Promising Young Businessmen

(Left to right) Ben Bruns, Ben Anderson and Carl Witteborg, pictured at Peninsula Golf Course, will compete at the international DECA competitions. Submitted photo.

More than 1,100 Wisconsin high school students attended the State DECA Career Development Conference in Lake Geneva March 18 – 20. Marketing students competed in 35 different business events ranging from global entrepreneurship to start-up restaurant marketing. Gibraltar High School had three students attend the conference and all three advanced to the International Career Development Conference (ICDC) level of competition in Atlanta, Ga., the first week in May.

The team of Ben Bruns, Ben Anderson and Carl Witteborg competed in the Sports and Entertainment Promotion Plan event. All three worked together on a promotion plan for the new Peninsula State Park Learning Center – Short Course Golf Course. The plan detailed advertising, publicity, special events and display ideas to promote the grand opening of the Learning Center Short Course.

The Gibraltar team earned seventh; the judge stated that this plan was realistic and obtainable. Ben Bruns, son of John and Kelli Bruns, will represent the team project at ICDC.

The Gibraltar business students operate a school store called GBay. First semester intern Ben Anderson documented the “School-Based Enterprise” to get it nationally GOLD certified. The 40-page manual verifies the training experiences by providing proof that the operation is tied to the National Business Standards in Entrepreneurship. The team of Anderson, Bruns and Witteborg gave a presentation on GBay’s product management practices at the state conference and earned fifth place. Witteborg, son of Drew and Mary Witteborg, will represent the team project at ICDC.

Ben Anderson, son of Gary and Tammy Anderson, also competed in the Food Marketing Event and medaled in all three of the event contests: the Marketing Cluster Exam and two role play situations. His overall combined score placed him third in the state and he will compete in Food Marketing on the International level in Atlanta. Anderson’s achievements in all three of these events are referred to as “triple qualifying,” which is extremely rare. Several students double qualify, but very rarely does a student triple qualify for internationals.

In addition to the three competitive awards, Gibraltar DECA also received state recognition for their Acts of Kindness – Community Service projects.

There will be approximately 16,000 students attending the Atlanta Conference. The ICDC competitors are seeking sponsorships for their trip to Atlanta in May. For more information contact Mary Jo Witteborg at [email protected] or 920.421.0719; or find ‘Gibraltar Deca’ on Facebook.