Embry-Riddle Students Shine in Business Competition

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Embry-Riddle Business Students Beat Big Rivals for Second Year in a Row

Prescott, Ariz., April 15, 2008 -- When Matt Arneson entered a small business plan he wrote in a leadership competition in Phoenix, Ariz., on April 4 and 5, he just hoped to do well.

His team of fellow business students from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University took second place in the annual Phi Beta Lambda State Leadership Conference, which attracts students from Arizona colleges and universities.

What he didn’t expect was for two entrepreneurs to approach him afterward with an offer to buy his plan, a detailed proposal to create a helicopter leasing and training company.

“They thought it would fit their needs,” Arneson said modestly. He was one of 15 Embry-Riddle business students who, for the second year in a row at the conference, defied expectations and surpassed better-known programs from Arizona State University and the University of Arizona.

They took home the most awards in events where nearly 100 students from eight schools competed in business law, decision-making, economics, financial analysis, management concepts, and statistics. Judges of the competitions came from major companies such as IBM and Southwest Airlines.

“The conference is a good way to show how well our students compare against other established business programs,” said Javad Gorjidooz, associate professor of finance and co-advisor of the Prescott chapter of Phi Beta Lambda, the world’s largest student business organization.

The Embry-Riddle business students will compete next at Phi Beta Lambda’s national leadership conference June 21-24 in Atlanta, Ga.

Gorjidooz revived the business degree program at the campus in 2004 with a handful of students. Today, 75 students are majoring in aviation business administration. This spring, the program graduates its first 13 students, most of whom already have management jobs lined up at airlines and airports.

Meanwhile, as Arneson considers the offer to purchase his business plan, he’s also weighing several job offers when he graduates in May.

Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, the world’s largest, fully accredited university specializing in aviation and aerospace, offers more than 30 degree programs in its colleges of Arts and Sciences, Aviation, Business, and Engineering. The university educates more than 34,000 students annually in undergraduate and graduate programs at residential campuses in Prescott, Ariz., and Daytona Beach, Fla., through its Worldwide Campus at more than 130 centers in the United States, Europe, Canada, and the Middle East, and through online learning. For more information, visit www.embryriddle.edu.