Driving Prosperity with Intuit

Empowering students, fostering innovation and growing the local economy are all components of an exciting, strategic partnership between Marshall University and Intuit — yet another example of Marshall modeling innovative programming for universities across the country.

"This partnership reflects Marshall and Intuit's shared priority of driving prosperity by unlocking opportunities for students to learn, earn and lead," said Tricia Ball, executive director of Marshall's Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (iCenter). "It's designed not just to serve our students, but to spur economic development across Huntington, West Virginia, and beyond." The partnership came to fruition after Marshall University President Brad D. Smith met with Intuit leaders to share the story of Marshall For All, Marshall Forever. Smith served as CEO/president for Intuit prior to being named Marshall president.

"Given that Intuit's mission is to power prosperity around the world, particularly in communities that have been overlooked or underserved, I asked, ‘Is there a way that we can put these very exciting initiatives together?'" Smith said. "Their response was overwhelmingly positive." Announced in March, the partnership has three key initiatives. One is Intuit's commitment to making Marshall part of a talent pipeline, creating internships and job opportunities in areas like cybersecurity and technology. Another is Marshall working with Intuit to integrate its financial literacy education platform into opportunities for Marshall students as well as K-12 schools throughout the state.

The third initiative is its most exciting — Intuit's decision to place a Prosperity Hub in the heart of Marshall's IDEA District, covering two blocks between downtown Huntington and Old Main where the Brad D. Smith Center for Business and Innovation and the future home of the Institute for Cyber Security are located. The Prosperity Hub will create 250 jobs in the next year for Marshall students. The jobs offer scheduling flexibility, allowing students to work while they earn their degree, with starting salaries at $18 per hour.

"Our new Prosperity Hub at Marshall University not only opens doors for students to develop in-demand tax, bookkeeping and AI skills through hands-on roles that align with their academic schedule, it also creates pathways to bring exceptional expertise to Intuit customers, fueling their success," said David Graham, senior vice president for the Intuit Expert Network.

Marshall is one of the first universities in the country to partner with Intuit on this education-based Prosperity Hub model.

"By bringing this model directly to our IDEA District, we're pioneering a new approach that blends workforce development with higher education," Ball said. "It's not just about jobs, it's about shaping a national model for how universities can drive economic transformation from within."

"The opportunity for us is to realize that success is not limited when you aim too high and you fall just a little short. It's when you aim too low and you hit the target," Smith said. "We have to stop limiting our dreams." Marshall and Intuit launched a pilot of the program in the spring where 23 Marshall students worked remotely. The results were outstanding as Marshall students outperformed professionals handling the same type of work.

"It's a powerful testament to the caliber of Marshall students and the potential of this partnership to provide meaningful employment," Ball said.

Intuit officials were so impressed by the Marshall students they flew them to San Diego to visit Intuit's campus and film testimonials about their experience.

"We sometimes don't recognize the special sauce that exists in our mountains and our hollers and our incredibly talented people," Smith said. "But when the rest of the world sees them it's undeniable. And it's just wonderful to see their eyes light up when they see our students and our citizens." Smith said the benefits of the partnership are enormous as the university will be able to match its talent with exciting jobs located in the state and community, additional jobs will be created around the Prosperity Hub and Intuit will be able to work with other companies located in the IDEA District, hopefully leading to the creation of additional brand-new companies.

"All of that leads up to higher earnings, increased property sales and ultimately taxes, which help fuel our broadband, our K-12 and all the things that make a community vibrant," Smith said. "It's a really exciting ecosystem environment." Ball points out that the partnership with Intuit is not just transactional, it's relational. When the Intuit team visited the Marshall campus in March, they took the time to tour the university thrift store and volunteered there by sorting clothing donations. They were so moved by the impact the store has on campus that they offered to purchase an industrial-sized washer and dryer to support the store's operations.

"That moment reflects the heart of this partnership," Ball said. "A shared commitment to community, compassion and creating lasting change." "We are deeply committed to the potential of each student and are thrilled to be a part of their journey toward a brighter future," Graham said.

Smith points out the partnership sends a strong message to both current students and alumni.

"For the students, it is a payoff on our promise that they're going to have a lifetime filled with achievement," he said. "For our alumni, it is yet another example that Marshall can be the demonstration project for the rest of the world to do things no one else thought was possible. We're showing the world that Marshall will create the way that others can follow."