Team including Elizabeth Kim of Brewster, NY Takes Home Trophy

Elizabeth Kim of Brewster, NY, was on the winning team of seven students who took home the trophy.

This semester, Professor Dr. Edwin J. Portugal challenged students in his "Strategic and Global Management" class to come up with original product prototypes that they created themselves, along with the accompanying business plan. The winning team's product prototype was for a magnetic ID lanyard, designed to help first-year students prone to losing their campus cards.

Forty students in five different teams competed in the competition. Three external judges examined the business proposals and quizzed the teams about the viability, marketability and profitability of their plans.

"All five teams presented original ideas, but the magnetic strap product caught the judges' eyes because they have identified a specific need and came up with a product to fill that need," said Professor Dr. David Kistler of SUNY Potsdam, who served as one of the judges. "I wouldn't be surprised if one of these days, one of the hundreds of entrepreneurial ideas introduced over the past several years will hit the big time."

Portugal started the competition in 1993, and is now in its 26th year. The event showcases the semester-long team projects that require the teams to develop a 100-page business plan and make a professional presentation to external judges.

"It is a real challenge for students to integrate what they have learned in accounting, finance, management, marketing, business information systems, legal environment analysis, human resource management and operations management," said Dr. Portugal. "Students experience the stimulation of working in teams, the exhilaration of coming up with an innovative product and the excitement of competing with other teams."

SUNY Potsdam's Department of Business Administration offers flexible bachelor's and master's degrees in competitive fields, and provides students with an understanding of how for-profit and non-profit organizations function efficiently and effectively. The College offers its business administration programs both at the Potsdam campus and in Watertown, N.Y., at the SUNY Jefferson Higher Education Center. For more information, visit http://www.potsdam.edu/academics/SOEPS/BusinessAdmin.

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Submitted by Brewster, NY

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