SIFE Named Regional Champions

The University of Arkansas Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team was named Regional Champion at the Dallas Regional Championships on March 30. The students will now travel to Minneapolis to compete at the National Exposition May 11-13. SIFE is housed in the Sam M. Walton College of Business. Faculty sponsors include Susan Bristow, instructor in information systems, and Renee Clay, Walton College Career Development Center.

The participants in the competition included: Jordan Frevert, senior, transportation and logistics; Katie Goll, sophomore, management; Adam Hammond, senior, international business economics; Michael Miller, sophomore, accounting and finance; Rohit Mittal, freshman, pre-med and international business economics; Shelby Mohs, freshman, marketing; Meagan Stellpflug, senior, management; Jared Thomas, sophomore, general business; Kaleah Thomas, senior, international economics and business; and Joseph Van Matre, sophomore, international business, economics and Spanish.

In addition to the overall win, the University of Arkansas SIFE team was named as a SIFE finalist for the Waste Management Environmental Sustainability Topic Competition 2010 for the GreeNWAy Initiative project. This places the GreeNWAy Initiative in the top 20 Environmental Sustainability projects in the nation. Morgan Stellpflug, a sophomore entrepreneurship major and this academic year’s SIFE environmental sustainability criterion manager, as well as the strong partnership with the Fayetteville Chamber of Commerce made this project a success. The top three topic competition winners will be announced at the National SIFE Exposition in Minneapolis.

The SIFE Team also won the Let’s Can Hunger Challenge at the Regional Competition by collecting over 8,500 food items for a specific time period. Overall the team has collected more than 10,000 items. Harry Wilmoth, senior, agricultural economics major, led this effort.

SIFE is an international nonprofit organization that works with leaders in business and higher education to mobilize university students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. Participating students form teams on their university campuses and apply business concepts to develop outreach projects that improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need.