When 28 local executives hit the golf links later this year for a charity tournament, there will be a lot on the line for Sacramento State.
Rick Nelson ’94 (Communication Studies), the owner and former CEO of Direct Technology and now-Chairman of the Launch Consulting Group, is raising money before and during the Oct. 5-7 Capital Cup tournament for the University’s Dale and Katy Carlsen Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Individual participants raise money for charities of their choice ahead of the competition – interested parties may donate online – and charities supported by the winning team will share a $50,000 grand prize.
Nelson said his great admiration for fellow Sac State alum Dale Carlsen, founder of Sleep Train Mattress Centers, and Carlsen’s vision for the Center are two big reasons he wanted to lend his support.
“Young people need a place to go and find out how to lead, how to create and advance their own personal ideas,” he said. “It’s the key to fast, specific development of young talent.”
Nelson, who described himself as “not a great student in high school,” took a somewhat circuitous path to tech CEO, with Sacramento State playing a big role. Following high school, he enrolled at what was then California State University, Hayward, but left after one semester and eventually found himself in Carson City, Nev., where he decided to enlist in the Air Force.
Military service brought him to Rancho Cordova, and he enrolled at American River College while also working at UPS. He transferred to Sacramento State in 1989, where he found attentive professors who were willing to probe deep and complicated issues, as well as the support needed to learn from mistakes and continue on.
“Sac State was the target, the goal, to get to a four-year university and challenge myself in that environment,” he said. “Sac State was warm and inviting and probably the prettiest place in Sacramento. To go there and graduate from there was pretty exciting.”
He took an ownership interest in Direct Technology, which develops software solutions for public- and private-sector employers, in 2006.
Sacramento is experiencing a great deal of growth, driven in part by the migration of Bay Area residents to the capital region, Nelson said, and both new and existing businesses will look to Sacramento State for the bright, young and talented workforce that will allow the region to continue to grow. The Carlsen Center, he added, will provide students with the opportunity to learn directly from entrepreneurs and innovators with real-life experiences, not only to hear about their successes but to learn about what pitfalls to avoid.
“Sac State has the opportunity to be the leader in innovation. There’s a lot of energy in this area right now, and this is the perfect time for the Dale and Katy Carlsen Center,” Nelson said. “This Center is absolutely going to ignite a fire in people who want to start their own business and make their own path, and I’m excited to be a part of that.”
Made at Sac State 