Three students from the Western New England University (WNE) College of Business competed in the Boston Regional Fed Challenge. The WNE Fed Challenge Team, represented by Finance majors Brendan O'Brien, Nathan Rosenkranz, and Vincent Viturale, competed against a number of distinguished colleges and universities in the state including Holy Cross, Boston College, Bentley, Yale, Northeastern, Babson, Harvard, Tufts, UCONN, Bates, Boston U, Dartmouth, UMASS, Clark, Bryant, Middlebury, and Bard/Simon's Rock.
The College Fed Challenge is an annual academic team competition for undergraduate students in which participants analyze current economic and financial conditions and formulate monetary policy recommendations, modeling the Federal Open Market Committee. Students are required to create a professional presentation and deliver it to a panel of judges consisting of academics and professional economists. The 15 minute presentation is followed by a 10 to 15 minute question and answer period.
"The monetary policy our team recommended was great. They focused on small businesses recommending tax breaks for all small businesses that did not lay off their employees, and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan forgiveness for all small businesses," said College of Business Visiting Professor of Accounting & Finance Wayne A. Durr. "The challenge committee had nothing but praise for the way our students performed and represented our University. One of the things I'm most proud of, is that we received a perfect score on Teamwork and Cooperation. This is indicative of these young men and our University. As their faculty advisor, I could not be prouder of the way these young men competed."
The Team plans to represent Western New England University in Boston next year and advance to the championships in Washington DC.
