Students Compete in Annual Free Enterprise Marathon at SUNY Plattsburgh

The sixth annual Free Enterprise Marathon held March 2 on the SUNY Plattsburgh campus drew student competitors from 13 colleges and five high schools from as far away as New Hampshire, making it the largest yet.

Dr. Nancy Church, project director for the Free Enterprise Marathon and distinguished service professor emerita in the School of Business and Economics, said teams were fielded by students attending:

- University of Vermont
- Champlain College
- Norwich University
- St. Michael’s College
- New England College
- Clarkson University
- Hudson Valley Community College
- SUNY Canton
- SUNY Cobleskill
- SUNY  New Paltz
- Clinton Community College
- SUNY Adirondack
- Clean Technologies and Sustainable Industries Early College High School
- North Country Homeschoolers
- Peru Junior/Senior High School
- Westport Central School
- SUNY Plattsburgh

Each school could send a team of up to five students plus their faculty advisers. Some 120 people attended, not including volunteers and interns.

The event was created to give high school and college students an understanding of free enterprise. During competition, teams participate in a speak-off challenge, where teams have to speak from three to five minutes on entrepreneurship, and a creativity and innovation competition where teams have to create an inventive and feasible product.

The 12-hour marathon resulted in nearly $10,000 cash prizes being awarded in both categories at the high school and college levels.

“The quality of the students' speeches and the teams' problem solving and creativity is quite impressive,” Church said.

The marathon was made possible by a grant from the Charles Koch Foundation. The next marathon is scheduled for Friday, March 1, 2019.

For more information about the Free Enterprise Marathon, contact Church at [email protected] or 518-564-4169.