Rob Price, ’65: Leadership at Westminster, Success in Workplace

Rob Price, Class of ’65, has built a successful career through strong leadership skills and now he is helping his alma mater establish a program that will show the world Westminster is turning out strong leaders today.

“As an employer with a position to fill, I may receive 100 resumes,” says Price. “Yet none of them stand out. Our new leadership program will provide prospective employers with tangible proof that the Westminster candidate has outstanding leadership skills and give our graduate the edge in getting that job. I want our graduates to have the confidence that they can get a job in a tough market, and I want businesses and graduate schools to know Westminster is turning out leaders they can count on.”

When Price was earning an economics and business degree at Westminster, no such formal leadership training existed. However, he still attributes aspects of his Westminster education as contributing reasons for his great success professionally.

“Because you are exposed to many different fields and have many different interests and experiences at Westminster, the College’s liberal arts approach to education gives you the confidence that you can tackle any business with no previous experience because you know a little about a lot of different subjects and you have the poise to carry it off.”

In addition, as a member of the Beta Theta Pi fraternity, living in close proximity 24 hours a day with many different kinds of people, he learned to grasp different personalities and judge character quickly. “When I got out of school, I could talk to a person for five to ten minutes and they would say or do things that would remind me of someone in our house at Westminster and I would have a handle on who they were,” Price says.

These advantages have helped take Rob Price far. After earning a master of business administration from Washington University and two years in management consulting in St. Louis, Price was called back to Louisiana on family business and went on to become successful in the concrete construction field (President/CEO, Dunham Price Group, LLC) and the asphalt contractor field (R.E. Heidt Construction, Co.). However, that confidence to take on anything led him to success in other fields as well, such as the hotel business (President, Management Tech), the marine business (Jefferson Triangle Marine, LLC), real estate (Managing Partner, 108 Partners, LLC), contractor work (President, RWP Contractor, Inc.), and even owner of a Colorado ranch (Silo Ranch, LLC).

Now he is excited to give back to Westminster by establishing a program that will give graduates specific leadership skills such as the ability to motivate and negotiate, bring alumni in to connect with the college as mentors, provide graduates with strong proof beyond a resume in this competitive job market that they are the right people for the jobs, and help Westminster recruit students.

“Westminster will have the concrete evidence through our new program to say to parents and prospective students that this is a College that produces leaders,” says Price.

Visit http://bit.ly/1cdfXYE to watch Rob Price discuss how alumni can support the Price Leadership Program.

As seen in the Summer 2013 issue of Leadership Magazine. For more information, read the full article on the Price Leadership Program online.