Algoma University once again hosted the annual Northern Ontario Business Case Competition remotely this year, bringing together final-year business or commerce students in a match over Zoom.
Sault Ste. Marie’s Simon Bobok, Juan Santoro, Sasha Grbich and Anna Stevens brought home the championship, beating students from 13 other teams.
Coming in second were Brandon Dukes, Daniel Sarlo, Mohammed Sardar and Sandy Viana-Tavares from Sault Ste. Marie and Brampton.
Organizers said the event represents the culmination of four years’ worth of studies in an undergraduate business or commerce degree program.
“The business case competition, which has become a ‘rite of passage' for many, is the ultimate way for students to finish off their undergraduate business education,” said Cathy Denomme, director of Algoma’s School of Business and Economics.
Sasha Grbich told SooToday that she wished they could have done the event in person.
“Going into it, we were all a little nervous about what to expect. I had a great team and we worked well together. We received great feedback from the judges,” she said.
“It was an amazing feeling to win, my team and myself were very excited to receive first place.”
Students from Algoma University Sault Ste. Marie and Brampton campuses, Lakehead University and Lake Superior State University faced high-pressure situations where they came up with solutions to their business case within a limited time frame.
Participants presented in front of judges Jessi Cruickshank, host of Canada’s Smartest Person and The Goods; Hamza Khan, managing director of Student Life Network and co-founder of Splash Effect and SkillsCamp; Matt Basile, founder of Fidel Gastro's; and Barb Stegemann, CEO of The 7 Virtues Peace Perfumes.
The four judges also joined a panel discussion titled Is Virtual Reality? to talk about returning to in-person work and social settings after more than two years of adapting to the virtual world.
“I believe today’s competition helped to open the minds of these graduating students to the tremendous possibilities available to them,” said city councillor Donna Hilsinger, who helped organize the event.