Regional Competition

AU Enactus team 2013-14

Anderson University Enactus team wins at USA Regional Competition

The Anderson University Enactus team was named a 1^st Runner-up at the Enactus USA Regional Competition held in Atlanta, GA. The event is one of 16 Enactus USA Regional Competitions being held across the United States in March and April. Anderson University is one of more than 500 Enactus programs in the United States. Participating students use business concepts to develop community outreach projects that improve the quality of life and standard of living for people in need.

2013-14 AU Enactus Activities

This year the Anderson University Enactus Team placed third in the quarter final round at the national competition. This is our all-time second best placing. With 75 students and two advisors, Anderson University Enactus participates in 5 projects in the Anderson community and internationally. This academic year, our students have contributed over 5,440 hours serving other individuals. From business startups, businesses improvements, to sharing knowledge, our Enactus team has influenced the lives of at least 7,269 people. The following three projects highlight the majority of our efforts this year.

WACS, an 11 year effort by a local non-profit organization, Anderson Interfaith Ministries, is a program designed to empower women to go back to school, earn their degrees, and find fulfilling jobs providing the means to improve their economic and social situations, thus improving their family’s quality of life. Our Enactus partnership with this program provides training to these women to give them knowledge and skills to assist them in searching for and securing gainful employment. This year our partnership launched a new children’s and teen’s financial literacy program and continued to empower economically challenged woman in Anderson County. Our initiatives included:

• Connected women with educational resources
• Developed and implemented new training seminars for the women
  • Resume development
  • Interviewing and networking skills
  • Finance management
  • Public speaking
• Taught age-appropriate financial literacy sessions to the children of the program
  • Investing and saving
  • Debt management including credit cards, car loans, and student loans
  • Budgeting
• Created incentives for the children to save and budget their money
• Equipped 58 women with useful and applicable career training and job skills
• 75% of the graduates from the past year received job offers
• 25% of the past year’s graduates received promotions from their current positions
• Increased knowledge by 67% after each children’s financial literacy training session
• Empowered 25 children by opening savings accounts

Liberty Acres Dressage is a local small business in Anderson County that was started by an enthusiastic and determined, soon-to-be college graduate, who is the owner and operator of this full-service horse boarding and training facility which she hopes to grow into a successful business. Our initiatives included:

• Implemented financial, facility and operational improvements to optimize time and profits
• Improve structures and grounds of the farm
• Improve business processes and internal operations
• Created long-term sustainability and projected growth plans
• Implement cost savings plans
• Establish wealth and health options
• Predict recurring expenses and work loads
• Optimized QuickBooks accounts for financial management
• Conducted market research for competitive pricing for a youth after-school equestrian program
• Conducted a customer satisfaction survey
• Process optimization efforts freed enough time to conduct 1.5 additional riding lessons per day
  • Up to $15,750 increase in annual revenue
• Addition of after school riding program will result in an increase of revenue valued at $36,000 in its first year and create a new job

Project Talitha Cumi (PTC) is a foster care ministry in La Esperanza, Honduras. Each spring our Enactus team travels to PTC in a partnership with PTC to create growth and sustainability for several different business ventures in order to help the girls of the ministry and the women of the surrounding community. PTC runs primarily on donations, but through the addition of these businesses, PTC is more self-sustainable. Our initiatives included:

• Increase coffee production and sales
• Increase market awareness and market share
• Develop curriculum and create lesson plans to increase business knowledge
• Decrease inventory spoilage
• Diversify product
• 2 Interns stayed at PTC for 2 months during the summer of 2013 to assist in creation and set-up of 3 new business ventures: Café Cumi, Cumi Café, and Canasta Cumi
• Taught age-tailored lessons on various business skills topics to girls at PTC
• Provided PTC with a vacuum sealer, which resulted in no spoiled product
• Provided a grinder to diversify product lines and reduce expenses
• Performed multi-media marketing blitz including radio, social media, and newspaper advertising, and tasting events
• Set up website to increase the access of Café Cumi Products
• Restructured and streamlined budget sheets and daily accounting sheets
• Improved the PTC bakery via aesthetic improvements and local marketing

Contacts:

Greg Massullo – President
gmassulo689@andersonuniversity.edu

Valerie Owens
vowens@andersonuniversity.edu
864-231-2092

Chris Neuenschwander – Faculty Advisor
cneuenschwander@andersonuniversity.edu