Business
Business
JWU Business Students Finish 2020 in Style
2020 has been quite a year, but its challenges haven’t stopped JWU students from thriving in the (virtual) classroom. From simulation competitions to high-profile partnerships, here’s a roundup of what’s been going on around the College of Business lately.
🤝 JWU partners with Amazon for highly selective internship opportunities
JWU is one of a handful of universities in the country — and the only school on the East Coast — that has partnered with Amazon for a highly competitive Assistant Account Executive (AAE) Program. The program educates students on Amazon’s advertising platform and tasks them with creating a presentation with marketing recommendations for particular products. The top-performing students are then selected to begin the interview process for an internship with Amazon.
Associate Professor Oscar Chilabato has worked closely with Amazon to develop the program, which launched as a pilot program during the 2019-20 Winter term. Thirty of Chilabato’s Advertising & Marketing Communications students were divided into seven teams and spent the fall semester preparing their virtual presentations to Amazon account executives including Scott MacKay, the director of advertising sales in the Boston Office.
The Amazon team and Chilabato selected four students from different teams whose work and presentation skills stood out from others. Jacqueline Nuzzo ’20, Jennifer Hunter ’21, Caitrinn Romaine ’21, and Giana Aquilante ’21 have now begun the rigorous interview process. The AAE internship is a six-month-long program that is offered twice a year — once in January and once in July. Since three of the students will not be graduating until May 2021, they won’t be able to be accepted until the summer program starts; Nuzzo, who has just graduated in December, is being considered for the January internship.
“They are all up to it and are motivated,” said Chilabato. “After completing the program, these students may be offered a full-time position with Amazon.”
Good luck, Wildcats!
🏅JWU wins second place in international Digital Marketing Competition
The Digital Marketing Competition (DMC) is an international competition where college students develop and pitch a digital marketing strategy to a real client. This year, there were 83 schools representing eight different countries that participated. JWU was one of five schools that made it to the finals and ultimately won second place.
The student team, all Marketing & Advertising majors with specialization in digital marketing and analytics, were in Associate Professor Oscar Chilabato’s ADVC3010 Digital Media course this semester. Shane Sukhal ’22, Jennifer Hunter ’21, Kylie Vigliotti ’23 and Kimberly Wilkes ’22 comprised the team.
“The students did an amazing job with their presentation and in the Q&A – all five judges were very impressed with our work,” Chilabato said. “We all should be very proud of these students; they represented JWU well.”
Congratulations on the impressive win!
📈 JWU Business students score in 90th percentile of MikesBikes World Champs competition
Smartsims is a company that hosts numerous business simulation competitions. This year, four JWU students were among the 140-plus students representing 28 countries to compete in Smartsims’ 2020 MikesBikes World Champs competition. The competition requires students to manage a fictional bicycle manufacturing company and analyze the market to formulate their own cross-functional strategic plan. With multiple rollover rounds, the scoreboard leaders shift up and down as the student’s “company” gains and loses money in the simulated market.
JWU was represented by a team of four students: Savannah Ford ’20, Kathleen Troxell ’21, Miles Lazar ’22 and Lucia Urcuyo ’21. They were advised by Brian Carey.
The team had a solid finish in 27th place, and their impressive score was in the 90th percentile. “This experiential approach continues to be a strength for JWU faculty and students,” said David Cartwright, Ed.D., interim dean of the College of Business.
We love our business-savvy Wildcats!
🌟 JWU students recognized in RNMKRS Competition
RNMKRS (pronounced Rainmakers) is an international organization on a mission to help people communicate more effectively in professional settings. Twice a year they hold a College Sales Skills competition where students role-play with AI technology and are scored on their performance. This year, over 2,100 students from 59 colleges and universities from all over the U.S., Europe and China completed over 45,000 role-plays in the competition.
Associate Professor Diane Santurri, M.Ed., and Interim Assistant Dean Debbie Howarth, Ed.D., hosted the competition in their Contemporary Sales courses. Two JWU students earned recognition: Marie Glorioso '22 was recognized as “Most Persistent” and earned “Special Recognition for the Most Student Practice Role Plays” leading up to the competition. James Montgomery ’22 earned a “Top Student: Northeast” recognition for his high score.
Congratulations to Marie and James!
What’s coming up in 2021?
💵 Accounting students gear up for G.A.M.E Forum and tax season
Spring semester is a busy time for Accounting and Finance students. Not only will the Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) students be preparing to help community members with their 2020 tax returns, but members of the Wildcat Investment Value Fund (WIVF) will also be getting ready to compete in the Global Asset Management Education (G.A.M.E.) Forum held by Quinnipiac University. WIVF is a real fund that is managed by students and funded by JWU. It serves as an internship for the students selected to manage it.
The G.A.M.E. Forum gives WIVF members a place to showcase their investment plans. It includes a student-managed fund portfolio competition as well as workshops and panels to discuss and debate the best financial practices with industry leaders from around the world.
🔥 ADTEAM continues work on Tinder campaign for 2021 NSAC
JWU’s ADTEAM has built quite a dynasty in the last decade of the American Advertising Association’s (AAF) National Student Advertising Competition (NSAC). They placed in the finals in 2011, 2012, 2013, 2015, and 2019, and won the national championship in 2017. Each year, AAF challenges student teams to create a strategic advertising/marketing/media campaign for a corporate client and pitch their campaign to advertising professionals.
This year’s client is the popular dating app Tinder. The competition will be conducted virtually in April 2021. Despite the challenges presented by working and presenting virtually, the team is moving full steam ahead and looking forward to the competition in the spring.
We’re looking forward to 2021! 🎉
