BOTTINEAU - Several Dakota College at Bottineau Collegiate DECA students attended the Collegiate Leadership Conference in Fargo Oct. 11-12. The leadership conference included sessions regarding developing leadership skills, professional development skills, the entrepreneurship challenge and the executive mentorship program.
Students attending the conference took part in the Experience the Entrepreneurship Challenge session. Students worked to develop a business plan including budgeting, staffing, promotion and growth of a company or enterprise idea and then presented those ideas to a roundtable of local business people. Jacob Bean and Amber Phillips won the second place in the competition taking home a $200 cash prize.
The students took part in an executive mentorship program, where they were introduced to executives from businesses in North Dakota who shared tips and ideas to help college students to be one step above the rest as they enter the working world. Students participated in a round table situation where the executives shared the soft skills needed for job entry, college requirements, and internship and employment opportunities. Following the round table situation, students participated in a networking reception, where they were able to use what they had learned in earlier sessions to visit and network with the executives as well as with other students from colleges across North Dakota.
Article Photos
Submitted Photo - - Dakota College at Bottineau students Amber Phillips and Jacob Bean won second place in the Experience the Entrepreneurship Challenge session.
Dakota College at Bottineau Collegiate DECA members are currently preparing for the State Conference competition which will be held in Fargo, North Dakota in February 2012. State winners will be eligible to compete at the International Conference in April 2013 in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The mission of Collegiate DECA is to prepare emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management.