Dr. Ron Cook, Ari Bluestein ’06, Terry Voldase ’05, Matthew Sontag and Dean Larry Newman

Rider University’s Small Business Institute (SBI) has again placed in the top 10 nationally in the 2005 National Small Business Institute® student consulting case-of-the-year competition, undergraduate division.

Under the guidance of Dr. Ron Cook, professor of entrepreneurial studies and director of Rider’s SBI, the team, consisting of Ari Bluestein ’06 of Elkins Park, PA, an entrepreneurial studies and finance major; Terry Voldase ’05 of Flemington; Matthew Sontag ’05 of Bogota; and Michele Meszáros ’06 of Mount Laurel, an entrepreneurial studies and global management major; investigated building a business model for Rider’s CONNECT-ED program, a Central New Jersey-based partnership of 13 public school districts, two independent schools, two universities, one community college, one corporation and other community partners. CONNECT-ED enhances the quality of professional development for science and math teachers in the region.

Over the years, Rider’s SBI teams have consistently placed among the top ten finalists on both the undergraduate and graduate levels in national competitions. Further, its 1999 undergraduate team won first place honors nationally and its 2002 undergraduate team placed second. This year, the graduate team also placed second nationally, which is the highest finish to date for a Rider graduate SBI team.

What makes Rider’s program unique? A Rider student consulting team is matched with an area small business/organization to help that firm analyze its specific needs, and make recommendations. It is the focused, selective nature of Rider’s SBI program that has helped produce winning results.

According to Cook, it is a win-win situation: “The students get to apply their knowledge in a real setting, and the companies get a level of assistance that would be unaffordable to most of them.”

For further information, contact Cook at cookr@rider.edu, or 609-895-5522