UWRF Collegiate DECA students find success at conference

Amid more than 1,300 competitors, five students from the University of Wisconsin-River Falls DECA chapter placed as a top 10 international finalists at the Collegiate DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) in Washington D.C. April 16-19.

In the Business to Business Marketing event, DECA-UWRF had two student teams, Andrew Davis and Alfonso Tolbert, both marketing communication majors, and Megan Beasley, marketing major, and Courtney Kanipes, marketing and communication studies major, that earned a place as a top 10 international finalist.

Additionally, Davis was one of 10 runner-ups that each received $100 in the International Sales Challenge, a special ICDC event.

Agricultural business and animal science-equine management student Brianna Ahrndt earned a place as a top 10 international finalist for the Retail Management event. In addition, in the preliminary round of competition, she won ribbons for having both a top test score and a top role play score.

Thirteen members of the UW-River Falls DECA chapter qualified for and competed at the international conference. Marketing major Logan Lennertz and management major Amanda Bauer competed as a team in the Entrepreneurship – Starting Your Business competition. Marketing students Brooke Amann and Miranda VanDell teamed up in the Event Planning competition. The team of Angela Doherty, a marketing major, and Katie Grymala, a marketing communications major, competed in the Sports and Entertainment Marketing event. Management major Teresa McCullen competed in the Restaurant & Food Service Management individual category and Cody Vander Hayden, duel major in accounting and criminology, participated in the Professional Sales individual competition.

“This is our first year as a DECA chapter, and I am incredibly impressed by everything the students have accomplished. This is their organization, and they have created something of which to be proud,” said DECA-UWRF Adviser Stacy Vollmers, a professor in the College of Business and Economics. “They’ve worked extremely hard, and whether they placed in an event or not, competition at the regional, state, and international level has given them valuable experience. I am so pleased for them and tremendously proud of them.”

For more information about DECA-UWRF, call Vollmers at 715-425-4706.