Business competition in Guelph draws more than 500 students
Organizers call it the "business Olympics" and it's happening at the University of Guelph.
This weekend, more than 500 university students from Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes are gunning for the title "school of the year," at the annual JDC Central business competition.
In its tenth year running, the event drew in undergraduate business students from 11 universities, with each school being represented by either four or eight teams of three.
Over the course of three days, from Friday to Sunday, students have been competing in nine categories — accounting, business strategy, digital strategy, entrepreneurship, finance, human resources, marketing, international business and the "wild-card" category, which is new this year.
"We try to incorporate any aspect of a business student's life ... try to really showcase what it truly means to be Canada's top business school that year," said Sarah Shepherd, JDC Central's executive director.
In one academic competition, students are banned from using the internet.
"They get three hours in a room with no internet access and they have to solve the problem which is usually a real life situation that businesses are facing," Shepherd said, adding that teams also have to come up with a 20-minute presentation within that time frame.
"The idea behind that is we want to be able test the competitors' knowledge, critical thinking and analytical skills without having to test their research skills," said Shepherd.
For many students participating in the contest, this year's competition is a chance to show school pride.
"This isn't just your normal case competition ... it really pushes the boundaries of your regular scheduled business and being able to bring this back to Odette really shows what kind of students we are," said Deandra Norton, a team captain representing the Odette School of Business at the University of Windsor.
For Brenden Kumarasamy, a student from Concordia's John Molson School of Business, the event was a chance to network and connect with other students.
"It's really an experience that brings all of us students together to go above and beyond the classroom setting," Kumarasamy said.
"My favourite part is the sense of connection ... when you really take that time to get involved outside of the classroom and bond with your school's best students, it creates a unique opportunity and a sense of belonging with the group that you go to competitions with," he said.
The results of the competition will be announced at a gala on Sunday night.
The previous champion was the Goodman School of Business at Brock University.
