CSU, Chico News

The California State University, Chico Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Team matched its educational outreach projects against other teams at the 2002 SIFE Regional Competition and Career Opportunity Fair held on April 5 in Seattle, Washington. The team was named Regional Champion and will advance to the 2002 SIFE USA National Exposition in May in Kansas City, Missouri.

Twenty-two members of the team traveled to Seattle, including the five presenters: Allison Steltzner, a senior marketing major from Napa; Greg Yatman, a senior public relations major from Yuba City; Siobhan Brennan, a senior management information systems major from Petaluma; Jill Zinke, a junior management major from Chico; and Courtney Kimball, a junior marketing major from Yuba City.

SIFE encourages students to apply what they learn in the classroom to real-life situations and to use their knowledge to better their communities through educational outreach projects. The projects presented by the CSU, Chico SIFE Team included the “Wise Kid, Wealthy Kid” Youth Entrepreneurship Camp, Project Africa, the International Trade Fair and a high school mentoring project called Cal-High SIFE. Many of the grade school and high school students with whom SIFE works are from economically disadvantaged schools.

The Youth Entrepreneurship Camp was entered for two separate special competitions that were judged before the regional competitions. This project, conducted jointly with Butte College SIFE, was entered into the National Teach A Child about Business Week competition, sponsored by Discover Financial Services. The objective of the National Teach A Child About Business Week is for SIFE students to help school children gain an understanding of how business works and to further their comprehension of socially responsible free enterprise.

The project was also entered into the Best Entrepreneurship Assistance competition, sponsored by the Kauffman Center for Entrepreneurial Leadership. The objective of this competition is to educate entrepreneurs on how to manage and develop their businesses more successfully. One of the businesses, Soap Critters, was started by Nicole Hoening, age 12. The unique feature about her product is that each bar of soap has a toy inside. Her slogan is, “If getting dirty is fun, getting clean just got better!” Nicole has made more than $700 in profit so far.

The CSU, Chico team was named a Top 15 finalist in both competitions. The distinction earned the team a $500 award for each special competition, and the possibility of being named one of the Top Three finalists in Kansas City, Missouri.

Yatman, one of camp’s project leaders, said, “This project was an ideal way for community college students to work side by side with us, for the benefit of K-12 students. At the end of our camp, the 60 graduates, all between ages 10 and 13, scored much higher than high school students did on the same exact test conducted at the national level. This is an example of seamless education in action.”

At the Seattle competition, teams were judged on the effectiveness of their projects during a 24-minute presentation and were evaluated on creativity and innovation, results of education programs, success in using resources and documentation of activities. This year’s team struck a real chord with the judges, most of whom are West Coast business leaders and recruiters. Sample comments from their anonymous notes included, “Excellent program with great outreach to the local and global communities”; “Incredible presentation, project development and completion”; “Extremely professional presentation. Great strides and impacts can be seen on a variety of levels”; “Thank you for your contribution to the worldwide business community”; and “Your presentation blows everyone else away! It appears that your team has no egos, yet takes very much pride in making a difference.”

CSU, Chico SIFE students also met with dozens of corporate representatives from the West Coast business community to discuss job opportunities. Regional champions named at 21 competitions held around the country will present their projects at the 2002 SIFE USA National Exposition May 12–14 in Missouri. The national champion in the four-year division will travel to Amsterdam in September to compete at the second annual SIFE World Cup.

Curt DeBerg, professor of accounting and management information systems, serves as adviser for the CSU, Chico Team. Comparing this year’s team to previous SIFE teams, including the 1999 International Champions, DeBerg said, “In my nine years as adviser, I have never had such a remarkable group. This year’s team developed a strategic plan before the academic year began, they designed and completed projects that have truly impacted the community, and then they assessed them so that next year’s team can improve. It doesn’t really matter if the team wins in Kansas City, because the real winners here are the people served by the SIFE students.”

Steltzner, this year’s executive director, agreed with DeBerg but also said that SIFE students benefit, too. “As college students, we have learned so much about what it means to be a member of more than just the campus community. By reaching out to others in the larger community, we have become better citizens, while at the same time improving our teamwork, leadership and communication skills.”

Founded in 1975 and active on more than 1,000 college and university campuses in 28 countries, SIFE is a nonprofit organization that works in partnership with business and higher education to provide college students the opportunity to make a through learning, practicing and teaching the principles of free enterprise. For more information, contact Allison Steltzner at 343-3368 or Curt DeBerg at 898-4824, or visit http://www.csuchico.edu/sife.

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This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 16th, 2002 at 8:18 am and is filed under 2002 Spring.