An undergraduate team from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Haslam College of Business captured first place in the NASBITE International’s 2026 Virtual Undergraduate Student Case Competition. Students Don D’Arcangelo-McDonald, Ethan Ward and Clark Vaughn earned a $1,000 prize for their thorough plan for how Switchgrass Spirits, the competition’s sponsor, could market their products internationally. Nineteen teams from across the U.S., Canada and Mexico presented in this year’s competition, with tracks for virtual and live teams, as well as graduate and undergraduate teams.
Beyond the Classroom
The competition’s case, developed with sponsor Switchgrass Spirits, focused on how the company could expand its small batch, grain-to-grass spirits and bottled cocktails globally. Company founders Sarah Miller and Nick Colombo were impressed with the UT team’s plan for Switchgrass Spirits to successfully break into Australia, saying they delivered the most complete analysis of how to enter the export market.
“They brought a complete set of actionable recommendations and made a good case for entering the Australia market,” Miller said.
According to Laurie Wolff, distinguished fellow and case competition lead for NASBITE International, the competition helps participating colleges improve the teaching of international business. The case also enabled students to demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to obtain the Certified Global Business Professional (CGBP) credential, which covers global management, marketing, logistics and trade finance.
The UT team’s advisor, Tory Kinson, lecturer in Haslam’s Department of Management and Entrepreneurship, agreed. “NASBITE provided an invaluable opportunity for our students to level up by solving a complex international challenge,” he said. “I loved watching the lightbulbs go on as they worked on their recommendations.”
He added that, through this experience, his students sharpened their consulting skills, tapped into diverse resources and gained real-world insights that go far beyond the classroom.
“We are grateful for these experiences, as the practical skills and lessons learned in this case challenge will truly elevate their resumes as they launch their careers,” Kinson said.
Grateful for Experiential Learning Opportunity
For the students on the winning team, the virtual NASBITE International Case Competition provided opportunities to hone their skills and gain experience for their future careers.
D’Arcangelo-McDonald, a senior public administration (economics and political science) major who served as team captain, strongly recommends anyone interested in creating meaningful impact and driving change to leverage events like the case competition.
“This competition provided an incredible opportunity to deepen my understanding of real-world business practices and develop the ability to implement solutions in real time,” the Miami, Florida, native said.
The event stood out from others that Ward, a senior finance major from Knoxville, has been involved in. He called it an incredible avenue to further develop his consulting skills.
“Having competed in multiple case competitions, NASBITE stood out because my team had the opportunity to work with and present to members of a real company on a challenge they were actively facing,” Ward said.
Vaughn, a sophomore finance and accounting major from Knoxville, explained the most worthwhile part of the experience was working with a real-world challenge facing entrepreneurs striving to grow their businesses.
“Getting to engage with them directly and actually help them gave me a lot of perspective on what my future can look like,” he said.
About the NASBITE International Student Case Competition
Since 2015, the competition has brought together teams of students from international business programs to identify the best international market and market entry strategy to meet a challenge presented by a U.S. exporter. In the undergraduate competition’s virtual track, teams present remotely to company representatives and judges during NASBITE International’s Annual Training Forum, which was held this year in St. Louis, Missouri.
Main image: Ethan Ward, Tory Kinson, Clark Vaughn and Don D’Arcangelo-McDonald.
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Scott McNutt, senior business writer/publicist, rmcnutt4@utk.edu
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