New Paltz student team captures marketing case competition, $1,000 prize

A team of five students representing the SUNY New Paltz School of Business triumphed in a marketing case competition sponsored by the retailer Target.

The case competition challenged students to devise a creative, technology-based solution to increase food sales at Target stores. New Paltz’s “Team DART” (Direct Advertising Retail Technology) took the top prize, which included a $1,000 award, over comparable teams representing eight other colleges and universities.

Students Shanice Benoit ’17 (General Business), Rathan Kanagarajah ’17 (Accounting & General Business), Jay Shah ’18 (Finance & Management), Jessica Tyler ’19 (Pre-Management) and Anthony Walsh ’18 (Accounting) prepared for the competition throughout the fall 2016 semester, as part of their course in Food Retail Management led by Lecturer Russell Zwanka.

“The Target Case Study was definitely my favorite in-class assignment I’ve ever had, because of how we were given the freedom to brainstorm with no restrictions,” Shah said. “I feel that assignments like this, as well as being able to speak with representatives from different companies and even interview individually with them sometimes, allow us to learn more about business than just using textbooks and standard methods.”

“Working on this case presentation challenged us to think outside of the box, and allowed us to apply the concepts we learned in class, to a very real problem that Target is facing with their food department,” Tyler added. “I am extremely grateful that Dr. Z went the extra mile and gave us the opportunity to present our ideas on how to change Target’s food department directly to them.”

The School of Business’s participation in the Target competition extends a relationship that has also seen hiring agents from the company visit the New Paltz campus to meet students and interview potential hires.

To learn more about opportunities for business students and professionals at SUNY New Paltz, visit the School of Business online.