Teams from southern colleges win top SIFE honors

Drug Store News, June 21, 2004

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The spirit of entrepreneurship was proudly displayed by more than 190 colleges that vied for top honors in the annual Students in Free Enterprise RadioShack USA National Championship held here last month, hosted by the Kansas City Business Community.

Judges for SIRE, which is supported by several of the nation's widely recognized retail leaders, awarded top honors to the team from Flagler College in St. Augustine, Fla., in the four-year university division, and to the team from Louisiana State University at Eunice in the two-year college division.

"The Flagler team's presentation featured more than 10 programs that reflected the principles of free enterprise, leadership, and communication, including a syndicated radio program, called Cash Positive Radio, that delivered financial tips to a wide-ranging audience.

For Louisiana State, a global project that taught families in developing countries how to grow their own produce and sell it at market helped it win the top honor.

As the champion of the four-year university division, Flagler will advance to the World Cup in Barcelona, Spain, to be held Sept. 22 to 24.

Among the other highlights of the SIFE USA National Exposition were:

* Tom Coughlin, vice chairman of Wal-Mart Stores, was inducted into SIFE's Hall of Fame in appreciation for his long support of SIFE, a global, nonprofit organization that supports student teams at more than 1,600 colleges and universities. During Coughlin's 2002-2003 tenure as chairman of the SIFE board of directors, he helped lead the SIFE organization to a new level. More than 350 new SIFE teams were started, bringing the total number worldwide to more than 1,500 in 37 countries. He also has served as judge, speaker and personal donor for SIFE.

* At the board of directors dinner, SIFE recognized several executives who painted their faces for the group's new ad campaign, which debuted in April, called "Get SIFEd. They included: Doug Conant, president and chief executive officer, Campbell Soup Co.; David Bernauer, chairman and chief executive officer, Walgreens; Tom Moser, vice chairman, KPMG; and Len Roberts, chairman and chief executive officer, RadioShack.

* A job fair for students was held in the convention center, featuring more than 100 participating companies.

In addition, more than 50 donor companies were recognized for their support, including Lebhar-Friedman, parent company of Drug Store News and DSN Retailing Today, which is a Friend Extraordinaire, signifying contributions of $100,000 or more.

Founded in 1982, SIFE has grown into a global nonprofit organization with more than 1,600 colleges in 40 countries actively reinforcing its vision of "helping people achieve their dreams through free enterprise education."