Bowling Green, Ky. - Western Kentucky University's Students in Free Enterprise Team may just be starting, but it is already making a name for itself. The team won Rookie Team of the Year honors at the National Students in Free Enterprise Competition in Kansas City.

WKU's team was one of 200 teams to advance to the national competition after the team's professional presentation earned the team Regional Champion and Rookie Team of the Year honors in Cincinnati.

"Top executives from major corporations served as judges," said Dr. Leo Simpson, the Mattie Newman Ford Professor of Entrepreneurship at Western.

In addition to the competition, there was a job fair that included representatives from some of the country's largest corporations, and Dr. Simpson said several WKU students were offered jobs on the spot.

Students participating in the national meeting included: Christine Burton of Elizabethtown; Jeff Felchner, Casey Freeman and Emily Williams of Scottsville; Anna Barnett of Paducah; David Seth Burkhart of Clarksville, Tenn.; Neal Taylor of Russellville; Kristen Harrison and Brad Connell of Louisville; Kris Upchurch of Ponca City, Okla.; Jennifer Hutton of Villa Hills and Amanda Ferrell of Danville.

SIFE, one of the largest international collegiate organizations, is on more than 1,800 college campuses in 40 countries. The purpose is for students to apply the education gained in the classroom to teach others in the community about how the free enterprise system can work for them. Skills applied are based on four topics: free market economics, entrepreneurship, ethics and personal and financial success.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you'd like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For more information, contact Leo Simpson, (270) 320-3733.