Guys Are Rock Stars!’

Fyic Students Help Client Find Competitive Advantages

If there was one person at the First-Year Integrated Core Client Challenge who was most surprised by the ideas that came out of the final presentations, it might well be the client herself, Bernita McCann Hightower .

“I really did not know what to expect This whole journey has been so rewarding for me As an entrepreneur, I sit at my desk many times, always trying to figure out ‘What should I do?’ ‘How should I implement it?’ ‘Am I thinking in the right direction?’ ‘Is it something that people want?’ and ‘Who’s going to help me get there?’ And you guys have just opened up so many possibilities,” she said

Each semester, FYIC students form teams and take on a challenge from a chosen client . Hightower, the president and CEO of Fuel, LLC (NextGen), had asked the FYIC students to “think about ways to have a competitive advantage around our peer and aspirational competitors regarding Environment, Social, and Governance (ESG) sustainability . ”

The students used the knowledge gained in their FYIC classes to come up with ideas that addressed the challenge For the final presentations, six teams were chosen from more than 120 that performed semester-long research, development, and consulting roles for NextGen

“This has definitely been the most formative experience for me as a freshman in the business school It’s been a challenge, but I also think it’s highlighted all the strengths that could not be highlighted in other programs,”

Nikki White said “It’s something that’s really unique to Miami and it’s really made my freshman year experience and made me love the Farmer School even more ”

The ideas pitched ranged from forging biofuel partnerships with farmers and holding a conference/summit to adding railroad to the company’s transportation plan and being an electric charger reseller

“Right off the jump we’re working with companies and communicating with their CEO So I think what I take away the most is being able to communicate professionally and communicate my ideas in a way that people might actually agree with those ideas,” Tim Gibson said

“I loved how dynamic each and every one of you were And I have chills right now because you knocked it right out of the park I mean, you were better than professionals,” Hightower said . “You guys are rock stars!”