Western students take top honors at Collegiate DECA conference

Western Today staff

March 5, 2012

A team of students from Western Washington University’s College of Business and Economics placed first in seven out of 13 events on its way to taking the top honors at the 2012 Aspire Higher Collegiate DECA Washington State Development Conference in Leavenworth Feb. 23 to 25.

The Western Washington University Collegiate DECA Chapter sent 14 members with majors in Marketing, Management, Finance, Economics, Financial Economics and Communications to the state conference. Competing students were given a business case, one-hour to prepare, and then 10 minutes to give their presentation to a panel of judges from industry, followed by a five minute question-and-answer period.

Western students won seven of the eight categories that the WWU DECA Chapter entered, and all 14 members qualified to continue their journey to the Collegiate DECA International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City, Utah, April 21 to 23.

“Our success was due to the hard work of our team and the supportive faculty who helped us develop exceptional analysis and presentation skills,” said WWU DECA Chapter President Shelly Durfey. “We are really looking forward the DECA Nationals in Salt Lake City.”

The team was composed of Shelly Durfey (Marketing, Sunnyside); Spencer Martenson, (Marketing, Bellevue); Alex White (Marketing, Seattle); Hannah Norberg (Economics, Poulsbo); Tawny Kramer (Communications, Jacksonville, Fla.); Andrew Crouse (Management and Finance, Arlington); Nick Maxwell (Financial Economics, Shoreline); Tony Yakovich, (Marketing and Communications, Woodinville); Greg Pogue (Marketing Redmond); Sandhya Velagapudi (Marketing, Issaquah); Lori Healow (Marketing, Juanita); Kaleb Ode, (Management, Sumner); Andrea Georgopolos (Marketing, Kirkland) and McCall Schilling (Marketing, Kenmore).

Below are the official results for Western Students at the Washington State Collegiate DECA Development Conference:

  • Business Ethics: 1st - Tony Yakovich and Shelly Durfey
  • Business-to-Business Marketing: 1st Place- Spencer Martenson and Alex White
  • Corporate Finance: 1st Place- Nick Maxwell
  • Hotel and Lodging: 1st Place- McCall Shilling
  • Human Resource Management: 1st Place- Kaleb Ode
  • Marketing Management: 1st Place- Andrew Crouse; 2nd Place- Hannah Norberg; 3rd Place- Greg Pogue
  • Retail Management: 3rd place-Tawny Kramer; Top 6- Sandhya Velagapudi
  • Sports and Entertainment Marketing: 1st Place- Andrea Georgopolos and Lori Healow

Collegiate DECA is a student driven organization that values competence, innovation, integrity, and teamwork. It prepares students for careers by integrating skills learned in the classroom into real world experiences. Collegiate DECA programs assist in developing academically prepared, community oriented, professionally responsible, experienced leaders. Our student members major in a variety of academic programs with a strong focus on business-related fields. Collegiate DECA conferences and other activities give students unique access to internships, scholarships, competition, and professional networking.

For more information on Western Washington University’s Collegiate DECA Chapter, contact Shelly Durfey at rachelle.durfey@gmail.com or visit http://wwudeca.com/.