TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- Members of the Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) program in the Florida State University College of Business will present three projects at the upcoming Southeast Region SIFE Competition. The projects, designed to address real-world problems by raising the standard of living for area residents, will compete against SIFE teams from more than 40 other universities throughout the Southeast as judges measure the impact that each project has made on its community.

The Southeast Region SIFE Competition is scheduled to take place on Monday, March 30, in Atlanta.

Established in 2004, the SIFE program at Florida State is part of a global, nonprofit organization that mobilizes college students to make a difference in their communities while developing the skills to become socially responsible business leaders. SIFE's global network, which stretches across more than 1,500 college and university campuses in 47 countries, consists of business leaders, university students and academic leaders. The program concentrates on six areas: market economics, success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, business ethics and environmental sustainability.

The project "Opportunity Plus" tops the list of Florida State's presentations at the Atlanta competition. Established in the fall of 2008, "Opportunity Plus" is a joint effort between the SIFE team and WORKFORCE Plus, an organization that strives to provide leadership and support for a work-force development system throughout Gadsden, Leon and Wakulla counties. The project's purpose is to create a series of hands-on seminars that provide at-risk youth with the tools they need to increase their marketability in the job arena, preparing them for higher education and improving their lives.

Also being presented at the regional competition are the Entrepreneurship Program and the "Seminoles Can" project. Through the Entrepreneurship Program, the SIFE team works to empower people to become successful in business in an ever-changing economic and cultural climate. The "Seminoles Can" project tackles the issues of hunger relief and homelessness awareness in conjunction with the Campbell Soup Company's "Let's Can Hunger" competition.

"Through the SIFE program, students have a real opportunity to put the skills they are learning in the classroom to work in the real world," said Pat Pallentino, lead instructor for the Sales Track in Florida State's Department of Marketing and the faculty adviser for the SIFE team. "These projects in turn benefit the community we live in, making it a better place. The Southeast Region SIFE Competition recognizes these beneficial projects and the schools that are making them happen. We are happy to be recognized as one of them."

For more information on the international Students in Free Enterprise organization, visit www.sife.org.

For more information about the College of Business, please go to www.cob.fsu.edu.