Week of April 23, 2012

Posted April 23rd, 2012 - No Comments

BAUER MBAs TAKE FIRST PLACE IN ELC BUSINESS CASE COMPETITION

Students Take Home $35,000 in Scholarships and Recognition at ELC’s National Gala

Two MBA students from the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston won first place last week in The Executive Leadership Council’s (ELC) 2012 Business Case Competition. Emeka N. Akpunonu and Clyde McNeil were named the top team in the final round of competition on April 20.

Sponsored by ExxonMobil, the competition in the finals included teams from Emory University’s Goizueta Business School and Carnegie Mellon’s Tepper School of Business. Judges represented leading corporations and non-profits, such as the Compass Group, 100 Black Men of America, AETNA, Inc., Aztec Worldwide Group, United Way Worldwide, the Silver Parker Group and the League of United Latin American Citizens.

ELC’s Business Case Competition challenged this year’s teams to develop strategies for strengthening ties between the corporate social responsibility community and African-American nonprofits during tough economic times. Specifically, the competition examined how corporations can expand their global philanthropy efforts to African-American non-profits and other community groups at sustained or higher levels.

“The team from Bauer College made a strong case, presenting exceptional recommendations on the steps corporations and African-American non-profits need to take to strengthen their ties,” said Arnold Donald, ELC’s president and CEO.

He added, “The team offered powerful solutions for helping corporations retain and increase charitable giving to African-American non-profits while expanding their philanthropic footprint around the globe.”

In recognition of their first place win, team captain Akpunonu and McNeil will share a $35,000 scholarship cash award and will be recognized during ELC’s 2012 Annual Recognition Gala in October before an audience of more than 2,000 corporate, education and government leaders.

For the full story, visit http://bauerticker.uh.edu/events/bauer-mbas-take-first-place-in-elc-business-case-competition/.

 

ENTR TEAM WINS BIG AT BIZ PLAN COMPETITION

UH Student Team Takes Top Honors for “UNLimiters”

A group of four students at the University of Houston C. T. Bauer College of Business Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship bested 21 teams at the Richards Barrentine Values and Ventures Business Plan Competition on April 20, bringing home a first place win and a $15,000 grand prize.

Competitors Tattiana Reznick, Louis McEneny, Randy Hannemann, Adam Trojanowski and Justin Farley impressed at the competition hosted by Texas Christian University’s Neely School of Business, which included a judging panel of entrepreneurs, investors, marketing and financial experts and venture capitalists. The team presented their business plan for “UNlimiters,” an e-commerce website that sells products to people with disabilities.

The competition, which incorporates values, ethics and service into a for-profit business, encourages undergraduate business students to create ventures that have strong business viability, meaning for the organization and significantly improve quality of life.

For the full story, visit http://bauerticker.uh.edu/degrees-and-programs/entr-team-wins-big-at-biz-plan-competition/.

Week of April 16, 2012

Posted April 16th, 2012 - No Comments

MEDIA ADVISORY

(Filming and Photo Opportunity)

UH STUDENTS COOK UP BUSINESS PLANS AT WOLFFEST
Entrepreneurship students who have studied how to open a business will find out if they can really stand the heat during this week’s Wolffest (formerly called Burgerfest), an annual business plan competition organized by the UH Bauer College Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship that challenges students to come up with a winning concept for a retail burger operation. Student teams who have been raising capital and preparing for the launch of their burger stands this Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday will vie for customers to visit their locations on campus. It’s a contest of creativity, business aptitude and teamwork ― and of course, grilling up the tastiest burgers.

To read more about Wolffest, visit http://bauerticker.uh.edu/events/entr-students-put-b-plans-to-the-test-at-apr-17-19-wolffest/. To interview students involved or to attend this year’s Wolffest, see Media Contact section below.

Week of April 9, 2012

Posted April 12th, 2012 - No Comments

IT’S NEVER TOO EARLY (OR TOO LATE) TO TAKE CONTROL OF YOUR FINANCES

UH Bauer Planning First Ever Financial Symposium for Community on April 14

It’s never too early (or too late) to get control of your finances — that’s the message from the C. T. Bauer College of Business at the University of Houston and its upcoming financial symposium open to the community on April 14.

The event comes as the college is rolling out two courses focusing on financial literacy, Personal Finance Planning (offered to business majors) and Introduction to Personal Finance (open to all UH students). This will be the first time the college has organized the event, being held in conjunction with Houston Money Week.

“Our goal is to promote financial literacy,” says Frank Kelley, associate dean for undergraduate studies for Bauer College. “We aim to serve as a resource for financial planning to our students, the rest of the university and the Houston community.”

Bolstered by faculty support, mentorship and involvement from students and alumni, the financial symposium serves as a way to launch the college’s overall program for financial literacy, which offers resources and support to current students along with K-12 educators and Houstonians.

The symposium includes several facilitated sessions and activities covering a range of financial topics, including money management, understanding a credit report, embedding personal finance into education, and careers in finance.

“The burden for financial independence or financial security is being put on the individual,” said John Lopez, the Bauer professor who teaches the personal finance courses and will be speaking at the April 14 symposium. “It is going to become more complex for the individuals and here at Bauer, we are taking a leadership role to roll out financial literacy programs to prepare them for these eventualities.”

For the full story, visit http://bauerticker.uh.edu/events/financial-literacy/. If you would like to attend or cover the event, see Media Contacts section below.