Northern Illinois University College of Business — 2021 NIU Business Olympics

2021 NIU Business Olympics Saturday, April 3, 10 a.m. U.S. Central Standard Time

About Northern Illinois University College of Business Transformative innovation requires more than a single light bulb moment. From conception to execution, collaboration is necessary to develop and execute any idea. The Northern Illinois University College of Business approach to transformative innovation is through collaboration that crosses boundaries — disciplinary, cultural, age, time, distance, role, organizational and socioeconomic. Our approach can catapult breakthrough ideas and people into extraordinary success stories.

The College of Business at Northern Illinois University values international collaboration. Students from all over the world come to get an education in the College of Business which has been ranked No. 1 in Illinois for return on investment for tuition dollars spent by Business Week. U.S. News & World Report has ranked the college among the nation’s best in 2020 and for the past 33 consecutive years.

Accredited for both business and accountancy by AACSB, the NIU College of Business is among less than 5% of business schools worldwide to hold the dual-accreditation.

NIU College of Business has a World-class Reputation • Ranked No. 1 in Illinois for tuition dollars spent by Business Week.

• Top 24% of business schools by U.S. News & World Report.

• No. 4 Best Undergraduate Business Schools in Chicago according to Chicago Choice (2017).

• Ranked No. 77 top undergraduate business programs and No. 30 for academic excellence by Poets&Quants (2021).

• Eighty-eight percent reported full-time employment within six months of graduation (2014-2015).

Crossing Boundaries, Transforming Lives The impact of an education from the NIU College of Business is best told by a recent alumnus.

At 10 years old, Oleg Grachev wrote an essay about his dream of working on Wall Street. That is an unusual dream for a young boy, especially one who lived in Eastern Russia.

But Grachev let nothing stand in the way of his dream. He worked hard in school, especially at learning English. At age 17, he won a scholarship from the U.S. Department of State to spend his senior year of high school in the United States.

Before he could go, however, a swimming accident left him temporarily paralyzed. Still, he did not give up on his dream. One week after he got back on his feet, he was on his way to the United States.

Grachev finished high school in Paw Paw, Illinois, and in 2013 enrolled at NIU where he excelled in every facet of his college life. He double-majored

in finance and economics, with a minor in applied probability and statistics, and graduated with a 3.9 GPA. Grachev created a nationally recognized peer-mentor program to help other international students adjust to college life in U.S. He traveled to Washington, D.C. to lobby for immigration reform.

As president of the NIU Investment Association, he participated in the NIU Student Managed Portfolio, helping direct investments for a fund operated by the NIU Foundation.

Grachev paid for his education through scholarships, working for the NIU Division of International Affairs, as well as interning with AIG in Chicago and J.P. Morgan in New York City. Grachev did realize his dream of working on Wall Street, as he now works with J.P. Morgan full time as an Investment banking analyst.

The 2021 NIU Business Olympics will be a virtual event hosted by our College of Business. Aimed at high school and community college students, the NIU Business Olympics event offers multiple businessrelated competitions to teams.

• Finance: Teams participating in the NIUIA Valuation Challenge will select and investigate the hypothetical merger of two publicly traded firms belonging to an assigned industry, writing a professional report in the first round and presenting their findings in the second round. For more information, contact Gina Nicolosi gnicolos@niu.edu.

• Entrepreneurship: Individuals or teams participating in the Big Idea Pitch Competition will pitch their idea for a new business to like-minded entrepreneurs, judges and potential investors. For more information, contact Tim Michaelis tmichaelis@niu.edu.

• Marketing: Teams participating in the Digital Marketing Competition will choose a local company and create a marketing strategy based on the RACE (reach, act, convert, engage) framework, and from this framework develop a website for the company using our partner’s free Wix platform. You must reach out to Samantha Gibson sgibson@niu.edu for login information to Wix. • Technology: As business transactions move to mobile devices, an app can be the competitive advantage a business needs to succeed. Your team can submit a mind-blowing concept to win the prize in the Mobile App Idea Competition. For more information, contact YiPeng Liu yliu@niu.edu.

• Data: Organizations create and collect massive amounts of data.

Compete in the Accountancy Data Visualization Competition to demonstrate your skills in displaying data to provide insights that support better decisions. For more information, contact Linda Matuszewski lmatus@niu.edu.

For more details, visit go.niu.edu/NIUBusinessOlympics.

Vision Statement Inspire and empower to innovate, transform business, change lives and make a difference in the world.

Mission Statement Create knowledge, transform business and develop principled, adaptable global citizens through innovative active learning and personalized experiences.

Core Values Excellence. Integrity. Caring.

“NIU has provided me with such a solid, strong foundation that I am confident I can build anything when I leave here.”

— Aylissa Moore, marketing student “Going on this study abroad trip to Sweden was truly a once in a lifetime experience. I had very high hopes that this trip was going to be not only very educational but also very entertaining and fulfilling, and it delivered above and beyond my expectations. I feel as though we got an amazing and authentic look into the culture in general and the business world in Sweden.”

— Brett Cipra, reflecting on the study abroad visit to Sweden.

Northern Illinois University is an equal opportunity/affirmative action institution. Produced by authority of the State of Illinois. niu.edu 53462 2/21

2021 Business Olympics

NIU College of Business