The Young Professionals Chamber of Commerce (“YPCC”), a program of the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, hosted their Eighth Annual Business Leadership Competition at Farmingdale State College on Wednesday December 1st.  This year more than 210 high school students from Commack, Deer Park, Half Hollow Hills East, Half Hollow Hills West, Harborfields, Huntington, Northport, Oyster Bay, St. Dominic’s, Walt Whitman, and Wilson Technological Center participated.  A luncheon and awards ceremony followed the competition.  The 23 judges of the event were overwhelmed by the caliber of student talent and had a difficult time choosing the winners!

The competition provided students the opportunity to demonstrate their knowledge through presentations in the categories of Fashion Marketing, Hospitality Services, Advertising, Graphic Design, Travel and Tourism, Sales Demonstration, Sports Management, Sports Marketing, Entrepreneurship, and Job Interview Skills.

This event was made possible through the generosity of this year’s sponsors:  Adelphi University, Briarcliffe College, Farmingdale State College, Five Towns College, Astoria Federal Savings, Molloy College, Oyster Bay Rotary, Wachovia/A Wells Fargo Company and Verizon.

2010 YPCC Business Leadership Competition Winners

Fashion Marketing: 
First Place:  Shannon Boutros and Briana Cali, St Dominic’s
Second Place:  Anna Sakellaridis and Melissa LaCorte, Oyster Bay
Honorable Mention: Brandon Ehrlich, Half Hollow Hills East

Hospitality Services:
First Place: Aneesh Shah and Cody Miecnikowski, Half Hollow Hills East
Second Place:  Hunter Smith and Daniel Paulson, Commack
Honorable Mention:  John Probert and Chris McPartland, Walt Whitman

Advertising:          
First Place: Lukasz Leon and Brian Cannarazzo, Wilson Tech                                                                    
Second Place: Amanda Garcia and Melissa Giuda, St. Dominic’s
Honorable Mention:  Joe Melono and Justin Tampellini, Commack

Graphic Design:   
First Place: Edwin Lavarenga and Anthony Lupo, Wilson Tech                                                                                                                      
Second Place: Jasene Licenziato and Kyle Henderson, Oyster Bay
Honorable Mention:  Imari Echevarra, Wilson Tech

Sports Management:  
First Place: Dan Scholem and Vinny Daigger, Commack
Second Place:  Molly Costello, Harborfields

Sports Marketing:      
First Place:  Anthony Squeglia and Jordan Siegler, Commack
Second Place: Jeff Cherkin, Half Hollow Hills East 
Honorable Mention:  Nick Malizk and Joe Albert, Northport

Travel and Tourism:           
First Place: Nick Scover and Kevin Osse, Walt Whitman                                                                                                                                   
Second Place: Isabel Staccuneddu And Sarah Watson, Northport
Honorable Mention: Mike McFelia and Greg Linden, Walt Whitman

Entrepreneurship:     
First Place:  Kirsten Fischl and Alyssa Stalzer, Commack                                                                                                                                 
Second Place:  Anthony Bruno, Wilson Tech
Honorable Mention:  Elyssa Slowinski and Andrea Fortunato, Northport

Sales Demonstartion:               
First Place:  Sarah Holzberg and Dianna Felberbaum, Commack
Second Place: John Guido and Ryan Persaud, Half Hollow Hills West                                                                                                         

Job Interview 9th and 10th Grade:     
First Place:  Rafael Reyes, Walt Whitman
Second Place: Jack Watkins, Commack
Honorable Mention:  Eric Gesuale, Half Hollow Hills East

Job Interview: 11th and 12th Grade          
First Place: Brianne Dillon, Walt Whitman
Second Place: Anthony Campanella, Walt Whitman

Job Interview (Life Skills)
First Place: Michael Brodsky, Commack
Second Place: Alyssa Gibbs, Deer Park
Honorable Mention: Ben Alston, Deer Park

Winners of the Verizon scholarship money: Nick Scover, Walt Whitman; Amanda Boles, Commack; Mike Tampellini, Commack and  Anthony Lupo, Wilson Tech.

The distinguished panel of judges included:   Michael Agnes, Wachovia Bank,  Michael Babbar, Best Buy; Michael Banks, Long Island Radio Group;  Dee Cameron, Cameron Advertising;  Michael DeCristofaro, Edward Jones;  Barbara DeMatteo, Portnoy, Messinger, Pearl and Associates; Anthony DeVito, Devito Fetterman Advertising;  Karen Fischer, Home Depot; Maureen Leslie, Adelphi University; Jim McGowan, Adelphi University; Bill Mitchell; Dan O’Shea, Briarcliffe College; Evan Proios, Suffolk County Community College; Sal Rizzo, Molloy College; Brian Rothschild, Adelphi University; Vita Scaturro, Community National Bank;Pam Soskil, Think Newspaper; Suffolk County Legislator Steve Stern; David Walsdorf, Walsdorf Insurance Agency; Jim Werner, Halliday Financial Group; Judy White, CJ2 Communication Strategies;  Stacy Zager, Briarcliffe College; Monique Zorn, Zorn’s Poultry Farm.                 

ABOUT THE YOUNG PROFESSIONALS CHAMBER OF COMMERCE:
As a division of the Huntington Township Chamber of Commerce, the YPCC was established to engage high school students, college students and young entrepreneurs to enhance their leadership skills in a professional environment interacting with business executives, community leaders, educators and other young adults.  The YPCC offers guest speakers, networking opportunities, skill and resume building, entrepreneur workshops, internships and more.  We believe that the strength of our School-Business Partnership through the Chamber of Commerce enables us to provide educational initiatives to the dynamic students who are our future business leaders of tomorrow. For more information, contact Linda Mitchell at (631) 423-6100, Ext. 16, or visit www.huntingtonchamber.com.