Eight South Mountain Community College students took their business skills to Louisville, Kentucky to compete at the Collegiate DECA International Career Development Conference (ICDC) which took place April 18–22, 2026.
Erjon Tabaku, Reyna Hernandez Yepiz, Kimberly Rodriguez Santana, Joceline Ortega, Malachai Ziegler, Stephanie Ramirez, Juan Saenz, and Vanessa Martinez represented SMCC as the largest single community college contingent in the Arizona Collegiate DECA Association's delegation. They were joined by six students from CGCC, five from SCC, three from GCC, and 20 students from Arizona State University, among more than 1,300 collegiate attendees from across the country and around the world.
The SMCC team competed across a wide range of events reflecting the breadth of business education at SMCC, including Financial Statement Analysis, Human Resource Management, Business to Business Marketing, Fashion Merchandising, Financial Accounting, Business Research, and Entrepreneurship. To earn their spot in Louisville, each student first competed and qualified at the Arizona Collegiate DECA state competition.
Beyond the competition floor, students heard from Louisville-area business leaders on careers in marketing, tourism, and professional sports, and from keynote speaker Charles Clark, a retired Olympic sprinter who challenged the audience to leave negativity behind and step into their "Thrive Zone."
Advisor Aaron Blau accompanied the team to Louisville.
If you are interested in joining or learning more about SMCC's Collegiate DECA chapter, please contact Aaron ([email protected])
