Buffalo State College’s Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) Team took Rookie of the Year and First Runner-Up honors in Monday’s Students in Free Enterprise USA Regional Competition in Boston, Ma. The event is one of 21 SIFE USA regional competitions held across the United States in April.

Students in Free Enterprise is an international, non-profit organization that mobilizes university students to create economic opportunity for others while discovering their own potential. This year, Buffalo State College’s SIFE team organized 10 projects in the Buffalo community, including the Hertel Avenue Community Collaborative, a project that taught small business owners how to successfully collaborate with neighboring businesses to share advertising costs, implement events to increase awareness and visibility and help launch new business ventures.

“The Hertel Avenue Community Collaborative project is creating awareness of Students in Free Enterprise in the business community,” said Jennifer Butler, president of Buffalo State College Students in Free Enterprise. “I am so proud to be a part of such an enthusiastic, dedicated and passionate group of students. My team worked very hard this year to touch so many lives in the Buffalo community.”

Students in Free Enterprise is active on more than 1,800 university campuses in more than 40 countries, creating economic opportunities in their communities by organizing outreach projects that teach market economics, entrepreneurship, personal financial success skills and business ethics. During the regional competitions, the projects are judged on creativity, innovation and effectiveness.