Ten Saint Peter’s students in the School of Business, selected through a competitive application process, recently took part in the Goldman Sachs 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.
“Goldman 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,” said Raymond Butkus, M.B.A., lecturer of business administration and LCC faculty adviser.
Over the course of five months, students from Saint 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 Goldman Sachs mentors, the students solved business case problems, received career advice and attended executive presentations. The 10 student participants were Andrea Lopez ’20, Christopher Rodrigues ’18, Denisse Hozven-Veas ’19, Devin Varela ’20, Erika Sanango ’19, Habib Diongue ’20, Jonathan Rodriguez ’20, Karol Harmett ’20, Norky Torres ’18 and Sarah Casanova ’19.
“The 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,” 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 Saint Peter’s 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’s product display center, which displayed the breath of the company’s 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.
“The 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. 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,” 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 Saint Peter’s team was highly commended by Goldman Sachs executives regarding the quality of their presentation and sophistication of their recommendations.
“Without 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,” said Butkus.
Saint 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 ’14, senior career coach.
