Above, Dr. Amit Poddar, Mid-Atlantic Sales and Marketing Institute director, left, and Geoff Turner, president and CEO of Choptank Transport, right, present a ceremonial check to first-place winner Molly Riordan. Submitted Photo
SALISBURY — When it comes to making sales, students in Salisbury University’s Franklin P. Perdue School of Business are winners — some of them literally.
Some 81 students recently vied for top honors during the SU Mid-Atlantic Sales and Marketing Institute’s (MASMI’s) sixth biannual sales championship competition. The event included two contests, one for overall sales and one for elevator pitches.
Molly Riordan of Paramus, N.J., received $1,000 for her first-place finish in the overall sales competition. Runners-up included Nolan Gallagher of Queenstown in second place ($500); Nina Bendt of Boyds in third ($200); and Elizabeth Weant of Taneytown in fourth ($100).
Heather MacMaster of Sykesville topped her competitors in the elevator pitch session, taking home a $100 prize. She was followed by Alexis Black of Berlin in second ($75), and Travis Farrell of Clements in third ($50).
Winners were decided by judges, buyers and observers representing MASMI sponsors and local businesses. The event followed an “etiquette dinner” for the students and corporate partners, also hosted by the institute.
Gold Sponsor Choptank Transport also was the product sponsor. The four finalists were tasked with selling the shipping logistics company’s services to its CEO, Geoff Turner.
Additional sponsors included Sunbelt Rentals, APPI Energy, CED Sterling, Enterprise Holdings, Gartner, Northwestern Mutual, Orkin Pest Control, Perdue Farms, Pohanka of Salisbury, Risk Placement Services, Sherwin-Williams, Stanley Black & Decker and UNUM.
Associate MASMI members included Capital Electric, Cvent, OC Beachfront Rentals, SVN Miller Commercial Real Estate, Tom James and United Rentals. In addition, Capital Services, Inc., participated as a guest company.