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Student internships are just one way PAG offers bright career paths

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June 22, 2022

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This excerpt is part of an article that included internships at the Gene Editing Institute and Chemours Discovery Lab. It was written by Tracey Bryant and Karen Roberts and published on UD Daily on June 14, 2022. You can read the full article here.

UD’s STAR Campus shines as a place for student internships

The University of Delaware’s Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Campus is sparking joint research projects between UD and several companies that reside on the 272-acre site where a Chrysler auto assembly plant once stood. Clean energy, biopharmaceuticals, sustainable materials, and financial technology (fintech) are just a few areas being explored.

And that’s not all. Alongside these collaborations, student internship programs are taking shape. And that’s a big win for both the University and its students, and for companies struggling to recruit top talent in a still-hot hiring market.

“This is the toughest hiring market I’ve seen,” said David LaRoche, managing partner for U.S. operations at Predictive Analytics Group. The company is headquartered in the 10-story Tower at STAR, which USA Today highlighted in a 2019 roundup of “amazing” university and college buildings.

“But the University of Delaware is a great recruiting pool for us,” LaRoche said. “We know students come out of UD prepared, with a certain skill set and mentality to do the job.”

Business analytics on the rise at Predictive Analytics Group

Predictive Analytics Group (PAG) analyzes data in complex ways and breaks it down into easy-to-understand formats to identify key business trends and provide recommendations to improve their clients’ businesses.

A proud Blue Hen, LaRoche is a co-owner of the company with CEO Stephen Hoops and Chief Data Analytics Officer Dee Ridgeway. All three are former classmates and graduates of the Class of 1998 in UD’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics. The company employs 25 people, and 40% are UD graduates, LaRoche said.

“By working with student interns 10 to 12 hours a week for a year or more, almost in a part-time employee model, we get to assess their strengths and opportunities,” LaRoche said. “But their UD education comes first. That is the priority.”

David LaRoche (left), managing partner at Predictive Analytics Group and a University of Delaware alumnus, works with Carson Furci, who graduated with his degree in entrepreneurship from UD this past May. Furci did a student internship with the company and is now employed there full-time as a marketing/business analyst.

Carson Furci interned with the company over the past year and a half, working on projects ranging from developing the company website to learning the Structured Query Language (SQL) used in database management. He graduated from UD in May with his bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship and in mid-June started working full-time at the company as a marketing/business analyst.

“There’s a lot of opportunity here, and I already feel like I’m a member of the family,” said Furci, who is from Yorktown Heights, New York. “My boss has over 25 years of experience, and my goal is to just do the best I can and to learn as much as I can. Ever since I started working for my dad in seventh grade, I’ve always enjoyed putting in the work, growing, learning and becoming proficient at something.”

In addition to offering a student internship program, PAG’s leadership team mentors students in the Horn Entrepreneurship Program, which has been ranked again among the best in the nation. The company also recently established an endowed scholarship in business analytics for UD students.

Managing Partner of U.S. Operations

Mr. LaRoche is a resourceful, results-oriented Executive with over 25 years of financial services experience; emphasizing collections risk management, dialer operations, MIS and reporting analytics, acquisition strategies, loss forecasting, credit policy, account management strategies, portfolio conversions, due diligence, and collections operations management. He also has over 15 years of direct risk management experience, with 3 years of collections line management experience possessing excellent analytical skills and the ability to manage diverse groups in strategies, modeling, collections, dialer operations, loss forecasting/loan loss reserve modeling, financial analysis, operations and loss avoidance.

David started his career in 1997 as a customer service representative for Travelers Bank. Since then, he has held the following senior positions:

  • Director, US Operations for Bridgeforce Consulting
  • Sr. Director and Call Center Leader for American Express
  • SVP. Collections Strategy and IT leader for Washington Mutual

Chief Risk Officer

Dale Hoops has over 25 years of experience within the financial services industry, with a focus on Risk Management, Collections, Fraud, Account Management Strategies, Loss Forecasting, stress testing, and economic analysis.

Dale started her financial services career in 1996 as a part time customer service representative and teller in a small financial center while attending the University of Richmond. Her career has included senior roles at Bank of America, Citi, and MBNA America. She has experience with multiple retail products, including consumer and commercial cards, private label and co-brand, deposits, vehicle lending, mortgage, and home equity. Her key strengths have been identifying opportunities for improvement through business analysis, strategy development, and risk governance.

In addition to her professional career, Dale has extensive leadership experience with non-profits with event planning, policy, budget, and audit management. She is a member of the Board of Directors for the Girl Scouts of the Chesapeake Bay, which serves 8,000 girls in Delaware, Maryland, and Virginia. She is the former President, Vice President, and Treasurer at a local Parent-Teacher Association, former community pillar chair for Bank of America’s LEAD for Women Delaware network, and served on the leadership team for the Field of Dreams Relay for Life event to raise funds for the American Cancer Society.

Chief Data and Analytics Officer

Mr. Ridgeway has over 30 years of experience within the financial services industry, including Risk Management, Finance, Project Management, Compliance, MIS, IT & Operations. He has held senior roles at several of the top 5 Banks, including MBNA, Wells Fargo & Citibank. Dee has expertise in Risk oversight and a wealth of knowledge in the regulatory footprint (CFPB / OCC / FRB) in financial services. He has hands-on knowledge in the strategy world with numerous credit products including: credit cards, auto lending, mortgage and home equity, and unsecured lending. Dee is a co-founder of Predictive Analytics Group, worked as a Senior Consultant for Hoops Consulting, LLC., and owned & operated Mayflower Analytics LLC.

From a Risk Management perspective, Dee has experience in portfolio management in credit underwriting and loss mitigation during several growth cycles and economic contraction periods. He understands the needs and partners well with operational risk, modeling, and loss forecasting risk functions.

Dee is a SME on risk data strategy (data architecture, data management, and systems integration) and often creates a "passable bridge" between Risk and IT that translates business needs into executable business plans.

From an MIS, reporting, and portfolio analytics perspective, Dee has a proven track record of designing portfolio reporting that meets executive and end user needs that often have been labeled the "gold standard."

CEO and Chief Strategy Officer

Mr. Hoops has over 25 years of experience within the financial services industry, including Credit Collections & Fraud Risk Management, Business Operations, Control &Compliance, Strategic Planning, Forecasting, and Marketing Analytics. He has served as a Chief Risk Officer for Barclaycard US Partnerships, a Global Scoring Head at Citibank, and a Site President for Wells Fargo Financial. Steve is a co-founder of Predictive Analytics Group and has owned & operated Hoops Consulting, LLC for the past 4 years.

Steve started his financial services career in 1993 as a part-time telemarketer while attending the University of Delaware for his Business Administration degree. Mr. Hoops has spent his 25-plus years within the industry building best-in-class operations with each company he has supported. His career has been highlighted by leading several large functions for several Tier 1 and Tier 2International Banks, including:

  • Credit Policy (CRO for $20B co-branded portfolio, Barclaycard US partnership)
  • Credit Policy (SVP for $28B retail Co-brand & Private Label portfolio, Citibank)
  • Loss Forecasting / Loan Loss Reserves ($30B Consumer portfolio, Citi-Financial)
  • Collections Risk Management ($70B Co-brand & Private label portfolios, Citibank)
  • Modeling ($30B Consumer Loan & sub-prime Mortgage portfolio, Citi-Financial)
  • Collection Operations (Head of 410 person operations center, $17B Auto, Personal Loan & Mortgage portfolio, Wells Fargo)
  • Credit Analytics (MBNA/Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank)