rikka_brandon-web.jpgThe Mayville State University Division of Business and Computer Information Systems sponsored their annual Business Activities Day on the campus of Mayville State University on Thursday, January 29, 2015. Just over 150 high school students and their advisors from eight schools attended the event which included individual and team competitions, lunch, and awards.

Students competed in a number of events, including Accounting, Business Law, Personal Finance, General Business, Office Procedures, Intro to Business Communications, Spreadsheet Applications, Technology Literacy, and Word Processing.

Following the morning competitions, students were treated to lunch in the Mayville State Dining Services. Following a keynote session, award certificates were presented to the first-, second-, and third-place winners in each of the competitions. Door prizes were also given out.

Rikka (Fugleberg) Brandon, a May-Port CG and Mayville State graduate and chief recruiting officer for Building Gurus, led the keynote session. In her presentation, titled “It’s Never Too Early to Set Yourself Up for Success,” Rikka shared some of her experiences, as well as her advice meant to assist individuals with their educational and career plans.

Rikka has a wealth of employee recruitment and entrepreneurial experience. She started her first business in 2003, at the age of 26, and has made a successful career of matching up employees and employers. She and her family recently returned to the United States after living in Mexico for a year, and she has now started RikkaBrandon.com to help entrepreneurs hire better.

Breakout sessions followed her presentation, with Rikka giving more in-depth information about how young people can set themselves up for success through life and work experiences. Terry Kemmer, with Mayville State’s Larson Leadership program, discussed spontaneous leadership opportunities with Business Activity Day participants. MSU business faculty member Rob Johnston and the MSU Collegiate DECA students discussed ethics in the workplace, as well as in everyday life.

Schools participating in Business Activity Day 2015 included Ada-Borup (Minn.) High School; Northern Cass (N.D.) High School; Central Valley (Buxton-Reynolds, N.D.) High School; May-Port CG (N.D.) High School; Hatton and Northwood (N.D.) High Schools; Larimore (N.D.) High School; and Fertile-Beltrami (Minn.) High School.

Business Activities Day is sponsored annually by the Mayville State University Division of Business & Computer Information Systems. This year’s event was coordinated by administrative assistant Brittany Stevenson, Assistant Professor of Business Rhonda Nelson, and Assistant Professor of Business and CIS Rob Johnston. They were assisted by faculty and students of the MSU Division of Business and Computer Information Systems and Collegiate DECA members. Many other Mayville State University students, faculty, and staff were involved throughout the day.

MSU Assistant Professor of Business Robert Tangsrud was in charge of the student written testing. Judges for the competitive events were as follows: Business Presentation - Mark Skean and Terry Palmer; Web Scavenger Hunt – Donna Gutschmidt and Sheena Moe; Entrepreneurship – Gene Levitt and Dustin Olson; Web Site Design – Bubba Rockstad and Craig Keating; and Job Interview – Jay Henrickson and Nicole Meyer.

Photo Caption: Portland, N.D. native Rikka (Fugleberg) Brandon was the keynote speaker for Mayville State’s Business Activity Day 2015. She is pictured at left as MSU Assistant Professor of Business Rhonda Nelson introduces her to the Business Activity Day participants.