Business Leadership Symposium – BLS
(formerly BERS)
The BLS was conceived as a conduit between the classroom and the world of business by showcasing some of the great applied experiential project work going on in our undergraduate and graduate business courses. The event provided a sampling of our students’ innovative and interdisciplinary business solutions, with their impact and implications extending well beyond theory into the world of practice. With the change of name of the center from the BB&T Center for the Advancement of American Capitalism to the BB&T Center for Leadership, we have rebranded our Business and Economic Research Symposium (BERS), which we had started in 2018, to the Business Leadership Symposium (BLS) from this year on. Our business school contributes to economic and business development through engagement, innovation and impact. And so, we have incorporated student projects in our business courses as much as possible and we have developed the Herd Business Solutions initiative for student consulting project, all with the goal to enhance experiential learning, which is truly a DNA of our college and a cornerstone of our academic mission. The Lewis College of Business faculty are thought leaders and influencers. They are highly sought-after experts in their fields, who are regularly consulted about marketplace trends and phenomena. And, as they mentor our students on consulting projects, they help to develop the next generation of business leaders with a spirit of discovery and exploration. Experiential learning is one of our key strategic priorities. During 2017 – 19, 352 students mentored by 13 faculty worked with 46 organizations to help real businesses solve real problems for real customers.
To learn more about the Business Leadership Symposium, please have a look at this write about the competition in the LCOB’s Monday Morning Memo.
Spring 2023 BLS Finalists
- 1st Place: Student Exchange & Study Abroad. The team members were Romane Soleillant, Anaïs Vincent, and Marine Kersuzan. They presented the experiences faced by French exchange students who came to study abroad for a semester. Their presentation included the experiences and challenges of adapting to a new culture, navigating unfamiliar academic techniques, and communicating in a non-native language.
- 2nd Place: Sustainable Waste Management was a project by Maddy Braham, who shared concern for the rising amount of garbage generated and proposed an app that can help with garbage segregation and create a technologically advanced garbage management system.
- 3rd Place: Surviving Recession: Focus on Small Businesses was won by Mackenzie Rider, whose project deals with ideas for small business growth for dealing with economic recession.
Spring 2021 BLS Finalists
- 1st Place: Caleb Griffith, Josie Pratt, Sean Marks for their project on J P Morgan’s investment valuation, supervised by Dr. Timothy Bryan. This award of $1000 was sponsored by Service Wire and was presented by Mr. Chuck Oldaker, Executive Vice President and CFO, Service Wire to the winning team.
- 2nd Place: $ 750 went to K Omar Shariff for his project on redistribution of resources in Healthcare. He worked with Dr. Alberto Coustasse-Hencke.
- 3rd Place: $500 was won by Olivia Freeland who presented a project on FTC vs Facebook and the role of anti-competitive behavior on social media and guided by Dr. Casey Baker.
- Special category Prize: $400 was given to Kelsey Mowrey, Laney Jones, Victoria King and Maddy Garrison who were overseen by Professor Margie Phillips, for their project on Green Management and working with local businesses. This special category was introduced to applaud the outstanding effort of this group.
