SIFE Team to Compete at Regional Event
The Fairmont State University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Team will compete
for cash prizes at the Cincinnati, Ohio, SIFE USA Regional Competition on Friday,
March 28. The event is one of 16 SIFE USA Regional Competitions being held across
the United States.
Dr. Jack Kirby, SIFE Sam Walton Fellow and FSU Associate Professor of Business Administration,
advises the FSU SIFE Team.
"This year's SIFE Team members exemplify the winning characteristics of hard work
and dedication to the goals of SIFE and have demonstrated leadership skills that create
success," Kirby said. "I am anxious to accompany this year's team to the Cincinnati
competition, where they will have the opportunity to present their many outreach projects
delivered this academic year."
SIFE is an international non-profit organization active on more than 1,400 university
campuses in 48 countries. SIFE teams create economic opportunities in their communities
by organizing outreach projects that teach: market economics, entrepreneurship, personal
financial success skills and business ethics. Their projects are judged at competition
on creativity, innovation and effectiveness.
SIFE encourages university students to take what they are learning in the classroom
and apply it to real-life situations, using their knowledge to make life better in
their communities by teaching the principles of free enterprise. The FSU SIFE Team
touched the community this year in several ways, including: bringing the Extreme Entrepreneurship
Tour to Fairmont State's campus; teaching business planning skills to middle school
and high school students; providing success skills workshops; teaching business ethics;
and teaching at-risk high school students entrepreneurship in a year-long program
sponsored by SIFE through a $5,000 grant from the Marcus Foundation.
"While our goal is to win at the Cincinnati competition, I firmly believe that the
FSU SIFE Team members are already winners in a broader sense," Kirby said. "They have
made a lasting, positive impact on the lives they have touched through this year's
outreach projects. They have grown within themselves and have truly made a difference
in the community."
Regional champions named at competitions held around the country will present their
projects at the 2008 SIFE USA National Exposition in Chicago on May 13-15.
For additional information, contact Dr. Jack Kirby at (304) 367-4183.
