The Ticker
jnrobertson@uh.edu
Senior Communications Manager
Students Design and Execute Business Plans During Annual BurgerFest
Entrepreneurship students create winning business strategies during the annual BurgerFest event held by the Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship.
Students in the Cyvia and Melvyn Wolff Center for Entrepreneurship at the UH C. T. Bauer College of Business are getting a taste of the business world while feeding customers’ appetites.
BurgerFest, an annual competition that gives teams of students an opportunity to show off not their grilling skills, but to apply lessons learned in the classroom into business savvy, will be held April 8 and 9 in the North Patio beside the University Center on the University of Houston campus.
“I have learned how to deal with the challenges of leading a team,” said Robert Heckeroth, a student leader. “Everyone has their own ideas and opinions and it can be difficult to keep everyone moving in the same direction.”
Five student teams will compete against each other in food stands, selling hamburgers and other items. Before the event, teams work out marketing strategies to determine everything from pricing to prizes. Team leaders are appointed CEOs of their respective companies and present and implement operating plans, fundraising and managing their stand’s image.
WCE Program Manager Brian Stephenson said BurgerFest is a way for students to gain hands-on experience.
“You learn a lot from implementing a plan,” he said. “It’s a whole different thing to do it. You learn how difficult it is to do something and then how to do it better.”
Aside from edging out the competition, students will have to vie for their customers’ affection through their stomachs.
“I look forward to seeing the reaction from the customers,” Heckeroth said. “Hopefully, we will see good results from our marketing efforts as well as an overall good turnout for BurgerFest. I'm also looking forward to see what the other teams have been planning. It's been very competitive this year and all the teams are keeping their plans very secretive.”
By Mayra Cruz
About the University of Houston
The University of Houston, Texas' premier metropolitan research and teaching institution, is home to more than 40 research centers and institutes and sponsors more than 300 partnerships with corporate, civic and governmental entities. UH, the most diverse research university in the country, stands at the forefront of education, research and service with more than 35,000 students.
About the Bauer College of Business
The C.T. Bauer College of Business has been in operation for more than 60 years at the University of Houston main campus. Through its five academic departments, the college offers a full-range of undergraduate, masters and doctoral degrees in business. The Bauer College is fully accredited by the AACSB International - the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business. In August 2000, Houston business leader and philanthropist Charles T. (Ted) Bauer endowed the College of Business with a $40 million gift. In recognition of his generosity, the college was renamed the C.T. Bauer College of Business.