With multiple successful projects in the mix, members of the St. Thomas’ Enactus organization are looking forward to payoff in its regional competition in April.

Enactus president senior Chantel Taylor said the organization’s success this year lies in new membership.

“This year has been very exciting. We’ve experienced a lot of growth,” Taylor said. “We’ve had about 90 percent of our team be fresh, new and active members willing to help.”

With new faces came a new name for the organization. Originally called Students in Free Enterprise, the global organization renamed itself Enactus. St. Thomas faculty adviser Betsy Lofgren explained that the new name is an acronym for “entrepreneurial, action, us.”

Enactus’ mission of students and business professionals working together toward a more responsible and sustainable world brings forward multiple project opportunities for St. Thomas students, Taylor said.

Enactus member senior Collin Kearney works with Tradition Creek, a small wilderness outfitting business in St. Paul, to help the company’s marketing. Kearney said the goal is to help build awareness for the store, which has had problems due to location.

“What we are trying to do is open up to students and other people who would be able to use that store more effectively and market the store better in the area,” Kearney said.

The marketing strategies are working for Tradition Creek and Kearney. After a successful “College Night at the Creek” marketed to St. Thomas and Macalester College students, Kearney learned that his event marked the best dates for the store’s ongoing sale.

“It was really cool to hear that what we did made a difference,” Kearney said.

This isn’t the only project happening in Enactus. The organization is working on five projects, ranging from financial lessons for people with substance abuse, to planning college visits for second grade students.

Lofgren said the shining example is the “African Bellows” project, which the group has been working on for years. The project found a way to ship and deliver bellows systems to blacksmiths in Uganda so they can operate the system without help from their children, allowing them to go to school. The project started in 2007, and now the bellows systems are expected to be sent out within the next month.

“After working on this for so many years, it is amazing to finally see this finally happen,” Lofgren said.

In April, Enactus will bring all its work together to present at the regional competition. St. Thomas has won the regional competition for the past three years.

“The regional tournament for us builds our credibility as a student organization … and it gives us a very nice trophy to put in our collection,” Taylor said. “For our organization being only six years old, it really says something.”

Lofgren said it’s rewarding to see all the hard work come together at the end of the year.

“The professionalism and the polish and the culmination of the whole year of struggle into this beautiful presentation makes me cry every year,” Lofgren said.

Alex Goering can be reached at goer8777@stthomas.edu.