UMC SIFE Students Advance to National Competition

A team of University of Minnesota, Crookston (UMC) students involved with the campus Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Team took home championship honors at the SIFE Regional Competition in Minneapolis on April 3.  The team will now advance to the national level competition to be held May 12-14 in Kansas City, Missouri.  This is the third consecutive year UMC’s team has advanced to the national competition.

Back row (l-r):  Advisor Eric Burgess, Dave Struck, Justin Petrich, James Lamb, Eric Albrecht, Advisor Steven Shirley; middle row (l-r):  James Guerrier, Ryan Tripp, Brent Massmann, Tom Hill, Jeremy Busch; front row (l-r):  Sanaz Anvarinia, Marnie Wirth, Jessie Felten, Steven Brandt, Faiza Ahad.

UMC SIFE members include Faiza Ahad of Dhaka, Bangladesh; Eric Albrecht of Hibbing, MN; Sanaz Anvarinia of Grand Forks, ND; Steve Brandt of Kimball, MN; Jeremy Busch of Alexandria, MN; Jessie Felten of Caledonia, MN; James Guerrier of Miami, FL; Tom Hill of Grand Forks, ND; James Lamb of Grand Forks, ND; Brent Massmann of Kimball, MN; Will Meine of Crookston; Justin Petrich of Crookston; Matt Smith of Wheaton, MN; Dave Struck of Fairmont, MN; Ryan Tripp of Alexandria, MN; and Marnie Wirth of Munich, ND.

Judges awarded the UMC team championship honors based on a 30-minute audio-video presentation.  The students presented their annual report, a year-long program of educational and outreach activities.  Their project list included refining and distributing an eight-page coloring book, geared toward grades 1-3, that describes basic business principles of how a market-based economy operates; presenting seminars on managing financial matters to students at several high schools; assisting local high school DECA chapters; helping local businesses improve customer service through a “mystery shopper” program; spearheading a campus recycling project; taking part in lobbying efforts at the Minnesota State Capitol; and sponsoring a community business social networking event.

UMC’s team competed against other collegiate SIFE teams from throughout the Midwest including Winona State University, Luther College (Iowa), and the University of Sioux Falls.

Steven Shirley, the team’s advisor and a marketing instructor at UMC, said, “The UMC SIFE Team once again demonstrated its ability to successfully compete on a regional level.  The students put in a lot of hard work throughout the year, and those efforts were recognized with a Regional Champion designation in Minneapolis.  UMC SIFE is developing an impressive tradition with its third straight year of advancing to the nationals, and we look forward to competing in Kansas City in May."

SIFE is a nonprofit organization that gives students the tools to learn the free enterprise system in a real working situation.  The organization is represented on more than 700 college campuses worldwide.  

 

Posted  04/10/2002
Contact: Andrew Svec, 218-281-8435

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