TAMIU SIFE Team Readies for Regional Competition

The Texas A&M International University Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE) Team will compete for cash prizes at the Dallas, Texas SIFE USA Regional Competition on April 12, 2006.  The event is one of 17 SIFE USA Regional Competitions held across the country in March and April.

Gerardo Guerra, TAMIU-SIFE president, said the group is ready for the competition and thinks its projects will represent TAMIU and Laredo well.

“We have good projects that we undertook this year and we are very excited to present them at the Dallas Regional Competition” Guerra said.

The projects, all targeted at creating community economic opportunities, are judged based on creativity, innovation and effectiveness.

This academic year, TAMIU’s SIFE team organized four Laredo projects including “Women In Action,” a two-day seminar that focused on aspiring female entrepreneurs who want to learn how to start their own business. 

The seminar included a discussion panel, lectures by TAMIU professors Dr. J. Michael Patrick and Dr. Andres Rivas and a keynote speech by Clema Owens, Business Advisory Board member and general manager of Homewood Suites by Hilton.

SIFE member Celina Arambula noted the seminar offered a rare opportunity for participants to meet with successful women entrepreneurs.

“Women In Action allowed these young females to gain an understanding of what it takes to start a business, discover financial literacy tools they can use when looking for the resources needed, and an opportunity to interact with successful women entrepreneurs from our community.”

If TAMIU-SIFE wins at the Dallas SIFE USA Regional Competition, the team will advance to the 2006 SIFE USA National Competition in Kansas City, Missouri May 21-23.

This past year, TAMIU-SIFE students earned the national  "Rookie of the Year" Award at the SIFE USA National Exposition. They had previously won the Regional Champion honors at the SIFE USA Regional Competition in Dallas.

SIFE is an international non-profit organization active on over 1000 university campuses in more than 40 countries.

SIFE teams create economic opportunities in their communities by organizing outreach projects that teach: market economics, entrepreneurship, personal financial success and business ethics.

For additional information, contact Dr. Michael Patrick, TAMIU-SIFE faculty sponsor, at 326.2547 or jmpatrick@tamiu.edu

Journalists who need additional information or help with media requests and interviews should contact the Office of Public Relations, Marketing and Information Services at prmis@tamiu.edu