Southwestern Adventist University’s Enactus team placed second in their division at the Enactus National Exposition in St. Louis, MO, this week. The win places them in the top 40 teams nationwide. They also placed as finalists in two topic competitions.

The competition trail began last month when twenty-nine Southwestern Adventist University students travelled to the Enactus Regional competition and job fair in Dallas. The competitions are challenging, team-oriented events that create a sense of accountability and motivation for teams to continually improve the quality of their community projects. This year the presentation team, made up of nine students, presented for over thirty judges. The judges who assess the clubs are business professionals and executives from partnering corporations such as Walmart, CVS, Microsoft and Home Depot.  In total, 18 colleges and over 200 students participated in the regional event.  Wal-Mart, the presenting corporate sponsor, interviewed and extended written job offers to seven students.   Of those, three were Southwestern seniors.  Additional students participated in interviews for upcoming internships, residencies and training programs. 

Before the excitement of the competition comes months of hard work. The SWAU Enactus team won two grants this year, the Sam’s Club Step Up for Small Business grant and the Walmart Women’s empowerment grant.  This enabled them to implement the projects which ranged from teaching entrepreneurship to elementary kids, empowering women and small businesses, and supporting a local non-profit that works with the learning disabled.

Last year Southwestern’s Enactus team also won the regional competition and went on to place second in their division at the Enactus National Exposition in St. Louis, MO. The national competition involves Enactus teams from colleges and universities across the United States. The recognition placed the team in the top 32 out of 181 competing colleges and universities.

The Southwestern Adventist University Enactus team is always looking for new projects and community mentors. To partner with Enactus, call Enactus sponsor Ana Patterson at 817-202-6647 or email at pattersonam@swau.edu.

Photos courtesy of Enactus USA. 

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