The Small Business Institute (SBI) at Plymouth State College, affiliated with Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE,) attended a regional competition on April 9, in Hartford, Conn. Representing PSC at the SIFE competition was Jeff Moore, a Communications Major, and Tawnia Swisher, a Marketing Major. “They did a super job,” commented Craig Zamzow, Director of the SBI and a faculty member in the Business Department.
SIFE is an organization originally founded by the Wal-Mart Corporation and has chapters at over one thousand college campuses nationwide. According to Zamzow, it is now sponsored by most of the major corporations in the United States. The idea behind SIFE is to get students to work on projects that encourage free enterprise. They accomplish this by sponsoring competitions and student outreach programs. Said Zamzow, “We’re using SIFE to expand the small business program.”
The organizational structure of the SIFE competitions begins at the regional competition level. This year’s regional winners will compete at the National Competition held in Kansas City, Mo. “The winners of the Nationals [Competition] go to the Worlds [Competition], held last year in London,” explained Zamzow.
The two PSC students that attended the regional competition in Hartford went with the intent to get a feel for the competitions. While there, Moore and Swisher, working as a team, won Rookie of the Year and Second Runner-up honors. According to Zamzow, they presented a Power Point slideshow presentation to a panel of fifteen judges from various large and small Connecticut area businesses. Colby Sawyer College, New London, N.H., won at the Regionals in New York and Franklin Pierce College, Rindge, N.H., won in Connecticut. “We hope to win next year,” Zamzow said.
Because of the time restraints surrounding the affiliation process with SIFE and the date of the regional competition, explained Zamzow, “We had about a week, week and a half to prepare.” During that time, Moore and Swisher prepared three SBI projects and four Principles of Marketing Projects to present. “They presented two or three projects in which they had no knowledge. They did a super job,” said Zamzow.
According to Zamzow, they are going to formalize SIFE by holding a campus competition with the winners going to the Regional Competition. “Anything that falls under the umbrella of free enterprise can be presented,” said Zamzow. “The goal for next year is to be chosen as winners.”