Staff report

YOUNGSTOWN — It was toward the end of his presentation to economics students at Youngstown State University when Ed Muransky, CEO of The Muransky Companies, delivered what may have been the most impactful piece of advice — business or otherwise — to the audience.

“The most important thing that you will ever learn in your life is how when nobody is looking to be an unselfish giver … to each other, to someone on the street that you don’t know, to your family,” Muransky said. “Unselfish giving is the key, in my opinion, to happiness in your life.”

It’s a lesson he said he learned early in life and one he tries to breed in his companies, Southwoods Health, a surgical hospital in Boardman; Chestnut Land Company, the holding company of Auntie Anne’s soft pretzels; Rise Pies pizza; and The Lake Club in Poland.

“At the end of the day, when you look in the mirror, happiness is about what you think of you as a person,” Muransky said.

He spoke Thursday at YSU, hosted the the university’s economics department. Discussed were the economics of workforce retention, improving a company and service through analytics, and the gaps and differences between workers in the Baby Boomer generation and Generations X and Z and millenials.

He recalled a chance meeting with the founder of Auntie Anne’s, Anne Beiler, at a shopping center convention in 1990 in Las Vegas. He was walking the halls of the center with property developer Edward J. DeBartolo Sr. when they happened upon a line of 30 or so people deep waiting for a hot pretzel.

DeBartolo had to move on to attend a meeting, but Muransky stayed in line to see what the fuss was about. The woman behind the register was Beiler, who had tried to get meetings with DeBartolo about expanding into malls. She had six stores at the time.

Muransky grabbed a bag and delivered them to the meeting. DeBartolo liked the pretzel and arranged for a franchise location in a Florida mall. Beiler was on board and to today, she and Muransky have a hand-shake agreement that lets him franchise Auntie Anne’s anywhere.

The lesson: “Part of success is being there. I didn’t have to be in Las Vegas. I wasn’t selling anything, I was there learning,” Muransky said.

Ou Hu, chairman of the economics department at YSU, said the presentation came from a statement he made at a recent meeting that included Muransky about a disconnect between the university and what the real world wants in skills.

“The business landscape is shifting and as a result, the in-demand skill sets, they are also changing, so we need to bring that up to date with our students to better prepare our students for their future careers,” Hu said.

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