Northwood University made a strong showing at the 2017 DECA International Career Development Conference and competition in Anaheim, California.The following Northwood University students received top honors in their respective categories:
- Amanda Schmidt and Anna Geneseo;
- Business Research: pre-event submission of a 15 page business research paper and 20 minute in-person presentation to subject matter experts.
- Joseph Walsh;
- Emerging Technologies Marketing Strategies: pre-event submission of a 15 page research paper and 20 minute in-person presentation to subject matter experts.
- Nicholas Krett;
- Entrepreneurship: pre-event submission of a 15 page business plan and 20 minute in-person presentation to subject matter experts.
- Michael Shaddock;
- Retail Management: allowed 20 minutes to analyze a management case study, then must present analysis to two subject matter experts.
In addition, three Northwood students led the DECA Inc., social media marketing team during the event. Allison Brown, Samantha Paul, and Ashley Hendley led marketing efforts on the official DECA Inc. Twitter, Facebook, Snapchat and Instagram channels during the event.
DECA Inc. boasts more than 50,000 collegiate members and more than 250,000 high school members around the world Approximately 1,600 college students from the United States, Canada, and China competed, and must have qualified at the state level to be eligible to compete. Schools from around the world, including the University of Michigan, DePaul University and Ontario, Canada, qualified for the conference.
Northwood’s DECA advisor, John Gustincic, presented “Building Bridges Between High School and Collegiate DECA” to all chapter advisors at the conference. Also an assistant professor and Director of Northwood’s Alden B. Dow Center for Creativity and Enterprise, Gustincic has been instrumental in growing Northwood’s DECA team from three students in 2015-16 to more than 30 in 2016-17.
Looking forward to 2017, Northwood also has a strong presence in Michigan Collegiate DECA, the statewide DECA, Inc. organization. Student Allison Brown currently serves as president, and Joseph Walsh serves as secretary.
