Christopher Newport University's Luter School Students Win Top Honor in National Business Consulting Competition
News Release - March 04, 2009
Media Contacts:
Lori Jacobs
University Relations
lori.jacobs@cnu.edu
(757) 594-7961
For the 5th consecutive year, students in the Small Business Institute™ (SBI®) program at Christopher Newport University's Joseph W. Luter, III School of Business & Leadership have won top honors in a national business consulting competition.
Students from CNU’s SBI® program won Best Undergraduate Case of the Year for the award category: ‘Best Comprehensive Case.” The award was presented at the 33rd Annual International conference of the Small Business Institute™ in St. Petersburg, Florida held February 12-14, 2009.
This is the fifth straight year that Luter School students have won a prestigious 1st place award and marks the school as the most-honored undergraduate business consulting program.
The winning student team includes recent CNU graduates Dana Decker, Christy Brewer, Katie Smith, Kristine Taylor and Pamela Ferris. They produced the award-winning case for local small business entrepreneur and custom jeweler, Allison Marshall, whose business A. Amsler Designs was the winning case subject.
At the awards ceremony, Dr. Stephanie Bardwell was joined by the future Director of the SBI® at CNU, Dr. Patrick Walker and two of the winning team students, Christy Brewer and Dana Decker, as well as the small business owner studied in the winning case, Allison Marshall.
The “Case of the Year” award is the most significant honor bestowed upon the competitive written projects. CNU student consulting teams completed this project under the supervision of Dr. Stephanie Bardwell, director of the SBI Program. Each team produces a professionally executed written project designed to assist small business owners in accounting, finance, management, marketing, web design and legal. Students base the final written “case” project upon original research conducted on the industry and customize the results to the local market.
CNU’s SBI® has assisted many small firms located in Hampton Roads for over twenty years. The Institute’s unique approach is to use best practices to diagnose and implement effective business solutions with many creative results, including the tools of “One Dozen/Low Cost/No Cost Improvements©” and the “Top 25 Legal Issues Audit.©”
The Small Business Institute™ is the premier professional association of small business educators. Its mission is “to strengthen the small business / entrepreneurship sector of the free enterprise system, provide entrepreneurship education and support economic development and diversification through teaching, consulting, training and field research with small businesses and local communities.”
Information about the SBI® at CNU may be found at: http://smallbusinessinstitute.cnu.edu/.
Christopher Newport University is a four-year public university in Newport News, Virginia. CNU enrolls 5,000 students in rigorous academic programs through the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Joseph W. Luter III College of Business and Leadership and offers great teaching, small classes and an emphasis on leadership, civic engagement and honor. Visit us at www.cnu.edu.