Graceland’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team is ready for the USA National EXPO competition scheduled for May 13-15 in Chicago. They won at regional competition in March in Rogers, Arkansas. Watch this site for stories and photos when the USA EXPO begins in Chicago.
The Graceland team - national champions and second in the world at competition in Paris in 2006 - have been paired in League 8 in Chicago and are set to present between 9:15 and 9:55 a.m. on Wednesday, May 14. We will report the results of opening round competition as soon as they are released.
The winner in Chicago will represent the United States at the World Cup international competition this fall in Singapore. Graceland SIFE teams have been Regional Champions nine out of the last 10 years, an amazing achievement.
Keep our SIFE students, and all Gracelanders who will converge on Chicago to support the team, in your thoughts. The team will travel to Chicago by chartered bus. They will be back in Lamoni on Friday, May 16.
“We have lots of new students this year, and new energy, and it’s been exciting to see the team progress,” said Andy Simpson, SIFE director and Director of Graceland’s Sandage Center for the Study of Free Enterprise and Entrepreneurship. Andy has worked with the team for five years and this is his second year as director. SIFE team members have recently upgraded their Web site so take a look at http://www.gusife.org/index.html.
Fourteen SIFE students assisted young entrepreneurs in Belize to develop business plans during Graceland's January Winter Term, and another SIFE group will travel to Kenya in May to do similar work. That planned Winter Term was cancelled after social unrest in Nairobi and other Kenyan cities turned violent.
A major new undertaking with local impact is the “Lamoni Online” project which is helping small business owners develop a presence on the internet. A recent grant to SIFE from the J.S. Kemper Foundation will help this project expand next year. The grant will also help fund conferences and provide stipends to SIFE students. You will hear a lot more about this project in months to come. The team is also continuing with their Edison Project – switching out old-tech light bulbs for energy-saving CFLs. They have had great success with this project.
Graceland’s Annual Entrepreneurial Roundtable was held Thursday, April 10, on the Lamoni campus and though the weather was ghastly (cold, wet, windy) a large, diverse group of entrepreneurers, students, faculty and guests attended. During opening remarks Graceland President John Sellars noted how gratifying it is to see how entrepreneurs (alumni and friends of the university) bond with students, mentor and nurture their professional growth, and then continue their relationships after graduation. The Roundtable is one of The Sandage Center’s major events of the year. Johnny Huntsman, a 1962 Graceland graduate who built up a pizza restaurant empire in Louisiana, made the keynote address and told the inspiring story of his hard work and rise in the business world. Johnny and his wife Sharon funded the new artificial field-turf last summer for Graceland’s football field.
SIFE’s mantra, Changing the World, describes the work of Graceland’s team, but also the 1,500 other teams around the world. Together, they push forward, creating new projects, sustaining successful past projects, working toward the principles of sound market economics and free enterprise for all. Each year, the teams gather in heated competition as their presenters strive to tell their “story,” what they’ve accomplished to further the principles of the SIFE program.
Graceland SIFE team members have been working on multiple educational projects this year with Lamoni public school students at the elementary, middle school and high school levels. Andy, and Amy Dykens, assistant SIFE director, are pleased with how local students, and their parents, have responded to these programs aimed at improving financial literacy for young people.
Fifth graders have learned a lot about personal banking through a program called Kid’s Bank. Partnered with Bank of the West, SIFE students have taught the young students the ins and outs of banking, explained the importance of saving and helped them set up their first bank accounts. Bank of the West and GU SIFE each gave five dollars to students who had an existing account or opened a new account during a recent field trip to the bank.
Sixth graders have been involved in a program called JA Biz Town. The students learn about credit and how to use it wisely, how to write checks, and various business skills including how to write a good resume. The students actually applied for mock jobs, and got paid for their efforts.
Yet another new project, with local importance, is called “Sustainable Living.” Graceland Campus Ministries has partnered with SIFE for this project, which Andy said will show individuals and Graceland “…how we can save money and be good to the environment at the same time.” He said this is developing into a major new project for the team.
A ribbon cutting was held last October to celebrate completion of offices for The Sandage Center, SIFE’s new home in the Memorial Student Center. SIFE students were joined by President John Sellars, dignitaries and faculty and staff to recall team history and accomplishments, and look to the future of one of Graceland's premier programs. Graceland's SIFE team won the national championship in 2006 (besting 800 teams) and placed 2nd at the World Cup championships held in Paris.
The ribbon cutting featured a “who's who” gathering of those who made SIFE possible at Graceland and nurtured it along from its humble beginnings 18 years ago to the world prominence it enjoys today. President Sellars thanked presidents’ emeriti Barbara and Bill Higdon (who were on hand for the event) for their groundbreaking roles in getting the Center started at Graceland, including the original talks with Charles and Elizabeth Sandage and the Sandage Charitable Trust. The Sandage family paved the way with funding and other support over the years to make the study of free-market economics and entrepreneurship a reality at Graceland. Duane Sandage, Charles’ nephew, was on hand at the ribbon cutting to represent the Sandage Trust, the major donor for the new offices.
About Duane Sandage, President Sellars said, "Your visions of entrepreneurship and thoughts on leadership have materialized to make this a reality. Many thanks for all you've done." The president also thanked alumnus Bob White for funding an impressive façade for the space which includes a new trophy case which passersby can peer through to watch SIFE students at work. The case is packed with trophies the team has garnered over the years. And the president extended warm thanks to Orman and Colleen Brooner (they were on hand for the event), steadfast SIFE team supporters. It was their support that provided free contracting and labor during construction of the new offices.
Remember to watch this site for news from the SIFE USA National EXPO from Chicago, beginning May 13.
