“Explain succinctly and articulately, citing precise financial data, why natural gas fracking is a sound long-term economic practice for the energy industry.”
The statement is a paraphrase of the more complex one given to teammates Adin Herzog, Jacob Burl and Andre Lamunyon when they competed in final phase of the nation’s top business competition for college and university students.
But they did it. Their analytical and detail-filled response won them first place honors in the category of Economic Analysis and Decision Making.
The three are from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott.
Praising his professors for preparing the team for what Herzog called “…the most intensely demanding experience of my life,” the senior from San Diego explained how he and his teammates felt after winning at the National Leadership Conference in Atlanta, June 24-27.
Herzog told FBN that the final competition, sponsored by Phi Beta Lambda (PBL), the world’s largest business leadership organization, had two parts. The first was a 100 item multiple choice written examination.
“That was easy, compared to the second part – a stand-up oral presentation where we had to state our economic and business rationale for taking the position and making the decision we did. We had only 20 minutes to prepare our oral arguments,” he said.
Reflecting the thoughts of the winning team, he said ERAU faculty members prepared students beyond book knowledge and emphasized critical problem-solving skills regarding real-world problems.
Herzog is majoring in aviation business administration and minoring in economics at the nation’s premier university, which specializes in aviation and aerospace degree programs.
Recently, he was elected president of the ERAU campus chapter of Phi Beta Lambda. The organization has more than 10,000 members in 500 chapters.
This summer, he is serving as an intern at McCarran International Airport in Las Vegas, where he is being mentored by executive staff members about managing the complex airport operations system.
By Ray Newton, Quad Cities Business News and Flagstaff Business News
