VCU School of Business students win Risk Management Case Competition

By Tom Gresham

A team from the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Business won the inaugural Risk Management Collegiate Case Competition held this month.

The competition was held on March 13 as part of the VCU Risk and Insurance Studies Center Conference, an annual event that spotlights emerging trends and critical issues in the insurance field. Teams from eight universities participated in the competition, which was designed for colleges and universities that have programs in risk management and insurance. Funding from the Spencer Educational Foundation made the competition possible.

The winning team from VCU won a prize of $4,000. Team members included Christopher Townsend, a junior majoring in finance and risk management; Geoffrey Bernardo, junior, finance/risk management; and Julian Sylvestro, senior, finance/risk management. Illinois State, which finished second, received $3,000, and Utica, which finished third, received $2,000.

Laurie Solomon, risk manager for the Coca Cola Company, created a case for the competition that was based on the risk management changes that occurred with the merger of the Coca Cola Company and Coca Cola Enterprises in 2010. Teams of no more than four students submitted a written paper giving their solution to the case prior to the competition and then made oral presentations at the March 13 conference to judges from the risk management field. Teams were judged on both the written and verbal portions of the competition.

Participating teams represented the following schools: Howard University, Illinois State University, Old Dominion University, Olivet College, St. John’s University, Temple University, Utica College and VCU.