The Suitts Story Those who make a difference in the world bring vision, perseverance, pragmatic optimism and a sense of humor to their mission. On a fall day in 1950, William J. Suitts (’49 BA, ’50 MA, Business Administration), paid a visit to “Tramway Tech,” a small two-story downtown building at 15th and Tremont that then housed the University of Denver’s College of Business Administration. Suitts was job-hunting. “I was reading notices people had posted on a corkboard behind the receptionist’s desk when I saw a small three-by-five card,” he remembered. “It said, ‘New mortgage company needs experienced mortgage professionals.’” Though he lacked the required experience, Suitts talked himself into the job. It was a fortuitous time to enter the mortgage industry. The economy was expanding, as was Denver’s population, and the GI Bill helped veterans like Suitts purchase homes. To meet the housing demand, subdivisions were springing up in and around Denver. Soon, Suitts was working two jobs. Weekdays he worked for the mortgage company, and weekends he worked for the developer of Hoffman Heights. In both positions, he helped people qualify to purchase homes. Fifty-two years later, as president and owner of Colorado Mortgage Company, Bill Suitts still helps people buy homes. “The bulletin board was my career placement service,” he laughed. But even as he delighted in the lucky coincidence that sparked his career, he recognized that, to succeed, current and future graduates needed consistent, organized, life-long career management. In 2002, acting on his belief, William Suitts and his wife of 54 years, Beth, made a major gift to support the Daniels College of Business Career Services center. In recognition of their spirit and their generosity, the Center was renamed the Bill and Beth Suitts Center for Career Services in
their honor. |