Westminster's SIFE Team Wins Division at Regional Competition

Westminster College's Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team won its division at the regional SIFE competition held in Chicago this month.

"They went into the competition with the goal of winning, but with the realistic hope of placing as one of the finalists in its division," said David Smith, Westminster College assistant professor of accounting.

In its prior 11 years as a part of SIFE, the Westminster College team had never placed higher than first runner up in regional competitions. This year, the team entered the competition with a strong core of returning members and a large base of talented newcomers. Led by president Brett Turk and his fellow officers: vice president Jared Foster, secretary Meredith Muller, treasurer Amanda Petrovich, publicity chair Marissa Catanzarite, and historian Deborah Ward; the organization put together a solid list of community service accomplishments.

"The goal of SIFE is to promote financial, economic and ethical well being in the community by applying members' knowledge and experiences in areas of market economics, entrepreneurship, business ethics, financial know-how, and skills needed to survive in today's financial world. These goals were incorporated into the group's projects," Smith said.

The Chicago competition culminated with a presentation of each team's accomplishments over the past year. The team spent weeks before the competition preparing and developing their presentation, which consisted of a sequence of speeches, Power Point, and video and audio aids.

The Westminster team faced challengers from universities across the country.
"When Westminster's name was announced as one of the finalists, 18 people jumped up and down on the inside, but remained professionally cool on the outside," Smith said. "Possibility became a reality when Westminster College earned its Championship Trophy to bring home."

The students did not just compete during their stay in Chicago. They attended a career fair and benefited from the opportunity to meet members from other teams and from the business community.

Contact Smith at (724) 946-7161 or e-mail smithdc@westminster.edu for more information.

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