CAMBRIAN COLLEGE
The Pitch Paid Off! Cambrian students close the deal at the Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition

This year's competition was hosted by St. Clair College in Windsor and featured students from thirteen colleges.

Cambrian College won two awards at this year's Ontario Colleges Marketing Competition (OCMC) in Windsor. Since 2018, Team Cambrian, Powered by Manitoulin Transport, has won 12 medals at the OCMC. Pictured is Team Cambrian.

Team Cambrian, Powered by Manitoulin Transport, featured 16 students from the Business diploma program and Cambrian's new Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degree program. They ranged in age from 18 to 50, including a father and son. Team Cambrian also had a global flavour, with students from Greater Sudbury, Fort Albany, Argentina, Ecuador, Ghana, India, Nigeria, Philippines, and Venezuela.

The team of Marina Buey of Argentina, and Aryanna O'Malley of Sudbury placed second in the Marketing Strategy category. Both are students in Cambrian's Business diploma program.

"I am incredibly honored to have won second place in the Marketing Research category," explains O'Malley. "This achievement is especially meaningful because, despite the USB drive going corrupt and losing access to our slides, my partner Marina and I were still able to present confidently. The preparation and hard work Marina and I put in over the past months, along with the guidance and support of our amazing coaches, gave us the knowledge and resilience to adapt in the moment. This award is a testament to that preparation, and I'm so grateful for everyone who helped me along the way.

Two students in Cambrian's Honours Bachelor of Business Administration program, Nicholas Arkuh of Ghana, and Jacob Castonguay of Sudbury, placed third in Advanced Marketing Strategy.

"It took eight weeks of preparation to get here, and we finally did," says Arkuh. "Our coaches, Veronica Barris and Kerri Jokinen, were awesome. I cannot overstate how much they and the college invested into us, and we're happy to have an award to show for it. They're rockstars!"

Business diploma student Katelyn Whynott of Sudbury also earned a fifth-place finish in the Job Interview category.

This year's awards raise Cambrian's total medal count at OCMC since 2018 to 12 medals (two gold, four silver, six bronze).

"Cambrian students once again made sure they made a mark at the OCMC," says Marnie Staffen, a professor in Cambrian's Douglas A. Smith Family School of Business. "Our team was prepared, poised and ready to pitch and that hard work paid off with the medals we brought back home from two long days of competition in Windsor."

Students were put to the test in a variety of categories where they had to pitch and present ideas and plans to a panel of judges made up of respected industry professionals.

"The 2024 squad we took to St. Clair stood out and really worked well together," explains Jean Beauchemin, a professor in Cambrian's Douglas A. Smith Family School of Business and another coach for Team Cambrian. "They are a diverse group with a creative perspective, a global outlook, and were determined to bring home results. They did just that and I am proud to keep our streak going and am already looking ahead to next year."

Cambrian College offers more than 20 business programs, including a three-year Bachelor of Business Administration degree and four-year Honours Bachelor of Business Administration degrees.

See the full list of programs in Cambrian's Douglas A. Smith Family School of Business at cambriancollege.ca/business.