon M. Huntsman School of Business is valuable because it brings students into that process and allows us to share our vision for economic development in Provence.\u201d<\/p>\n
The student teams presented their findings to Perez and other One Provence Promotion leaders, including CEO S\u00e9bastien Cavalier.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe students brought tremendous energy, preparation and fresh thinking to their presentations,\u201d Cavalier said. \u201cIt was exciting to engage with them as genuine consulting partners and to see how their research could contribute to our efforts to attract innovative companies to Provence.\u201d<\/p>\n
The experience extended beyond the consulting presentations. Students visited Airbus Helicopters in Marignane, IPSEN Biopharma in Signes, CMA CGM Tangram in Marseille and the Sophia Antipolis technology ecosystem. At each location, they examined how global organizations approach innovation, operational excellence, sustainability, workforce development and international growth.<\/p>\n
For recent healthcare management graduate, Ricardo Tienda-P\u00e9rez, the visits demonstrated how regional institutions and business networks can accelerate healthcare innovation.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat surprised me the most was the region\u2019s sheer pace of innovation,\u201d Tienda-P\u00e9rez said. \u201cWe learned that proper global business development requires an intense appreciation for local cultural, regulatory and geographic nuances\u2014the whole picture.\u201d Tienda-P\u00e9rez will pursue a Master of Science in Healthcare Administration at the University of North Carolina Chapel-Hill starting next year.<\/p>\n
Students also explored the connection among culture, creativity and commerce through fragrance development, luxury branding, entrepreneurship and visits to historic communities. These activities demonstrated that global business is shaped not only by financial and operational decisions, but also by identity, history and place.<\/p>\n
Kelsey Phillips, a business management student interested in luxury cosmetics, initially questioned how the program\u2019s healthcare emphasis would connect with her career goals. Her perspective changed while visiting Sophia Antipolis and learning about organizations such as Somanity, which develops robotic exoskeleton technology.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy time in France was instrumental to my learning and understanding of how brands position themselves in competitive markets,\u201d Phillips said.<\/p>\n
The program was especially influential for students early in their university experience. Brent Scott participated as a first-year healthcare management student preparing for medical school. Although he initially felt intimidated by classmates with more experience, the program helped him build confidence, communication skills and a clearer professional direction.<\/p>\n
\u201cI now feel significantly further ahead in my college and professional journey than I ever thought possible by the end of my first year,\u201d Scott said.<\/p>\n
For management senior, Eli Hugie, the experience led directly to a career opportunity. After discovering biomanufacturing through his team\u2019s research, he secured an internship with Nusano in West Valley where he applies his learning from France global consulting experience.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis experience introduced me to the world of biomanufacturing and was the experience I needed to help me land a supply chain position with Nusano, a breakthrough company in cancer treatment technology. Now, I get to go to work knowing my role is part of something bigger– helping build a future where millions of people affected by cancer have better and more accessible treatment,\u201d Hugie said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThese are the outcomes innovative experiential learning should create,\u201d Bone said. \u201cStudents return with practical consulting skills and stronger r\u00e9sum\u00e9s, but they also return with greater confidence, curiosity and belief in their ability to contribute. They begin to see themselves not merely as students studying the global economy, but as emerging professionals capable of shaping it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Utah State University students are redefining what experiential global learning can look like through the Huntsman School of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":61812,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[5,987,6,9177,38431,588,9387,156,38430],"class_list":["post-61811","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-france","tag-france","tag-media","tag-news","tag-press-releases","tag-stories","tag-story","tag-today","tag-utah","tag-utah-state-university"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61811","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=61811"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/61811\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=61811"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=61811"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/france\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=61811"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}