Saturday, Feb. 23, 2019, CSU Bakersfield students and staff gathered at the Business Development Center for a special grand opening. President Lynnette Zelezny, Dean of the School of Business and Public Administration, Angappa Gunasekaran, the CSUB pep squad and more watched as CSUB’s Investment Center was officially ready for business.

The opening remarks began, and Zelezny said, “This Investment Center allows CSUB students access to information that is reserved for IVY League schools.” She also said, “I am hoping students will get a Student Investment Group together like the one I was a part of.”

The purpose of the Investment Center is to help students learn how the stock market works. Students can learn how investing money works and they will have 24 hour access to real time market surveillance.

“We have access to the real time market data, and also access to a lot of other useful information about the economy and how different industries are doing,” Gunasekaran said.

After the big blue ribbon was cut, attendees got an inside look into how this new addition is going to work. Upon first glance it is overwhelming. There are 12 pods, each adorned with dual computer screens, a colorful keyboard and a student who understands the system.

It turns out, this pod is called a Bloomberg Terminal. The Bloomberg Terminal is a computer software program that allows professionals to have access, monitor and analyze the real-time financial market data. The Terminal also provides news, price quotes, and messaging through a secure network.

Yoselin Gonzales, Accounting Major then went on the computer and looked up Netflix. Words, numbers and everything in between popped up on the screen. She began to explain what some aspects meant and how it translates to a more relatable platform.

Gonzales said she was excited about the Investment Center. “[I] wanted to learn how to use the whole system which is a little scary because so much is going on, it just comes at you,” said Gonzales.

Gonzales plans to use the information she learns through the Investment Center when she enters the job market.

The take away Gonzales is hoping for, is the exact reason this Investment Center has come to CSUB.

Professor Juan Gutierrez said “the idea is to try and use the terminals to demonstrate what we teach in class. Allowing them to have a competitive edge when they go into the job market.”

All in all, the Investment Center will be a great tool for all CSUB students and staff. Whether your major will result in the use of this information or not, understanding the market and how that little app on one’s phone with all the numbers means, is unmatchable.