Student Entrepreneurs Dominate Business Competition

UBC is celebrating after three groups of students won a handful of awards.

Students from UBC Okanagan Facility of Management (FoM) won three top-three finishes at JDC West, one of Canada’s biggest business competitions in entrepreneurship, taxation, and accounting.

The entrepreneurship team, consisting of Graeme Sailer, Nick Ross, and Jennifer Stolarchuk won first place when it came to creating a new product or service that addressed a market opportunity.

The three students created “Fluid,” which is similar to Uber, but could deliver goods to customers on demand.

“The biggest thing we will take away from this experience is relationships, you make a lot of connections through the coaches and then through the competition, and the network opportunities are valuable,” said Sailor, team captain and third-year FoM student.

“This real-world experience gives you more context for asking questions and enhanced value out of the class.”

The Taxation team including Michelle Miller, Michael Bitcon, and Alex Little, finished second. The final UBCO team placed third in accounting. The team included Brad Curtiss, Cassidy Deering, and Adeet Haroon.

“The most rewarding part of the experience in coaching Jennifer, Graeme and Nick was seeing them grow both individually and as a team during the sessions when we worked with them,” said David Jenkins, a FoM Capstone Instructor.

“A significant contributor to their success was their self-confidence in front of the judges. We were fortunate to have Sally and James as business coaches, adding their wealth of practical experience to the team.”

The competition was held in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan on January 16^th and 17^th. More than 50 students from the Okanagan travelled east to take part in the event that sees more than 600 students from 12 western Canadian universities battle it out.

“We are very proud of how our students represented UBC Okanagan at the JDC West competition. They were committed and innovative, and these are capabilities that are highly sought-after in today’s management environment,” says FoM Dean Roger Sugden. “I congratulate the students on their achievements and offer my gratitude to our faculty and local businesses for mentoring all the participants. Success is achieved through collaboration, and this truly was a group effort.”