Recent Partnership Enhances Business Student Learning

Students from the College of Business (CoB) recently attended the Virginia Conference on World Trade in Norfolk, Va. which included lectures and workshops hosted by the Virginia International Trade Alliance (VITAL). The students in attendance included Taylor Neff, Alisa Fayyad, Fran Drezga and Melissa Abboud; the students were also accompanied by Associate Dean for Undergraduate Programs and accounting professor, Molly Brown.

Topics that were covered in the workshops include the top 10 growth markets for 2016, digital localization, foreign currency and overseas defense opportunities. Representatives from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership offered business perspectives from their global network, including the countries of Turkey, Brazil, Canada, Mexico and China. Neff enjoyed the “niche workshops, such as defense regulations” and felt that “any business owner or student could learn a lot from the discussions.” Fayyad had written about the Trans-Pacific Partnership earlier in the semester and was able to attend a workshop about it which greatly enhanced her knowledge.

James Madison University (JMU) has only recently become partners with VITAL. Along with nine other state schools, JMU helps to conduct international business research in the state. Partaking in the conference is one of many useful networking opportunities that the CoB provides to its students, allowing them to connect with business owners. Neff was ecstatic that the “conference helped further CoB's mission to apply what [they] learn to the real world.”