Forty years ago, Greg Woodman spent his tuition money to print Penn State T-shirts to sell at tailgates. It was a move that wasn’t very popular with his parents, but it paid off, big time.

Dave Gerdes spent nearly 40 years in sales and marketing for major hotel firms like Marriott, Hilton International, Starwood Hotels & Resorts and Omni before coming back to Happy Valley to serve as Vice President of Sales and Marketing for The Happy Valley Adventure Bureau. He says that his career happened because of a road trip detour to visit an old roommate.

Hyatt Place Sales Manager Tiffany Wren says that she fell into working in hospitality by accident, and has watched it blossom into a career she loves.

“We like to think we have something for everybody,” says Curtis Shulman, Director of Operations at Hotel State College & Co., a Penn State alumni-run company that owns the Allen Street Grill, the Corner Room, Bill Pickle’s Tap Room, Chumley’s Cocktail Bar, the Basement Nightspot and Zeno’s Pub — all on one block a mere stone’s throw from Penn State’s Old Main.