HPU team makes
final 16 in national
business event

It advances further than any
previous Hawaii squad in the
Free Enterprise competition

By Lyn Danninger
Star-Bulletin

A student team from Hawaii Pacific University finished as third runner-up in its division at the national Students in Free Enterprise competition this past week in Kansas City, beating 100 college teams from around the nation.

The competition is to show how well students have taught others how free enterprise works. They also have to demonstrate how well they have equipped others with the necessary tools for future business success.

It was the first time a Hawaii team progressed to the finals -- called the Sensational 16 -- in the competition that attracts over 1,000 colleges. Drury University, from Springfield, Mo., won the contest.

The competition is sponsored and judged by around 200 names from U.S. companies such as Wal-Mart, Coca Cola, Visa and Kinko's.

Two other teams from Hawaii competed in Kansas City, BYU-Hawaii and Heald College in the two-year college division. Both were knocked out in the first round.

As part of the competition, teams presented 24-minute multimedia summaries covering educational projects they have undertaken throughout the year.

HPU fielded a six-person team comprising students from Hawaii, the mainland, Brazil, Italy and Malaysia.

However, the entire Students in Free Enterprise team is made up of about 25 students who prepare throughout the year for the competition, said Ken Schoolland, associate professor of economics and political science and faculty adviser to the team.

The students are enrolled in HPU degree programs such as international business, accounting and finance, organizational change or entrepreneurial studies.

Schoolland said there are four basic categories in which the students compete: policy and business consulting, free market education, community responsibility and entrepreneurial education.

The HPU projects included business consulting in communication, technology, productivity and marketing.

Local firms Century 21 Realty, the Pacific Beach Hotel, Natural Golf and law firm Cades, Schutte Fleming & Wright participated in the project.

The community responsibility project combined promotion of California Pizza Kitchen with a fund-raiser for Variety Schools of Hawaii.

The project most noted by the judges at the Kansas City competition was the students' policy consulting project.

The project was to research and present policy proposals for an ecotourism industry in Fiji, Schoolland said.

The project included input from native Fijians on concerns balancing cultural preservation and sensitivity with economic progress.

It also took note of lessons learned in similar tourist destinations.

This is the fourth year HPU students have participated in the Students in Free Enterprise competition.

The aim for next year is to advance even higher in the competition, said student Jason Kim of Honolulu, a third-timer at the competition who is majoring in entrepreneurial studies.

"Every year since I've been involved we've moved up a notch," Kim said.

Kim said he thinks the team moved up this year not only because they put in a lot of hard work, but also because they were smarter about the competition.

"We really studied the rules," he said.

Professional advice from local business people also helped the team this year. "We also formed an advisory board to help with our project," Kim said.

But exposure to some of the world's most successful businesspeople who were in Kansas City to judge the competition was one of the most valuable experiences for students, said Schoolland.

"There were about 200 CEOs there," Schoolland said. "They know these kids are some of the best and brightest."

For their finish, the HPU received trophies and cash to help cover the cost of the conference, Schoolland said.