Rider University's Jared Butcher and Phil Simon Help Team Take Fourth Place in Competition

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Standing, from left to right are Rider University students Jared Butcher ’11, Kevin Lawton ’10, Phil Simon ’12. Seated is Dan Josephs, general manager of Spruce Industries.

LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ (01/06/2012)(readMedia)-- Two Mercer County residents were on a team from Rider University's Master of Business Administration program that recently received fourth place in the Small Business Institute® Association's Consulting Project of the Year competition, which awards the best student consulting projects from around the country. The honorees include Jared Butcher '11 of Princeton, N.J., and Phil Simon '12 of Trenton, N.J.

"This is the fourth year in a row that our M.B.A. team has come in the top five in the country," said Dr. Ron Cook, professor of Entrepreneurial Studies and director of Rider's Center for Entrepreneurial Studies and Small Business Institute®. "Having been a judge in this competition in different categories from my entries, I can appreciate the quality of the projects submitted and the effort the students must make to reach this level of success. I could not be prouder of these students."

Butcher, Simon and Kevin Lawton '10 of Chesterfield, N.J., received fourth place in the Graduate Specialized Project category for their work with the Spruce Industries, a family firm located in Rahway, N.J., that sells janitorial supplies for commercial and industrial cleaning needs. The owner is Hank Josephs '71, and his son and general manager, Dan Josephs, was the client contact. The graduate students investigated the feasibility of entering the consumer market for green cleaning products, and produced a report as part of Cook's Consulting for New and Small Businesses course that he taught in Spring 2011.

Rider students in the SBI program have had substantial success over the years in this competition. Since 1998, Rider has had 20 top 10 or better national finishes by both the graduate and undergraduate students in this competition.

"I wish to thank our SBI corporate sponsor, Grand Bank, and its president, Mark Wolters," Cook said. "Mark has been a wonderful supporter of the program as he recognizes the exceptional learning experience the students get as well as the value we offer to the companies in the program."

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