North Island College business students placed second in the recent Western Canada Business Competition (WCBC) simulation.

Douglas College鈥檚 New Westminster campus hosted the March 8-10 event.

The NIC team of Joaquin Arroyo Beytia, Akwasi Boateng, Haiden Edwards and Mohammed Amaan Khan went up against seven other teams in the senior division simulation competition and finished in second with their business, Envision Corp.

Through a business strategy simulation, teams tested their ability to run a fictional action camera and commercial drone business. The challenges included creating and presenting a strategic plan and participating in eight rounds of decisions that covered all aspects of business, including marketing and sales, operations, human resources, administration and finance. The competition takes place over 72 hours with tight reporting and analysis deadlines for each decision.

鈥淭hese students surprised themselves as to how well they performed as they were very nervous and apprehensive at the start.,鈥� NIC instructor Murray Erickson said. 鈥淭hey were quickly able to overcome this and plan and execute their strategy of high financial leverage with a focus on productivity. It was a close battle for first place with a team from Douglas College just beating them.鈥�

For the event this year, team members ran companies that compete for global market leadership in two product categories: wearable video cameras that deliver stunning video quality and have powerful photo capture capabilities, comparable to those designed and marketed by global industry leader GoPro; and sophisticated camera-equipped copter drones that incorporate a company-designed-and-assembled action capture camera and that are sold to commercial enterprises for prices in the range of $850鈥�2,000 or more.

This competition provided an opportunity for NIC students to network with other business students and professors from colleges and universities across Western Canada, as well as practise the skills and knowledge they have learned in the classroom in a simulated real-world environment.

鈥淭he team started early each day and worked late into the next morning in making their yearly decision鈥攇reat experience as close to real life as possible for these students,鈥� Erickson said.

For more information about NIC鈥檚 business programs, visit