MBA students from the Brock School of Business recently won two of the top five spots in an international case competition sponsored by Baylor University, focusing on entrepreneurship.  The competition was hosted by the U.S. Association of Small Business and Entrepreneurship (USASBE), at its conference in San Francisco, California.  Laura Hudson, Joshua Sheppard, Xuan Qin, and Andrew Summerlin won second place with their case,"Charlie Thigpen's Garden Gallery," which focused on the local retailer.  The judges complimented the students on their case, noting that it would be extremely useful for aspiring entrepreneurs to analyze because it highlighted many critical challenges that arise when opening a new business.  Second place included a $1,000 prize.

MBA student Meg Lozner won fifth place with her case,"Southern Grits to Haute Cuisine:  Much More Than a Taste of theSouth," to highlight how the Birmingham region can be marketed nationally as a center for culinary tourism, based on its local restaurant and farmer's market scene.  This is the second year in a row that Lozner has been a finalist, making her the only student in the history of the competition to achieve this recognition.

 The world is better because Samford students connect theory to practice. 

 
Samford is a leading Christian university offering undergraduate programs grounded in the liberal arts with an array of nationally recognized graduate and professional schools. Founded in 1841, Samford is the 87th-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. Samford enrolls 5,791 students from 49 states, Puerto Rico and 16 countries in its 10 academic schools: arts, arts and sciences, business, divinity, education, health professions, law, nursing, pharmacy and public health. Samford fields 17 athletic teams that compete in the tradition-rich Southern Conference and ranks 6th nationally for its Graduation Success Rate among all NCAA Division I schools.