A team of Oregon Institute of Technology, “Oregon Tech,” business students won an international competition called the IACBE Business Case Competition. This is the second business competition the team won this year. These competitions are designed for business students to work directly with a startup company to develop a solution addressing a real business challenge.
The contest featured Coinsource, an innovative startup in the cryptocurrency industry and the world’s leader in Bitcoin ATMs. Coinsource developed a state-of-the-art compliance and service platform to meet this rapidly growing and dynamic industry. The students were challenged with creating and presenting a growth strategy for the company. Oregon Tech competed against 7 other schools in the last round of competition, including the Florida Institute of Technology.
The Oregon Tech team was comprised of four students: Quinn Damitio (senior, Operations Management), Tanner Karp (senior, Marketing), Jared McBride (senior, Business Management), and Peter Simonsen (junior, Marketing). They had been preparing for this in-person contest and a trip to Dallas since January but had to quickly adjust to present live to judges on a virtual platform due to COVID-19 shutdowns. The team was not only the top undergraduate team but also had the highest score among all graduate and undergraduate teams, which won them paid internships with Coinsource to implement their strategy.
Jordan Levy, whose company CapSource designed the contest said, “The Oregon Tech team is undeniably impressive and prepared for the professional work environment. The Coinsource team was very enthusiastic about their performance and looks forward to bringing their ideas to fruition through the upcoming paid internship program. We are grateful that they set such a high standard for generations of students to come.”
Derek Muhney, director of Marketing for Coinsource noted, “I couldn’t have been more impressed with what the team from Oregon Tech strategized, developed and presented for this Case Competition; so much so, I didn’t hesitate one second with offering them all a paid internship with Coinsource to execute their strategy. With such a large demographic of our customer base being Millennials and Gen Z’ers, the Oregon Tech team is perfectly positioned and prepared for such a project and I truly look forward to their involvement in furthering the success of Coinsource.”
Team member Tanner Karp notes how his business education at Oregon Tech prepared them for this challenge. “I think our success is a testament to the quality of education and abundance of hands-on experiences the Oregon Tech Business classes and faculty have provided us,” he shared. “I know as I approached the case problem, I referenced back to principles learned in strategic management, business presentations, and different marketing classes.”
Team member, Peter Simonsen reflects on his experience, “This experiential learning will be priceless to my career development during and after graduation. Working with my teammates and faculty to create something that will truly benefit a business was an amazing opportunity. I had the chance to combine all the skills I’ve learned at Oregon Tech and apply them to a real problem. My favorite part of this experience was being able to watch all our pieces of research come together into one cohesive plan. Even with the pivot to a virtual case, we all performed well and impressed the judges. I’m thankful for this hands-on learning opportunity and look forward to implementing our plan with my teammates during our internship with Coinsource.”
Oregon Tech Business Degrees include nine programs: Accounting, Business Management, Cybersecurity, Information Technology, Health Care Management, Health Informatics, Marketing, Operations Management, Technology & Management. These programs are offered at the Klamath Falls campus, and many are also offered in the Portland-Metro campus as well as online.