BOLIVAR, MO – For the 24th time in 25 years, Southwest Baptist University’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team captured a regional championship on March 27 in Rogers, Arkansas.  Twenty-six colleges and universities competed for the rights to compete at SIFE Nationals, which will be held in Chicago this May.  SBU SIFE competed in a league that included Graceland University (former National Champions), Oklahoma Baptist University, Southern Nazarene University, East Central University (Oklahoma), and others.

"I am extremely excited to go on to nationals. This team has been absolutely amazing, and after the comments from the judges at regionals, I am so proud of all that the SBU SIFE team has accomplished. I am proud of each member of SBU SIFE, and I know that SIFE will continue to be strong in the years to come,” said SIFE Vice President Holly Stockard, a senior at SBU.

 To win the regional competition, SBU’s SIFE team presented a 20-24 minute presentation about the team’s year, which included a description of the projects the team completed, a video presentation, and annual report that detailed the project’s budget, description, target audience, and SIFE members responsible for the project.  Each project had to meet six judging criteria of market economics, success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, business ethics, and team sustainability. The team had to present and defend that their projects met these criteria.

Each team’s presentation was judged by 30 CEOs of companies ranging from Fortune 500 companies to local businesses.  At the end of the presentation, all team members were subjected to six minutes of questions from the judges.

 For more information about SIFE at SBU, visit www.sbuniv.edu/SIFE.

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PHOTO CAPTION: Front row left to right: Matt Clair (Parkville, MO), Sara Mires (Maryville, MO), Diane Copeland (Stilwell, KS), Lori Williams (St. Charles, MO), Courtney Tallant (Richland, MO), Levi Bridge (Cedar Rapids, IA) Second row left to right: Jillian Arnett (Abidjan, Ivory Coast), Megan Faulkner (Clinton, MO), Katie Dawson (O’Fallon, IL), Kristin Edwards (Macks Creek, MO), Rebekah Wright (Wichita, KS), Holly Stockard (Jonesboro, AR) Third row left to right: Caitlin Flowers (Nixa, MO), Curtiss Brandt (Camdenton, MO), Meilani Williams (Leavenworth, KS), Brea Carico (Maroa, IL), Jessica Foley (Stockton, MO), Tiffany Grant (Sperry, OK), Rachel Greene (Salem, MO), Mike Conrad (St. Louis, MO), Abby Duncan (Springfield, MO), Katy Stanford (Bolivar, MO), Jared Green (Ozark, MO) Fourth row left to right: Lydia Nebel (Bolivar, MO), Brian Verslues (Jefferson City, MO), Shaun Green (Liberty, MO)