Throughout the markets of Nassau, the villages of Eleuthera, the gardens of Freeport—there are Hurricanes. Miami Hurricanes, that is. Of the 110 countries from which the University recruits its international students, the Bahamas claims more UM alumni than any other single region.

While proximity and similar weather make the University a logical choice for Bahamians, another reason is the School of Business Administration’s Saturday M.B.A. Program in Nassau. Designed for working professionals, the two-year program holds classes on Saturdays in Nassau, taught by UM faculty. Entrepreneurship is growing in the Bahamas, and many of the 600-plus Bahamians who earned M.B.A. degrees from the program since its 1976 launch have parlayed their education into success.

Even as a child, Earla Bethel, B.B.A. ’76, M.B.A. ’96, dreamed of owning her own business. She was born in Eleuthera, where her father owned a construction business, and her mother owned a mom-and-pop grocery store.

“Both parents took a risk to be able to control their own destiny,” Bethel says. “I thought, if they could do it with limited education, I could certainly do it with all the resources I had.”

After finishing undergraduate studies at the University of Miami, returning to the Bahamas, and working for 15 years at Coca-Cola’s Caribbean Bottling Ltd., where she served as vice president of finances, she decided to go back to school. Carleton Williams, M.B.A. ’78, Caribbean Bottling’s chairman of the board, told Bethel: “If you do the executive M.B.A. program at the University of Miami, you will find it nothing short of rewarding.” Williams then proposed that Bethel take over his McDonald’s franchise business.

Today Bethel owns DanBrad Ltd. (named for her two children, Danielle and Brad), the holding company for all McDonald’s restaurants in Nassau. McDonald’s lists her three franchises among its ten most profitable worldwide.

Tourism and offshore banking are the largest industries in the Bahamas, and many UM alumni work in these sectors. Wendy Wong, M.B.A. ’96, has been working for 20 years as the club secretary/administrator at Lyford Cay Club, an exclusive country club on the Island of New Providence.

“The M.B.A., one of my proudest accomplishments, has given me credibility among my employers and the highbrow clientele of this organization,” Wong says.

Charles Klonaris, B.B.A. ’65—whose brothers Anthony, B.S.E.E. ’60, and John, B.S. ’68, M.D. ’72, and daughter Kally, B.Arch. ’00, also graduated from UM—runs a well-known shoe business with his father in Nassau. Klonaris is chair of the Nassau Tourism Development Board, which is creating a framework to support businesses in the city.

“The quality and standard of living for the average Bahamian has risen so much,” Klonaris says. “Now there is a very large middle class that wants to get involved as entrepreneurs, not just employees.”

Known for its paradisaic lifestyle, the Bahamas is full of opportunity for an increasingly educated population. Certainly University of Miami alumni will continue to play an important role.