he BB&T Center for Free Enterprise Education was established in 2009 through a generous grant from the BB&T Foundation.  The Center’s mission is to promote a better knowledge of, and appreciation for, an economic system based on free enterprise.  Activities of the Center include a major speaker’s program, the sponsorship of the organization Students in Free Enterprise, workshops for economics teachers, and other opportunities that involve Barton students and the Wilson community in examining economic issues.

he BB&T Center for Free Enterprise Education Lecture Series brings nationally prominent leaders in free enterprise economics to the region for a public lecture each year.  Past lecturers include James Maynard, CEO of Golden Corral; Robert A. Ingram, retired chairman and CEO of GlaxoSmithKline; and John A. Allison IV, former chairman and CEO of BB&T Corporation.

Dr. John J. Bethune
Center Director
Dorothy and K.D. Kennedy Chair in Business

jbethune@barton.edu
800-345-4973 x6422

arton’s campus chapter of Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE), through the support of the BB&T Center for Free Enterprise Education, takes advantage of opportunities to promote varied programs in economic education on a regional and national level.

In March 2012, a Barton SIFE team finished First Runner Up at the regional competition in Charlotte.

n conjunction with course offerings, the Center sponsors student-led debate on the moral dimensions of capitalism.  The debates are open to the public.

he Center oversees the implementation of the course “Capitalism: Implications and Applications,” which incorporates a variety of viewpoints on comparative economic systems.