From Feb. 8 to Feb. 10, the Grand Valley State University DECA Chapter attended the Michigan DECA Career Development Conference in Battle Creek. The group was among nine chapters that attended and competed in various business categories.

Collegiate DECA is a business organization that prepares emerging leaders in marketing, finance, hospitality, management, and entrepreneurship.

Argyrios Zervos, a junior and GVSU’s Vice President of Fundraising was a finalist in Fashion Merchandising competition, and Vice President Abbey Atanasoff, a sophomore, took first place in that category.

GVSU DECA’s President Brooke Tomcsik was also a finalist in the Retail Management competition.

Tomcsick also completed her term as Collegiate DECA Michigan Association Vice President and was elected as the Collegiate DECA Michigan Association State President for 2013-2014. The group was accompanied by one of their advisors, Nelson Van Elderen.

“Our team performed well in the competitions and gained valuable experience from competing as well as the team building events that were also a part of the conference,” Van Elderen said.

Atanasoff and Tomcsick are both qualified to attend the DECA International Career Development Conference in Anaheim, California from April 17-20.

“We will be competing on the international level in the same events we competed in in the state conference,” Tomcsick said. “The winners are honored as international champions.”

Tomcsik said she hopes that the GVSU DECA Chapter can continue to grow in the future.

“We are still a very small growing organization, and we hope to grow,” Tomcsik said. “We are focusing on what to do next year during Student Life Night, and Welcome Week where we hope to target the freshman audience.”

The GVSU DECA chapter also just got an event confirmed to tour the Amway Grand Plaza. This event is open to anyone that is interested in the school of business, or anyone interested in business in general, and will take place March 14 at 7 p.m.

“We have great plans for the future and will be growing as more students hear about the organization,” Van Elderen said. “One of the other universities that was at the state conference this year had gone from five students attending the previous year to more than 20 this year, and we feel we will be able to attain growth like that as well.”

For more information, visit the GVSU DECA chapter’s Facebook page at www.facebook.com/GVDECA.
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