Bryant students are SIFE regional champs
By Susan A. Baird PBN Web Editor
SMITHFIELD – Bryant University’s Students in Free Enterprise community outreach team will advance to the national contest for the sixth time in seven years, after again placing as a champion in the SIFE USA Regional Competition.
The team was awarded $1,500 for winning the regional contest, and another $1,000 for placing as a finalist in the GE Consumer Products Program Sustainability Competition.
“This achievement represents the validation of all the projects Bryant SIFE has completed this year,” Matthew Veves, a Bryant sophomore from Hudson, N.H., and a presenter with the school’s SIFE team, said in a statement today. The team also included executive board members Julie Wentzell, president; Daniel Caulfield, vice president; Brittany Aiesi, project coordinator; Stephen Balkam, treasurer; Amanda Dunne, PR coordinator; Robert Taylor, presentation coordinator; and Kathryn Rzasa, secretary.
SIFE teams complete projects focusing on market economics, entrepreneurship, personal financial skills or business ethics, then prepare a written report. At the competition, each student team has 24 minutes to give its audio-visual presentation before a panel of business leaders, then 5 minutes to field questions from the panelists.
The Bryant team – with Sam Walton Fellow and faculty adviser David Greenan – organized 19 projects this academic year, including a Technology for the Elderly program that helped local residents learn how to use digital cameras, shop on eBay and stay in touch with their families via e-mail. “It’s a different kind of competition from anything else I’ve been a part of,” Veves said. “It’s not solely about winning; it’s about seeing all the good that each SIFE chapter has done for the community.”
The regional contest, sponsored by CVS/pharmacy, was held April 1 at the Crowne Plaza at the Crossings in Warwick. Bryant tied with the University of Southern Maine, in Portland, for the League 2 championship, while the University of Massachusetts–Dartmouth took first runner-up and Lehigh Valley College of Center Valley, Pa., was second runner-up. Salve Regina University of Newport was second runner-up in League 1, placing behind Boston College and Maine Maritime Academy, the league champ, but ahead of Boston’s Wentworth Institute of Technology.
Champions from the regional contests will advance to the 2008 SIFE USA National Exposition, to be held in Chicago May 13 to 15. National winners will go on to vie for the SIFE World Cup.
Students in Free Enterprise is an international nonprofit organization that works with businesses and educational institutions to encourage students to use their classroom knowledge to address real-world issues. Their outreach projects are showcased at annual competitions in which regional winners advance to the national contest and national winners vie for the SIFE World Cup. To learn more, visit http://www.sife.org/.
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Congratulations to all our friends on Bryant University SIFE Team for their hard work and dedication to all their projects, but especially the New Hope Diner Project! A special thank you to David Greenan, Bryant Professor and Samuel Walton Fellow SIFE Team Advisor for the inspiration and leadership he provides to his students.
The Bryant University SIFE Team also enters its community projects into competitions against other SIFE Teams from around the world. It is our pleasure to announce that Bryant University won the SIFE Regional today at the Crowne Plaza. The next competition is the 2008 SIFE USA National Exposition on May 13-15, 2008 in Chicago, IL at the McCormick Place Convention Center.
Last year, while on their summer retreat, Bryant's SIFE Executive Board agreed to work with us on the New Hope Diner Project. The SIFE Team agreed to work with us to develop a marketing plan for New Hope Brand Coffee and he development of a business plan for Mike's Diner. Mike’s Diner is a vintage mobile eatery and was a downtown Providence, Rhode Island landmark for more than 25 years from the mid 1960’s to the mid 1990’s.
Students in Free Enterprise is a global non-profit organization active in more than 40 countries. SIFE is funded by financial contributions from corporations, entrepreneurs, foundations, government agencies and individuals. Working in partnership with business and higher education, SIFE establishes student teams on university campuses. Teams are led by faculty advisors and are challenged to develop community outreach projects that reach SIFE's five educational topics:
Market Economics
Success Skills
Entrepreneurship
Financial Literacy
Business Ethics
