CEO Business Simulation Winners Announced 2009

The John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center recently announced the winning team of the Collegiate Entrepreneurs Organization's (CEO) Capsim Foundation Business Simulation academic-year competition. Team Andrews, consisting of Mark Watje, a senior marketing major from Cedar Falls, Malcolm Thomas, a junior accounting major from Waterloo, and Ben Steines, a sophomore management major from Dubuque, took home first prize and an award of $1,000 from the College of Business.

Winner Malcolm Thomas thought the competition was a valuable learning experience. "I got an even better feel for business and had fun in the process. The chemistry our team had was amazing. We didn't always agree on everything, but we worked well together, planned business years in advance, and came up with an excellent strategy."

The teams reviewed performance results based upon decisions that incorporated five key business functions covered by the simulation. Team Andrews won by achieving the highest Balanced Scorecard which tracks selected benchmarks such as return on investment, cumulative profit and cash flow. CEO is a student organization for UNI students interested in entrepreneurship and small business.

"The CEO members really enjoyed the competitive nature of the simulation and seeing how their decisions impacted not only their company but the market as a whole," said CEO advisor Laurie Watje.

Team Digby, consisting of Drew Kahler, a senior marketing major, Heath Baker, a senior accounting major from Orange City, and Josh Eisen from Cedar Falls, placed second in the competition followed by Rachel Ruplinger, a senior accounting major from Iowa City, Adam O'Leary, a sophomore economics major from Garner, Brandon Pearson, a junior marketing major from Cedar Falls, and Adam Moehn, a senior finance major from Fort Madison, of Team Baldwin. Each team received gift cards for local businesses compliments of CEO.