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Wendy Cagle

Wendy Cagle

Associate Instructor

College of Business

School of Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Sport Management, and Hospitality and Tourism Management

Contact Information

Email: wcagle@wcu.edu
Phone: 828.227.3441
Office: 226H Forsyth Building

Biography

Wendy Cagle has 6 years of experience as a faculty member in higher education, currently serving as an Associate Instructor at Western Carolina University teaching the next generation of business professionals through entrepreneurship courses. Prior to that she has 21 years of experience in economic development assisting small and medium-sized businesses in North Carolina through her work as the regional director of the Small Business & Technology Development Center (SBTDC). She continues to consult with businesses and local governments in western North Carolina developing strategic plans that are growth and action-oriented.<br>Wendy draws her technical knowledge from experience as a business owner and angel investor as well as her academic background. She obtained her BSBA concentrating in accounting and also holds a Master’s in Business Administration (MBA). Her areas of expertise include accounting and financial analysis, small business development, and executive training and development. She is a certified facilitator and works closely with the Corporation for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, an affiliated entity of WCU that leverages the resources of the university to promote economic development through business growth. Wendy enjoys facilitating events around strategic planning, change management, team building, and succession planning.<br>In addition, she serves as a board member for various economic development agencies and non-profits in the region and has invested or been personally involved with several business ventures including her family business for over fifteen years.

Education

  • MBA, Western Carolina University
  • BSBA, Western Carolina University

Teaching Interests

Wendy's teaching interests are in entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship using business consulting techniques, strategic thinking models, and emotional intelligence to encourage students to adopt a growth mindset to be able to solve complex problems associated with innovation development. She incorporates applied learning allowing students to engage in solving business challenges to produce business-ready graduates, ready to work and ready to succeed in whatever career they choose.

Research Interests

Wendy's research interests center around the perceived benefit of student engagement activities and other areas of applied learning to the actual employment results.<br>Also, how small businesses impact the economy in rural areas versus urban areas. Some of the current measurements of impact might not be accurate around job creation, capital investment and sales growth. She would like to answer the question of whether there are better measurements that would open up more grant money to smaller companies for the benefit of economic growth in smaller communities?

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