Purdue NAMA Team Wins Reserve National Championship Title

West Lafayette, Ind., April 17,2011-  A team of nine Purdue students from the Department of Agricultural Economics competed against 29 other universities all across the United States and Canada to win second place last week.  NAMA, short for the National Agri-Marketing Association, gives students and professionals the chance to sharpen their marketing skills and stay up-to-date in the agriculture industry.  At the two day competition, teams had to win two heats in order to advance to the final round. Competition scores are based on a written marketing plan as well as a live presentation. To be among the best a team must excel in both areas.

This year’s NAMA team began working on their marketing plan to market a natural, local and specialty cheese and salami bundled product in early January.  Hoosier Homestead, a fictional joint venture, was created when a dairy and swine cooperative joined forces to add value to their commodities.  The Purdue NAMA team created a marketing plan for the product including the story behind the joint venture, market and competitor analysis, promotional strategy, action plan and financials analysis.

The 2011 NAMA team is composed of Kyle Maple, Michelle Steinbarger, Kim Hoeing, Jenna Langley, Bailey Perry, Addison Sheldon, Christy Penner, Urooj Khan and Josh Pottschmit; all are students in the Department of Agricultural Economics.  The team spent the last four months working on the marketing project for the national competition. The team was lead by rookie coach and PhD student, David Ortega.  The team received a plaque and national recognition.

Purdue University 2011 NAMA Marketing Team
  Back row: Kyle Maple, Addison Sheldon, Urooj Khan, Josh Pottschmidt
  Front row: Michelle Steinbarger, Kim Hoeing, Bailey Perry, Jenna Langley,
Christy Penner, David Ortega (advisor)