A team of DePaul University accounting students took first place in the inaugural business case competition sponsored by the National Hispanic Business Association (NHBA) at their Student Leadership Conference in Washington, D.C., Feb. 27-28.

The victory was especially sweet because of the last-minute absence of one teammate, Carlos Navarro, whose apartment was destroyed by fire the day he was scheduled to leave for the competition. Navarro and his roommates were unhurt by the Feb. 26 blaze in their off-campus Lincoln Park apartment, but they lost everything they owned, and Carlos stayed behind to deal with the aftermath of the fire with assistance from DePaul.

Senior Lizett Corral took Navarro’s place on the team, joining senior Rafael Munoz, junior Fabiola Salcedo, sophomore Jessica Vazquez, freshman Michael Fernandez and freshman Francisco Medrano. All are members of DePaul’s chapter of the Midwest Association of Hispanic Accountants (MAHA).

"Despite the fire that unfortunately sidelined Carlos, the students came together and did a tremendous job of presenting their case, including the section scripted by Carlos," said Associate Professor of Accountancy Elizabeth Murphy, a MAHA faculty advisor (and DePaul alum) who helped the students prepare for the contest. "Their victory shows the strength of their teamwork, leadership and high-quality research."

Students from 35 business schools across the nation attended the conference. DePaul’s MAHA team competed in the final round of the business case competition against the University of Illinois-Chicago, California State University-Northridge and two teams from University of Houston.

Each team was challenged to develop a five-year marketing plan and budget for a small business and present the plan in a 10-page paper and presentation. The teams were evaluated on the logic and feasibility of the plan, target market profiled and budget, as well as the team’s creativity and professionalism. DePaul’s team created a marketing plan and budget for a real business involved in brokering mortgage loans for low-income individuals who may have been rejected by traditional lending institutions; the firm also assists with raising capital for small business ventures. This company was seeking advice on how to expand its business over a five-year period, with a special focus on increasing Hispanic and Arabic customers.

This is the second national competition DePaul’s MAHA has won this academic year. They successfully defended their first-place title on Oct. 6 in the 2003 Association of Latino Professionals in Finance and Accounting Student Case Competition, sponsored by KPMG in Albuquerque, N.M.

The students attend DePaul’s School of Accountancy and Management Information Systems (MIS), which is among the largest, most innovative and well-known professional schools of its kind in the nation. The school’s full-time faculty holds virtually every relevant degree and credential and includes nationally and internationally-known authors, scholars and researchers. Faculty consider teaching their chief mission. In addition to undergraduate and MBA degrees concentrating in accountancy and MIS, the school offers master’s degrees in accountancy. The school is part of DePaul’s Commerce of Commerce and Kellstadt Graduate School of Business, which offer highly-respected, practical and flexible programs of business study.

DePaul’s chapter of MAHA is a professional and student organization dedicated to increasing awareness and sharing accounting and finance information among Hispanic students at DePaul.