Smeal EMBA Alumni Serve as Judges for SkillsUSA Championships

Ten members of the Penn State Smeal College of Business Executive MBA alumni network will be judges in the SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Skills and Leadership Championships held tonight in Hershey, Pa.

Some of the Smeal EMBA alumni judges at the SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Skills and Leadership Championships.

UNIVERSITY PARK, PA (April 7, 2011) - Ten members of the Penn State Smeal College of Business Executive MBA alumni network will be judges in the SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Skills and Leadership Championships held tonight in Hershey, Pa.

The SkillsUSA Pennsylvania Championships is the leading state-level competition for public high school and college/postsecondary technical students enrolled in career and technical education programs. The Smeal EMBA alumni will put their business acumen to use judging business plans written and presented by students from around Pennsylvania who have advanced to the championships from their local competitions. Gold medal winners in the state competition will advance to the national championships.

The Smeal EMBA alumni are traveling to Hershey for the event from Maryland, New York, State College, and Washington, D.C.

"They are really showing their dedication to community service," said Jake Ray, managing director of the Smeal EMBA Program. "Whether it's raising money for children with cancer through Thon, putting together care packages for the homeless over the holidays, or participating in a daylong youth event as a judge, Penn State Smeal EMBAs always show up to help in any way they can."

Begun in 1967, the SkillsUSA Championships has grown from 54 competitors in three contests to more than 5,600 competitors in 96 hands-on skill and leadership contests this year.

Henry Guarriello, secretary of SkillsUSA Council's board and organizer of the Pennsylvania championships is appreciative of the role the Smeal EMBAs are playing. "If it weren't for the outpouring of support from Jake Ray and the Smeal community, we wouldn't have been able to support the number of great business plans we've received this year," he said.

About SkillsUSA
Formerly known as VICA (Vocational Industrial Clubs of America), SkillsUSA is a partnership of students, teachers and industry working together to ensure America has a skilled workforce. SkillsUSA helps each student excel.

For more information, visit www.skillsusa.org.

About the Penn State Smeal College of Business Executive MBA Program
Launched in 2001, the Smeal Executive MBA Program is a 21-month experience with classes held on alternating weekends at The ACE Conference Center in Philadelphia. EMBA graduates earn the same internationally ranked and recognized MBA degree provided on campus in University Park, Pa., and the program is led by the same top faculty from Penn State's University Park campus. The program features personalized executive coaching, intensive communication training, a weeklong international immersion experience, and coursework focused on the unique challenges of the students' firms.

REPORTERS & EDITORS: For more information, please contact Victoria Fryer in the Smeal College of Business Media Relations Office at 814-863-3798 or mediarelations@smeal.psu.edu.

Penn State's Smeal College of Business offers highly ranked undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, Ph.D., and executive education opportunities to more than 5,500 students at all levels. Featuring academic departments of accounting, finance, management and organization, marketing, risk management, and supply chain and information systems, the college is also home to major research centers such as the Center for Supply Chain Research, the Institute for the Study of Business Markets, the Farrell Center for Corporate Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the Center for Global Business Studies, and the Center for the Management of Technological and Organizational Change.