Ten 猫咪社区 Peter’s students in the School of Business, selected through a competitive application process, recently took part in the Goldman聽Sachs聽Local College Collaborative (LCC) program. LCC is a unique leadership program that brings together college students with Goldman Sachs business leaders to develop business management, teamwork and presentation skills. Participants were chosen based on a competitive application process that evaluated academic achievement, interviews, essays, teambuilding simulations, recommendations and other criteria. This highly selective program exposes students to Goldman Sachs executives and develops business skills and involves extensive casework with actual Goldman Sachs clients.
鈥淕oldman Sachs is among the most preeminent financial institutions in the world. Everything they do, they do well. This program is no exception. Every aspect of the LCC was thoughtfully conceived, thoroughly prepared and meticulously executed. It gave our students a wonderful vantage point on the meaning of professionalism,鈥 said Raymond Butkus, M.B.A., lecturer of business administration and LCC faculty adviser.
Over the course of five months, students from 猫咪社区 Peter’s as well as New Jersey City University, Hudson County Community College and Borough of Manhattan Community College took part in this highly competitive and unique program. Under the guidance of faculty adviser and course instructor Butkus and聽Goldman聽Sachs聽mentors, the students solved business case problems, received career advice and attended executive presentations. The 10 student participants were Andrea Lopez 鈥20, Christopher Rodrigues 鈥18, Denisse Hozven-Veas 鈥19, Devin Varela 鈥20, Erika Sanango 鈥19, Habib Diongue 鈥20, Jonathan Rodriguez 鈥20, Karol Harmett 鈥20, Norky Torres 鈥18 and Sarah Casanova 鈥19.
鈥淭he speaker series included topics such as genuineness in the business world, networking, time management and perseverance. Many of the speakers were in our positions years before they joined Goldman Sachs and became accomplished 
members of the firm. It was inspiring to hear the messages of the speakers and it gave our team encouragement to continue our hard work,鈥 said Varela
Central to the program was the development of recommendations for a series of business challenges related to finance, marketing, logistics and public relations faced by a selected company, which was Party City for 猫咪社区 Peter鈥檚 students. The students were tasked with developing an omni-channel selling strategy to maintain leadership in the Halloween/retail category with a particular focus on millennials.
As part of the program, the team visited the Party City Holdco Inc. headquarters in Elmsford, N.Y. Party City Holdco Inc. is a multi-billion dollar business and parent of the retailer, Party City, Halloween City and the sourcing and manufacturing company, Amscan Inc.
The visit included presentations by the chief financial officer, EVP of product development, SVP of manufacturing, president of retail operations and culminated with a presentation by the chief executive officer. Students learned about the inner workings of Party City Holdco Inc. including organizational structure, product conception and development process and growth strategy. A highlight of the visit was a tour of the company鈥檚 product display center, which displayed the breath of the company鈥檚 extensive product line. Throughout the day, students engaged in lively Q&A with the executives to deepen their understanding of the business and test potential case recommendations.
鈥淭he best part of the program was the involvement of our Goldman Sachs coaches. They really helped in providing insight and taught us how to apply theoretical principles to our problem-solving ideas.聽I learned that in business, the interrelationship of disciplines is key to helping solve contemporary issues. From finance to human resources, you should and must use knowledge of other departments in order to progress in whatever industry the business is in,鈥 said Lopez.
After the visit, the students presented their research findings and recommendations to a mock board of directors at the Goldman Sachs world headquarters. The presentation from the 猫咪社区 Peter’s team was highly commended by聽Goldman聽Sachs executives regarding the quality of their presentation and sophistication of their recommendations.
鈥淲ithout exception, our students were intellectually curious, tenacious and anxious to learn. For most, Wall Street was only a vague and mysterious notion. This program brought that notion to life,鈥 said Butkus.
猫咪社区 Peter’s involvement in the program was facilitated by the Center for Career Engagement and Experiential Learning (CEEL), under the leadership of Laura Pakhmanov, executive director, and coordinated by Taina Cutler 鈥14, senior career coach.
