Dustin Elliott is expecting a fight in the dragon's den.
He and his UNBC student partners, Alex Mackey and Sean Friend, know they will need sharp axes and skillful defensive strategies to slay the beast and win the JDC West business competition not-for-profit category next weekend in Edmonton.
After four months of practicing for one 20-minute presentation, Elliott says they're ready to step into the hot seat.
"It's very intense and very stressful and nerve-wracking," said Elliott, who competed at JDC West last year in Saskatoon in the human resources category.
"There's a lot of work that goes into it. It's all about teamwork and at the end of the day we're greater than the sum of our parts. We all bring strengths to the table and we all work off that."
Close to 600 students from 11 Western Canadian universities are expected for the competition, which is designed to encourage creative thinking and critical analysis as students present a business model.
Teams of three will be given three hours to read a 15- to 20-page business case, identify the main problem, come up with a solution, and point out the risks involved in their proposal. Then they will have 20 minutes to prepare an audio-visual presentation.
Once that is complete, they will make their presentation to a room in front of 50 of their peers and a judging panel of three to five corporate executives. Following the presentation, judges will have five minutes to ask critical questions of the students. Once all the presentations have been heard, judges will have time to offer feedback to competitors.
The same business case in each category will be presented by 10 or 11 teams.
As part of their commitment, the UNBC team has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the Spirit of the North Healthcare Foundation. Elliott says the JDC West event is already opening doors that could lead to his own future employment.
"It's given me a really networking opportunities and a really good bridge for taking my academic experience and making it practical," said Elliott, a human resource management major.
To gain practical business experience to prepare ready for the event, the students partnered with Diversified Transportation Lines and Northern Health to examine the fleet of about 200 vehicles it operates and build a case study focused on finding cost effective ways to equip those cars, trucks, vans and buses with winter tires.
"Students provide a great resource with diverse perspectives and dedicated effort and with this we're getting an outside perspective on some of the things we're working on," said Jessica Belyea, business development co-ordinator for Northern Health.
"Their research was pretty broad; they interviewed several different people from tire shops and different companies that have fleets. It's nice to have that outside view. Their analysis will help guide our decisions."
UNBC students have won the JDC West business strategy category the past two years, finishing third in the entrepreneurship and marketing categories and seventh overall in 2011. UNBC tied with the University of Alberta for first place last year in the not-for-profit competition.
The big prize at stake in Edmonton is the overall School of the Year Award. Students are also eligible for the Participation Award handed out to the team that best exemplifies empowerment, connectivity, professionalism, and energy.
The students will take part in a 10-event social competition similar to the TV show, Amazing Race, designed to test their test endurance, spirit, skill, and teamwork. Competitors will also test their athleticism, taking part in flag football and Yukigassen (a Japanese snow battle).
