Students honored at collegiate DECA international conference in Anaheim

On April 20, a team of students from Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics were named national finalists at the 2013 Collegiate DECA International Conference in Anaheim, Calif.

Joe Sturgeon (Woodinville) and Danny Sullivan (Woodinville), both juniors studying Marketing, were crowned National Champions as a team. Alex White (Woodinville) and Spencer Martenson (Bellevue), juniors studying Marketing, took second place in the Business to Business Marketing category. Kaleb Ode (Sumner), a junior studying Management, placed third in the nation in the Human Resource Management category.

The Western Collegiate DECA Chapter sent 11 members with majors in Marketing, Management, International Business, Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management, and Political Science to the national conference April 17-21. Out of 11 members, eight earned top 10 finishes in the nation. Western was the only school in Washington to have five students finish in the top three.

Dan Purdy, the WWU DECA Chapter Advisor and associate director of the Western MBA Program, said he is proud of all the students that participated.

“I am so impressed with the caliber of student we have at Western; the initiative, dedication and professionalism is outstanding and shows in the results this team achieved,” Purdy said.

Other results for Western students at the Collegiate DECA International Conference:

Lauren Molitor (Management, Anacortes) – National Finalist and a Top 10 finish in the Human Resource Management Category

Hannah Bouscher (International Business, Anacortes) – National Finalist and a Top 10 finish in the Fashion Merchandising Category

McCall Schilling (Marketing, Kenmore) – National Finalist and a Top 10 finish in the Hotel and Lodging Management Category

The national competition is case-study based and challenges students to develop a solution to a business case during a 30-minute or one-hour preparation period. The students present the case solution to a panel of executives from the community serving as judges.

In addition to those listed above, also participating as part of Western’s team at the conference were Hayden LeMaster (Marketing, Sumner); Hannah Bouscher (International Business, Spokane); Nilofar Ganjaie (Political Science, Sammamish); and Johnny K. Dimanno (Manufacturing and Supply Chain Management, Shoreline).

 Collegiate DECA is a student driven organization that prepares students for careers by integrating skills learned in the classroom into real world experiences. Collegiate DECA conferences and other activities give students unique access to internships, scholarships, competition and professional networking.

For more information on Western’s Collegiate DECA Chapter, contact Alex White at alexwhite@speakeasy.net or visit www.wwudeca.com.