UA SIFE Team Wins Regional Competition, Heads for Finals

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The University of Alabama’s Students in Free Enterprise team won the regional competition in Atlanta this week for the fourth consecutive year and will head for Minneapolis next month for the national finals.

The event was one of 12 held nationally.

“This year’s competition team was very well prepared, and the judges agreed,” said David Ford, clinical professor and Sam Walton Fellow as well as faculty adviser to the team. “Since the program was started, UA teams have won rookie of the year, first runner-up, second runner-up at the national competition and four consecutive regional championships.”

The competition process in the United States begins with a series of regional competitions. Every active Students in Free Enterprise, or SIFE, team has the opportunity to participate in one of these events, where they compete to determine which achieved the most impact to improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need.

Teams must first apply and receive approval from SIFE USA, after which they can register for the regional of their choice. Within each regional, teams are divided into separate leagues based on a series of “seeding” factors and randomly assigned a specific presentation time, during which they distribute an annual report and make a live presentation to a group of executives serving as judges.

The SIFE team over the past year has planned a seminar for students regarding the role of market economics and its impact on individuals and businesses; spent 62 hours at Central Primary School in Tuscaloosa helping students having difficulty with reading and math; created a profile on Kiva.org to coordinate on-line loans for entrepreneurs; made a series of presentations to business school students on effective budgeting skills; coordinated a recycling effort for the business school, and initiated a project aimed at teaching incoming students the importance of ethics in business.

The UA SIFE team was founded in 2005 and has grown from five active members to 64.

This year’s presentation team members are:

• Kimberly Temms, of Tuscaloosa, is a senior management major with a concentration in entrepreneurship. She plans to attend graduate school and one day own a bed and breakfast in a tourist city.
• Stefanie L. Back, a junior from Clemson, S.C., is majoring in investment management and minoring in economics. She will be interning this summer in Washington, D.C. for the Heritage Foundation working on the Enterprise and Free Market Project in the Roe Institute of Economic Policy. Future plans include graduate school and pursuing her interests in journalism, economic policy, and investments.
• Rachel Hester, a junior from Montgomery, is majoring in marketing with a concentration in global business and a minor in Chinese. Last summer, she completed an internship with the Community Bankers Association of Alabama and has continued with CBAA on a contractual basis through writing articles for their magazine, Banking Traditions. She recently received the U.S. State Department’s Critical Language Scholarship to study in China this summer. Her career goals include working in consumer products marketing for an American firm in China.
• Ericka M. Ezell, a senior from Grove Hill majoring in management, is focusing on entrepreneurship and small company management. In addition to being the president of UA’s SIFE team, she is involved in other campus organizations. She is seeking internship opportunities, and she plans to attend graduate school.
• Andrew Hagopian, a senior from Charlotte, N.C., is majoring in management with a focus in entrepreneurship and small company management. He is a member of the Alabama Men’s Lacrosse club team. His future goals include securing a managerial or consulting job.
• Sameer Ratani, a junior from Los Angeles, is majoring in finance with an economics minor. He is a member of the Muslim Student Association where he teaches religion and culture. He plans to work in the international market to find ways to expand businesses globally.
• Cory Ferraez, a junior from Columbus, Miss., is majoring in management with an entrepreneurship specialization. He has served the Student Government Association as a faculty senate liaison and a senator’s assistant. His goals include obtaining internships, graduating with honors, attending law school, and pursuing a career in public service.
• Taylor Hamilton, a sophomore from Nashville, is majoring in economics and working on a minor in political science and history. He is a member of the Golden Key International Honor Society, the Alabama Future Alumni for a Tradition of Excellence and plans to become a member of the Society of Collegiate Scholars.
• Dario Davis, a senior from Whatley majoring in operations management, is minoring in computer science. He is active in a number of organizations at The University of Alabama and plans to find a job at a distribution center or headquarters in the operations management field.
• Tim Brady, a junior from Huntsville majoring in management and marketing, is minoring in history. He is captain of the UA ultimate Frisbee team, one of the nation’s top 50. He has done volunteer work with Habitat for Humanity and spent last summer as a camp counselor.