Edwards School of Business students win coveted School of the Year titles

JDC West is Western Canada’s largest undergraduate business student competition, showcasing academics, debate, athletics, community involvement, and an out-of-the-box social competition.

Team captains Tanner Gattinger and Ryan Nieman say the experience at JDC West was amazing and completely exceeded their expectations.

“It was an absolutely surreal experience for all 52 members of our team,” said Tanner Gattinger. “After 8-months of weekly practices, lectures, early mornings, late nights and many hours of volunteer work, it all paid off being decorated by the much deserved School of the Year and Academic School of the Year awards.”

The student-run competition brings together over 600 students from across Western Canada and provides opportunities to gain applicable and real-world experience.

“JDC West is like no other experience you can be a part of at the Edwards School of Business,” said Ryan Nieman. “The opportunity to compete against 12 of the top business schools in Western Canada, allows students to simultaneously develop networking skills, critical thinking abilities, and leadership qualities.”

Both captains also agree the amount of personal and professional growth seen in the Edwards team this year was outstanding.

“This type of experiential learning forces you to push yourself in a highly stressful, emotional and pressure-filled weekend,” said Gattinger. “It is truly amazing what you can accomplish when everyone buys into a vision and does their best to see that vision out.”

“Our team’s commitment to attacking cases every week, understanding real-world business issues, and providing structured and thorough recommendations, sets them apart and prepares them for the real world,” added Nieman.

“These results are an impressive accomplishment,” said Dr. Keith Willoughby, Dean of the Edwards School of Business. “Our mission is to develop business professionals to build nations and the entire Edwards team embodied this quality in their performance. The win marks the first time Edwards has won both prestigious School of the Year and Academic titles.”

Guided by faculty advisor Nathalie Johnstone, Edwards also earned first place in athletics, participation and the introduction video category. The team’s academic standings are as follows:

Human Resource Management - 1st
Team members: Riley Stefaniuk, Meghan Johnson, and Thomas Stanzeleit
Coaches: Shelby McLeod, Bre Chaben, and Trevor Maber

Taxation - 1st
Team members: Andrea Landstad, Amy Ottmann, and Taylor Reich
Coach: Nathalie Johnstone

Business Technology - 2nd
Team members: Davis Fader, Emily Martell, and Zachary Yuzdepski
Coaches: Shan Wang, Tanner Assie, Preston Campbell, and Dustin Wagner

International Business - 3rd
Team members: Eric Turcotte, Naina Nicodemus, and Jordan Sinclair
Coaches: David Zhang, Romeo Nkunzimana, and Jason Tran

Marketing - 3rd
Team members: Benjamin Petruk, Emily Sweeney, and Erica Chessall
Coaches: Marjorie Delbaere and Adam Slobodzian

Not-for-Profit - 3rd
Team members: Dani Nicols, Mathea Mitchell, and Kendra Vanstone
Coaches: Jared Fingler, Kara Leftley, and Nathalie Johnstone

In addition, team Edwards raised over $14,500 with proceeds going to Habitat for Humanity Saskatoon. The students also logged more than 1500 volunteer hours for charities such as Habitat for Humanity Saskatoon, the Royal University Hospital Foundation, Ronald McDonald House Charities Saskatchewan, the Friendship Inn, Junior Achievement, and Parkinson Canada.

Special thank you to CPA Saskatchewan, CPHR, Edwards Business Students’ Society, Federated Co-operatives Limited, MNP LLP, Virtus Group, the University of Saskatchewan and Edwards School of Business for their sponsorship.

Next year’s competition will be held at the Beedie School of Business at Simon Fraser University.

The University of Saskatchewan and the Edwards School of Business congratulate Edwards JDC West on this achievement!