Long Island’s Brightest High School Students Compete in the Ninth Annual Business Leadership Competition

Young Professionals Chamber of Commerce Executive Director Linda Mitchell, left, with the first-place winners of the Ninth Annual Business Leadership Competition.

The Young Professionals Chamber of Commerce (“YPCC”), a program of the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, hosted their Ninth Annual Business Leadership Competition at Farmingdale State College on Wednesday, November 30^th.  This year more than 300 high school students from 14 local high schools, including Commack, Deer Park, Farmingdale, Half Hollow Hills East, Half Hollow Hills West, Harborfields, Hauppauge, Huntington, North Shore,  Northport, Oyster Bay, St. Dominic’s, Walt Whitman, and Wilson Technological Center participated.  A luncheon and awards ceremony followed the competition.

 The competition provided students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge through presentations in the categories of Fashion Marketing, Hospitality Services, Advertising, Graphic Design, Travel and Tourism, Sales Demonstration, Sports Management, Sports Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Job Interview Skills.

This event was made possible through the generosity of this year’s sponsors:  Adelphi University, Briarcliffe College, Farmingdale State College, Five Towns College, Dowling College, Gundermann and Gundermann Insurance, Astoria Federal Savings, JVC Broadcasting, Oyster Bay Rotary, North Shore Financial Group, Sunrise Outdoor Advertising and the New York Islanders.

 2011YPCC Business Leadership Competition Winners

Fashion Marketing Team A: 

First Place:  Emily Bealey and Karissa Doyle, Wilson Tech

Second Place:  Julia Callan and Alicia Baccarella, Farmingdale

Honorable Mention: Samantha Dever, Huntington

Fashion Marketing Team B: 

First Place:  Olivia Knott and Jackie Calamari, Walt Whitman

Second Place:  Tess Boutros and Kiera Coyne, St. Dominic’s

Honorable Mention: Nia Thomas and Brittany Saal, Deer Park

                                         
Hospitality Services:

First Place:  Aneesh Shah and Cody Micholowski,   Half Hollow Hills East

Second Place:  Nicholas Scover and Kevin Osse, Walt Whitman

Honorable Mention:  Dillon Scott and Brian Cheuh, Commack

Honorable Mention:  Joshua Arnow and Michael Winning, John Glenn

                                                  

Advertising Team A:          

First Place:  Jake Sonenblum and Jared Silverberg, Half Hollow Hills East                                               
Second Place: Jonathan O’Kane and Chantel Durgana, Commack

Honorable Mention:  Shaune Killough and Adam Lavender, North Shore

 

Advertising Team B:          

First Place:  Hannah Lomele, Huntington      
Second Place:  Sydney O’Gorman and Ami Munim, Northport

Honorable Mention:  Victoria Curcio and Nicole Elkins, Hauppauge

                                                    

Graphic Design:   

First Place:  Michael Conklin and Deidre Keirns, Wilson Tech                                                                                                                        
Second Place: Bryan Moore, Commack

Honorable Mention:  Kayla Rakower, Commack

                                                                              

Sports Management:  

First Place:  Amanda Garcia and Melissa Guida, St. Dominic’s
Second Place:  Spencer Hagler, Half Hollow Hills East

Honorable Mention:  Dustin Feynman, Farmingdale

                                                  

Sports Marketing:      

First Place:  Jeff Cherkin, Half Hollow Hills East

Second Place:  Chris McPartland, Walt Whitman

 Honorable Mention:  John Christoforatos and John DeFalco, Northport                                            

Travel and Tourism Team A:           

First Place:  Mike McFelia and Greg Linden, Walt Whitman                                                                                                                              
Second Place: Jackie Judson and Genny Dean, Northport

 Travel and Tourism Team B:           

First Place:Dan Purcell and Tyler Wojcik, Northport                                                                                                                                           
Second Place: Sasha Moore, Harborfields

                                                                                

Entrepreneurship Team A:     

First Place:  Sal Sherman and Alexis Napoli, Farmingdale                                                                                                                               
Second Place:  Justin Denardo, Commack

Entrepreneurship Team B:     

First Place:  Areeta Shah and Eric Gesuale, Half Hollow Hills East                                                                                                                
Second Place:  Juliet Bibla and Angelica Green, Oyster Bay

 Sales Demonstration:              

First Place:  Jordan O’Donnell and Drew Greenberg, Half Hollow Hills East

Second Place:  John Guido and Ryan Persaud, Half Hollow Hills West

Honorable Mention:Danielle Cardito & Jessica Maniscalco,Half Hollow Hills West                                                                          

Job Interview 9^th and 10^th Grade:     

First Place:  Taylor Veracka, Hauppauge

Second Place: Eric Steinberg, Half Hollow Hills East

                                                

Job Interview: 11^th and 12^th Grade Team A         

First Place: Daniel Jayson, Half Hollow Hills West

Second Place: Michael Fisher, Commack

 Job Interview: 11^th and 12^th Grade Team B       

First Place: Andrea Fortunato, Northport

Second Place: Amanda Kaufman, St. Dominic’s

Job Interview (Life Skills)

First Place: Ashley Harrelson, Hauppauge

Second Place: Ryan Phelan, Hauppauge

 
The distinguished panel of judges included:   Michael Agnes, Bank of America; Alex Borg, Borg and Borg Insurance; Sara Bluestone, Leadership Huntington; Vincent Casillo, North Shore Financial Group; Michael DeCristofaro, Edward Jones; Anthony DeVito, DeVito Group; Christopher G. Erckert, CGE Ventures; Karen Fischer, Home Depot; Patricia Grant, Gundermann and Gundermann Insurance; Camille Savino Koorey, CJ2 Communications Strategies; Maureen Leslie, Adelphi University; Toni Loschiavo, Dowling College; Joe Maddalone, JRM Coaching and Consulting; Jim McGowan, Adelphi University; Christopher Melz, My Own T-Shirts; Bill Mitchell, Huntington Chamber of Commerce;Sarah Novak, New York Islanders;Jennifer Paretta, Bellmore-Merrick School District; Mark Perel, Homestead Window Treatments; Jackie Pevera, Farmingdale State College; Diane Portigiano, Digho; Evan Proios, Briarcliffe College; Anuj Rihal, AXA Advisors; Robert Romano, Farmingdale State College; Morgan Rooney, BAE Systems; Jessica Rosenthal, Saf-T-Swim; Brian Rothschild, Adelphi University; Michael Smith; William Steedle, Farmingdale State College; Jim Werner, Halliday Financial Group and Judy Wasilchuk .                                                                            

 ABOUT THE YOUNG PROFESSIONALS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE:

As a division of the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, the YPCC was established to engage high school students, college students and young entrepreneurs to enhance their leadership skills in a professional environment interacting with business executives, community leaders, educators and other young adults.  The YPCC offers guest speakers, networking opportunities, skill and resume building, entrepreneur workshops, internships and more.  We believe that the strength of our School-Business Partnership through the Chamber of Commerce enables us to provide educational initiatives to the dynamic students who are our future business leaders of tomorrow. For more information, contact Linda Mitchell at (631) 423-6100, Ext. 16, or visit www.huntingtonchamber.com.