SPRINGFIELD, Mo. – The Evangel University Enactus team was judged as one the Top 20 out of 120 university teams competing at the Enactus National Exposition in St. Louis, Mo., May 15-17, 2016.
Enactus has 443 active teams in the U.S., engaging 16,800 college students in more than 1,000 community projects. Evangel qualified for the nationals by winning in one of six competitions in April.
At the national competition, the 120 teams were placed in 20 leagues with 6 teams in each league. Each team then provided a 17-minute presentation and annual report to a panel of corporate judges, telling how they fulfilled the Enactus mission to take entrepreneurial action to improve the lives of people.
Evangel was judged as first place in this initial round to advance to the semi-final round. The Evangel team did not advance to the final four on May 17, but was awarded a trophy and $1,500.
Nine Evangel students and two faculty advisors attended the Enactus National Expo in St. Louis.
Evangel projects help the community
The Evangel Enactus team presented seven projects this year.
The students successfully helped Harmony House recruit businesses for the I Care campaign and developed the social marketing processes that increased giving to Harmony House by 188% during the Give Ozarks 2016 campaign on May 3.
“Flat amazing,” is the way that Esther Munch, development director for Harmony House, described the contribution of the Evangel team to their success.
The students also developed a campaign that will be launched in the fall to provide sustainable funding for Weller Elementary’s “Cents of Pride” store from businesses in the Weller neighborhood.
In addition, the Enactus team is in the second year of a three-year plan to fully implement recycling on the Evangel campus.
Linda Allen, Evangel’s vice president of Business & Finance, said, “I’ve been so pleased with the professional and thorough approach taken by the Enactus Go Green team to help the administration, faculty, staff, and students fully realize the impact that we can make by recycling on our campus.”
Other student-let projects include providing borrower education to rural businesses; helping develop agent recruitment for a new start-up business (Rural First); assisting veterans through Evangel’s Clark Veteran’s Center; and preparing a comprehensive marketing study that led to the development of a Starbucks Coffee Shop on the EU campus — it will be in place for this fall.
“There is no question that the extensive market feasibility study and ongoing consultation with Enactus has played a key role in our being able to move ahead with the development of a Starbucks on the Evangel campus this summer,” said Todd Lanning, director of Aladdin Food Service at Evangel.
Evangel’s seven-person presentation team for 2016 included:
- Josh Clark from Willard, Mo.
- Hannah Davis from Houston, Texas
- Lindsey Ellis from Kingston, Mass.
- Meredith Kyle from Loveland, Colo.
- Daniel Philpot from Owasso, Okla.
- Kirren Siewert from Elizabeth, Colo.
- Baylee Teague from Elk Grove, Calif.
Fund-raising project
Evangel’s team generates support for its projects by selling Survival Kits to parents.
The kits are boxes of food items delivered to students with a parent’s personal note of encouragement just prior to mid-term and final exams.
Entrepreneurial action this year increased the Survival Kit business profits by 231%, to over $10,000.
“Our Enactus team’s talent, skills and commitment to serve their community is amazing,” said Bernie Dana, Enactus Sam Walton Fellow and chair of the Evangel Business Department. “In just two years, they have come from simply observing the national competition to being one of the best in the US.”
About Enactus
Enactus is an international organization (formerly known as SIFE, or Students in Free Enterprise) that connects student, academic and business leaders through entrepreneurial-based projects that empower people to transform opportunities into real, sustainable progress for themselves and their communities.
Corporate sponsors such as Walmart, Walgreens, Fidelity Investments, Johnson & Johnson, Microsoft, and Enterprise Holdings play a major role in providing financial support and in recruiting students for jobs.
Founded in 1975 in the U.S., there are active Enactus groups on more than 1,700 college and university campuses in 36 countries around the world. According to their research, there are more than 70,500 students participating in Enactus programs worldwide, impacting nearly two-million people a year.
About Evangel Business Department
The Evangel University Department of Business has nearly 200 undergraduate students earning a Bachelor of Business Administration degree with majors in accounting, business education, finance, management, marketing, and nonprofit business & social enterprise.
The Business programs also include 120 adult students in online and seated programs to earn a Bachelor of Science in Management or a Master of Organizational Leadership.
For more information, visit the Evangel University Department of Business, or contact Bernie Dana at (417) 865-2811, ext. 8116.