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CNC Business Management students shine at 2020 Western Canadian Business Competition

Team comes with second-place overall finish
WCBC CNC Team
Dylan Thideman, Kyndra Farrell, Mark Wendling, Catherine Kemp and Sarah Armstrong. (photo via CNC)

Four College of New Caledonia (CNC) students has many reasons to smile after winning big at the 2020 Western Canadian Business Competition (WCBC). 

Catherine Kemp, Dylan Thideman, Kyndra Farrell and Sarah Armstrong took home the award for second-best business plan as well as the newly minted Team Spirit Award voted on by the competing teams at the event, which was held at Okanagan College in Kelowna from March 13 to 15. 

WCBC is an annual business competition where students apply their knowledge and skills towards developing strategic solutions in a simulated business scenario.

“We went down there with a very open mind and wanted to take this opportunity to do as much networking as we could,” Farrell said in a news release.

“We wanted to show that we, as CNC students, are very spirit oriented.” 

The simulation tasked the students to create and run a drone and camera company for eight years.

CNC’s team named their company EchoTech and assumed the roles of Chief Executive Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Manager of Marketing, Manager of Operations and Manager of Human Resources.

A total of seven teams competed at the event. 

 In a tough start, they under costed their product, which resulted in CNC’s team finding itself in last place after the first round of the simulation. 

“It pushed us more than we would have if we magically ended up on top after the first round,” Armstrong said.

“By getting that additional learning of how to overcome the mistakes we created, it really helped us more or less understand how things can change just like that.”

Dylan Thideman was required to do some "mad scientisting" with the finances while other team members worked on their departments. 

“My colleagues put a lot of trust in me when it came to numbers,” he said. “But our team was well rounded. Everyone presented very strong and knew their pillars so well that we were able to overcome that start.”

The teams worked late into the nights to hit deadlines, sometimes until 3 a.m. before having to wake up and do it all over again three hours later.

“We were pressed for time,” Farrell said. “As CEO, I had to make sure the whole team was getting in their ideas and opinions and ensure that every piece of the was fitting together.”

Catherine Kemp was responsible for EchoTech's ER department.

Despite being the smallest area in the competition, she expanded HR beyond the parameters of the simulation. 

EhoTech was a global company based out of Taiwan with international offices in numerous countries. Kemp expanded HR to factor global differences and develop innovative employee retention programs.

“I wanted to feel like I could contribute just as much even though my section was inherently smaller,” she said.

“HR touches every aspect of a business. The tech sector has one of the highest turnover rates and if you don’t have people, you aren’t producing services or goods.”

CNC business faculty Mark Wendling, the team coach, said in the release was impressed with the team’s ability to adapt to the challenge of the competition.

Numerous teams followed the business decisions made by CNC in subsequent rounds.

“They were constantly being chased down, which is a compliment, but awfully tough for them moving forward,” he said. “I’m proud of the students. They put a lot into this competition and impressed me quite a bit.”