A L U M N I M A G A Z I N E - Colby-Sawyer College

Small Club,
Big Ideas
From their successful efforts to
remove paper cups from the dining
hall and turn recycling into a competition
to their proposal to bring
wind power to New London, the
Colby-Sawyer Chapter of Students
in Free Enterprise (SIFE) has shown
that protecting the environment
can save—and even generate—
revenue for the club and college.
In March Colby-Sawyer’s eightmember
team qualified at the 2011
SIFE Regional Competition in New
York City to go on to the national
competition in Minneapolis in May,
where they attracted attention as a
small college club with big ideas.
“The SIFE judges like to see
clubs that have a large impact on
the community, and sustainability
initiatives were big this year,”
says Bill Spear, assistant professor
of Business Administration and
the club’s co-advisor, along with
Assistant Professor Jody Murphy.
“Our team has certainly broadened
its efforts to do good in society. This year SIFE became the
‘go-to’ club when something needed to get done.”
This year SIFE also hosted educational events for students
such as Loan 101, Investment Forum, and Beyond
the Bachelor’s Degree, and coordinated a coat drive for area
families in need.
SIFE President Anup Nepal ’11, an international student
who was involved with SIFE for four years, says the team’s
regional win was a great way to close out his college career.
His experience taught him that business leaders must integrate
their colleagues’ good ideas into their plans and assist
them in developing their skills. But he believes today’s successful
leaders can do even more.
“A good business leader is a socially responsible individual
who can positively impact high numbers of people
in society,” Nepal says.
SIFE’s sustainability efforts were the most rewarding projects
for club Vice President Jake Daniele ’11. “When I joined
SIFE I became the head of RecycleMania and the Bring Your
Own Mug Campaign, which involved me in sustainability
efforts,” he says. “We are getting so much support for the
Wind Turbine Project from faculty and staff, but also from
judges at the regional and national level.”
Both Daniele and Nepal agree that the most important
These members of Colby-Sawyer’s Chapter of Students in Free Enterprise made up the team that represented
the college and won the organization’s regional competition last spring in New York City. The team
includes (from left): Ashley Blais ‘11, Chao Lu ‘12, Sarah Lewis ‘11, BJ Lavoie ‘11, Anup Nepal ‘11, Daniel
Saltalamacchia ‘11, Jake Daniele ‘11 and Samuel Kenney ’11.
lesson they’ve learned through SIFE is the value of team
work. “Because we aren’t the biggest team nor do we have
a large budget…we learned quickly the value of collaboration,”
Daniele explains. “This is a great real-world lesson
because in business you may have to work with different
departments. SIFE has taught us how to effectively engage a
large group to meet a goal.”
Big ideas and effective teamwork are just the beginning;
what matters most in business are tangible results. The
SIFE students have also formed partnerships with Sodexo,
Facilities, GreenROUTES and campus clubs, as well as with
New London officials and businesses, to achieve ambitious
goals. In the last two years, the club led students to recycle
11,185 pounds of material; saved on the purchase of 75,000
paper cups in the dining hall; and collected and recycled
691 ink cartridges on campus and in town. They presented
their wind turbine proposal to New London officials and
received an enthusiastic response, and raised the funds to
pay for the next step: a feasibility study for the project.
How has this small club achieved such big results? Their
secret may be direct access to faculty expertise. SIFE member
Sarah Lewis ’11 told Professor Spear that Colby-Sawyer’s
chapter was the only team at the competitions that had its
faculty members’ cell phone numbers on speed dial.
PHOTO: Ed Germar
SUMMER 2011 5