Illinois State Team in NAMA Competition

A team of students from Illinois State University advanced to the semifinals of a national marketing competition hosted by the National Agri-Marketing Association (NAMA) April 13-14 in Kansas City, Missouri.  The Illinois State NAMA Chapter also was awarded second place in the Outstanding Chapter Competition and received special recognition for the programs the chapter conducted over the 2010/2011 academic year.

Overall, 30 student NAMA chapters participated in the marketing competition, which was part of NAMA's annual conference and trade show.  The Illinois State team had 20 students involved with this year's project to market a system that uniformly applies anhydrous to land planted in corn. The team spent the last several months conducting market research, writing the marketing plan and developing a presentation.

Student teams decide on a project and develop a plan to successfully bring the product or service to the marketplace.  In developing their marketing plan, students follow the same practices and principles used by today's marketing professionals.  Teams submit a written plan summary prior to the competition and then make a formal presentation of their marketing plan to a panel of judges at the competition.  The judges' panel consists of marketing and agribusiness professionals.

Illinois State students who participated in the competition were Kevin Ardaugh, Elwood; Troy Bertsche, Flanagan; Ethan Brown, Morrisonville; Bradley Cessna, Sycamore; Brandi Daugherty, Normal; Timothy Davis, Mount Pulaski; Jacquie Holland, Apple River; Tyler Kaufman, Carlock; Jacob Knapp, Eureka; Stephanie Musselman, Danvers; Adam Myers, Arcola; Trent Sanderson, Clare; Sam Stock, Saint Peter; David Wallner, Springfield; Adam Wright, Warrensburg; Craig Sutter, Danvers; Daniel Zelazik, Orland Park; Rosie Sanderson, Clare; and Ryan Sauder, Tremont.