Two teams of UNI MBA students who worked as consultants to Cedar Valley organizations for over six months presented their professional analysis and recommendations to faculty and business professionals at the beginning of July.

The consulting projects are the final requirement of the University of Northern Iowa‘s MBA program, one of just a handful of MBA programs across the U.S. that require students to serve as consultants for existing businesses. The teams were introduced to their clients last January, presented a project proposal to the MBA faculty in April, and then worked with a faculty mentor to complete the planned work by the end of June.

Pragati Sharma, Anne Shepherd, Crystal Weber and Sarah Wilson worked with Heavy Equipment Manufacturing (HEM) in Grundy Center, in response to a request for the expansion of an international marketing strategy.

Renee Christoffer, David Peyton, Kyle Soldwisch and Ada Wang comprised a team to assist United Equipment Accessories (UEA), located in Waverley, with a strategic planning project.

The teams were mentored by Dr. Sarah Rosol, Capstone Experience Coordinator, and advised by a faculty committee consisting of Dr. Zhongdong (Ronnie) Chen, Assistant Professor of Finance, and Dr. Nick Bailey, Assistant Professor of Management.

The teams’ recommendations were presented at the annual MBA Capstone Conference, held virtually on July 7. The conference allows faculty, student and executive reviewers to evaluate how well the results met the individual business’s objectives and each team‘s contribution to the firm’s on-going success.

Conference guests included Leslie K. Wilson, Dean of the College of Business Administration, Mary Connerley, Associate Dean of the College of Business Administration and Susie Schwieger, UNI’s Director of Graduate Student Life.