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some are currently taking Japanese and German.What students—and their future employers—find mostappealing about international business studies is that textbook lessonscome to life because they’re constantly being applied toreal-world situations. “I was an economics major and I never hadany interaction with an actual business until after I graduated,” saysprogram director Tom Myers. “I feel it’s imperative that students getthis experience now.”In Myers’s international marketing class, working out solutionsto real-world problems is a serious business that amounts to 25 percentof the course grade. Working in teams, students act asconsultants to help a Vermont company solve a marketing need.They meet with corporate executives, perform research and analysis,then write a report and make a PowerPoint presentation beforecompany representatives and classmates. “It’s just like you’re in awork setting and your boss says, ‘I need this presentation in amonth and you need to make that happen,’” Myers says.For Christina Senechal ’04, the extra pressure of working for alive client was a powerful incentive to do her best work. Her team,working for Shelburne Farms, was asked to create an internationalmarketing plan for a new residential learning center that’s currentlyunder development. As part of the presentation, Senechal built awebsite for the center with professional images and content todemonstrate her strategy for marketing to Japanese clients.“When you have somebody who’s looking at this because it’stheir job and they’re actually hoping to derive something from it,”Senechal says, “you really want to impress them.” And apparentlythey did. A Shelburne Farms representative, speaking to the teamafter the presentation, seemed genuinely taken with their ideas.“It’s a great asset to be able to come in and take advantage of yourhard work,” she said.TRADING PLACESBeginning this fall, with the completion of the Center for GlobalBusiness and Technology, international business students will havesubstantial new resources for projects like these. And with itssophisticated design and state-of-the-art technology, the Center isattracting interest from outside organizations that could increasestudents’ insider access to global business dealings. The College iscurrently negotiating a collaborative project with an internationaltrade organization that would co-locate within the new facility. “Itwill be a beneficial situation for both us,” says Myers.With this partnership—and hopefully a new $160,000 grantfrom the U.S. Department of Education—Myers envisionsChamplain as a hot spot for global business activity. He sees companiescoming to the Center to do pre-trade mission launchings; heIn addition to solving real-world problemsin their classes and internships, program directorTom Myers (top, sixth from left) says IBstudents will have the chance to get involved ininternational trade conferences once the Centerfor Global Business and Technology (bottom,fourth from left) is completed.Champlain View | Spring 200419