South Mountain Community College DECA had an outstanding showing at this year’s Arizona DECA Career Development Conference, with eight of nine competitors qualifying to represent SMCC at Collegiate DECA ICDC 2026 in Louisville, Kentucky on April 18-22. This more than doubled the college’s previous number of national qualifiers.
Leading the way were Vanessa Martinez, Arizona Collegiate DECA President and a first‑place winner in Financial Accounting, and Stephanie Ramirez, who earned first place in Human Resources. Juan Saenz, Arizona Collegiate DECA Vice‑President, also competed while helping to organize and run the state conference, demonstrating the balance of leadership, service, and professionalism that DECA promotes.
Other SMCC competitors included Joceline Johari, Malachi Ziegler, Fardeen Imran, Stephanie Ramirez, Chapter President Reyna Hernandez Yepiz, and Chapter Vice‑Presidents Erjon Tabaku and Kimberly Rodriguez Santana. These students competed across a wide range of events, including Business Research, Entertainment Marketing, Entrepreneurship, Financial Accounting, Financial Statement Analysis, Hotel and Lodging, and Human Resources.
Students participated in three main types of events:
- Case Study – Individual events, where students have thirty minutes to analyze a business scenario, then present their solution to a judge and respond to questions.
- Case Study – Group events, where two-person teams collaborate have sixty minutes to solve a case and present their solutions.
- Prepared events, where students develop a project or presentation in advance and then deliver it to a panel of judges.
These formats allow students to build critical skills in research, problem‑solving, public speaking, and judge interviews, which are all valuable for future careers in business, accounting, and management.
Students interested in joining or learning more about the SMCC DECA chapter can attend our weekly meetings every Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. in BE151. For an invitation to the DECA Chapter Canvas course, contact Aaron Blau at [email protected].
The success of the SMCC DECA team reflects the dedication of the students, the support of South Mountain Community College faculty and staff, and the collaborative spirit of our chapter. Now our national qualifiers prepare for the Collegiate DECA ICDC in Louisville from April 18-April 22, 2026.