SIFE team earns best-ever finish in Chicago

Fredonia, N.Y. — May 22, 2008 — For the first time ever, a team of SUNY Fredonia students reached the semifinals of the annual Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) USA National Exposition. They competed among 3,200 students from 143 schools at the event held May 13-15 in Chicago.

The exposition entails teams of students presenting results of their community outreach projects, using a written annual report and live audio-visual presentation, to panels of business leaders who serve as judges. Evaluations of each team’s report are based on how successful the students were at creating economic opportunity for others.

“These students were great. They certainly exceeded my expectations; they were fabulous,” beamed Joseph Izzo, team adviser and assistant visiting professor of Business Administration at Fredonia. “It’s a very competitive environment when we get to the Nationals.”

One of Fredonia’s presentations depicted how students worked with inmates at the Chautauqua County Jail with their return to society by assisting them with the preparation of resumes and cover letters that can be given to prospective employers, Mr. Izzo explained. That project was widely embraced by county officials, who would like to see it expanded into other areas.

Only winning teams from the 15 regional SIFE competitions are invited to the national stage. Fredonia has won 11 consecutive Regional titles, so its students have a tradition of competing against the very best teams at the national level. Before this year, Fredonia’s best outcome at the national level was second runner-up on the first day of competition. By taking first place in its opening round, Fredonia was designated a semifinalist and earned a ticket to the second round.

To put this year’s exceptional ranking into perspective, Fredonia is firmly lodged in the top 2 percent of some 950 SIFE teams sponsored by schools across the United States. Fredonia and Binghamton were the only two schools in the SUNY system that qualified for Chicago, and Fredonia was the only one to reach the semifinals and stand proudly among some fairly exclusive company.

“It shows the quality of our students,” Mr. Izzo said. “SUNY is a pretty big system.”

The seven Fredonia students, drawn from among 80 students who worked on SIFE projects throughout the school year and collectively deserve much of the credit for the Fredonia team’s fine performance, included the following:

Rachel LaPaglia, Business Administration/Marketing, Fredonia; Adam Roma, Business Administration / Marketing, West Seneca; Paula Baire, Business Administration / Marketing, Lancaster; Eileen LeMar, Communication/Public Relations, Hornell; Ashley Brown, Business Administration/Marketing, Baldwinsville; Jessyca Riehle, Business Administration, West Babylon; and Meg Ludlam, Economics and Business Administration/Marketing, Long Island. All seven are May 2008 graduates.

“They put a lot of hard work and a lot of hours into this project, many hours of practice, many hours of developing their presentation – all on their own free time,” explained Mr. Izzo, who accompanied the students to Chicago.

In addition to the competition, students had opportunities to attend a career fair and meet with top academic and business leaders from around the country.