*** Media Advisory *** 
   
Step Up for Small Business Award Ceremony

Washington Adventist University Business Students to be Recognized for
Helping Local Small Businesses Find Success

Wednesday, July 22, 2015
3 p.m.

Rainbow Coin Laundry
8735 Flower Avenue, Takoma Park, Maryland

Washington Adventist University (WAU) business students will be recognized for their creative solutions to helping local small businesses thrive. The students recently earned third place in the national Enactus Competition, which awards teams with the most creative solutions to resolving community issues.

Comptroller of Maryland Peter Franchot and other elected officials will be on hand to recognize and celebrate the WAU students’ efforts, along with Washington Adventist University President Weymouth Spence, Ed.D.; Provost Cheryl Harris Kisunzu, Ph.D.; and Executive Vice President of Finance Patrick Farley.

The 38 students volunteered more than 3,700 hours during the year, serving the Takoma Park community. Their projects ranged from offering a local small business symposium on branding, strategic marketing and social media to helping the struggling Rainbow Coin Laundry become profitable by rebranding the business, painting and cleaning the store, and developing an after-school tutoring program for the children of customers, which further boosted business success. A $1,500 grant from the Sam’s Club “Step Up for Small Business” program helped fund the student-initiated small business improvements at the laundry and throughout the Long Branch area of Takoma Park.

Nok Kim, owner of Rainbow Coin Laundry, will receive a ceremonial check and a plaque from Sam’s Club, along with a Proclamation from Comptroller Franchot, recognizing Kim for his efforts in helping the community. Kim has owned the business for 10 years, and has worked to overcome a series of challenges that occurred when he dropped the laundry from its parent franchise.

The Washington Adventist University Enactus team is part of an international non-profit organization that brings student, academic and business leaders together to develop projects that improve the quality of life for people in need through the application of business strategies. Nationwide there are 518 Enactus teams with more than 17,000 students, working on more than 2,000 community team projects.

For more information about the Washington Adventist University Enactus team and its projects, contact Professor Kimberly S. Pichot, Chair of the Department of Business and Communication, at kspichot@wau.edu or 301-891-4034.

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Washington Adventist University is Montgomery County’s only four-year private college. Part of the Seventh-day Adventist system of higher education, Washington Adventist University has been educating college students since 1904 on a 19-acre campus in suburban Takoma Park, close to the nation’s capital. Approximately 1,100 students of all faiths participate in the university’s eight graduate and 32 undergraduate programs. The 2014 edition of U.S. News & World Report ranked Washington Adventist University among the best regional colleges in the north.

 

Media Contacts:
Angie Crews, 301-351-3197, acrews@wau.edu
Donna Bigler, 240-286-1169, dbigler@wau.edu