Rick Higdon, chairman of the board of trustees at Brescia University, told the Greater Owensboro Chamber of Commerce’s Rooster Booster Breakfast on Thursday that the liberal arts education he received at Brescia helped him with business ventures in other countries through the years.
The meeting was on Facebook Live and ZOOM rather than at the Owensboro Convention Center.
Higdon said his career has taken him to Australia and Latin America among other places.
He’s now based in Atlanta, serving as a senior board advisor with Bravaldo Capital Partners.
Liberal arts, Higdon said, doesn’t translate into the political realm of liberal vs. conservative.
The term dates back to ancient Greece, where it meant to acquire broad knowledge, he said.
Brescia helped prepare him to “get out of my comfort zone and look at different perspectives,” Higdon said.
He said he likes the concept of America being a melting pot of different cultures.
“It’s imperative that we embrace diversity,” Higdon said.
He spent the last 35 years working in finance, sales and executive management in the technology industry and has worked with companies in the energy, mining and transportation industries.
Higdon worked for an ERP software firm, where he managed global budgeting and planning while living in Australia.
He then moved to South America for a business development role.
Higdon later worked as chief financial officer of a mobile computing firm and led the sale of the company to private equity firm GFI Energy Ventures.
He then became president of an operating unit at GFI.
After leaving GFI, Higdon founded Turnpoint Solutions, which he later sold to Five Point Partners.
That firm was later acquired by Ernst & Young.
Higdon then became executive director of advisory services at Ernst & Young until he retired in 2016.
By Keith Lawrence Messenger-Inquier