LATROBE, PA – Nineteen students of Saint Vincent College’s Alex G. McKenna School of Business, Economics and Government recently completed an intensive three-day case study as the capstone project for their certification on the SAP Business One business management software.

Led by Robert Markley, Carpenter Technology-Latrobe Specialty Metals Sponsored Lecturer in business administration, the three-day capstone project was completed Dec. 7-9 and culminated six months of training received by the students on SAP Business One, an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system used by businesses worldwide for automating functions in financials, operations and human resources. Markley was assisted by 2017 Saint Vincent College graduate Derek Hile, an SAP Business One consultant for Saberpoint in New York City, as well as student assistants Lucy Volna, a senior management major from Meadville, and Joshua Henn, a senior management major from Cranberry Township.

The Saint Vincent contingent was tasked with configuring an ERP system for Oregon Wood Labs LLC, a fictitious wood products company in Oregon that employs 35 full-time employees and specializes turning waste wood into usable commodities. Divided into small groups in the Fred M. Rogers Center, the students were tasked with successfully configuring a complete ERP system using SAP Business One after being given an overview of the company’s list of employees, financials, inventory, bills of materials, and customer, vendor and partner details.

The students began training on SAP Business One in the summer and progressed through a number of training modules throughout the Fall 2020 semester, culminating with the Oregon Wood Labs project.

In 2008, Saint Vincent College became one of the first colleges in North America – and fourth worldwide – to incorporate SAP Business One training into its curriculum. Now, SVC is one of more than 3,500 schools from across 113 countries that are members of the SAP University Alliance.

More than 1,300 students have been exposed to SAP Business One since the program’s introduction at Saint Vincent College, with 144 students completing the certification program, 95 landing paid internships and 65 gaining full-time employment in the SAP ecosystem.

Since the program’s introduction at Saint Vincent College, more than 1,300 students have been exposed to SAP Business One, while 144 have completed the certification program, 102 have attended SAP professional conferences, 95 have landed paid internships and 65 have gained full-time employment in the SAP ecosystem.

Students who completed the Dec. 7-9 Oregon Wood Labs SAP Business One project include:

Emma Andrasko, a junior accounting major from Jeannette.
Samuel Cancilla, a junior accounting major from Lancaster.
John Crocetti, a junior finance major from Connellsville.
Christina Davis, C’19, a graduate student from Ford City enrolled in the Master of Science in Management: Operational Excellence program.
Kamlin Davis, C’19, a graduate student from Greensburg enrolled in the Master of Science of Management: Operational Excellence program.
Aaron Kuhn, a junior accounting major from North Huntingdon.
Tyler Laughery, C’20, a graduate student from North Huntingdon enrolled in the Master of Science in Management: Operational Excellence program.
Ryan McDermott, a junior management major from North Huntingdon.
Maeve Milligan, a junior international business major from Johnstown.
Edward Muriceak, a junior management major from Cresson.
Tyler Overmier, a junior international business major from Crofton, Maryland.
Chad Palombo, a junior management major from Latrobe.
Andre Pradia, C’19, a graduate student from Fresno, Texas, enrolled in the Master of Science in Management: Operational Excellence program.
Maximilian Schuler, a junior management major from Upper Saint Clair.
Kendra Smithbauer, a junior marketing major from Saint Marys.
Jacob Soliday, a junior management major from Connellsville.
David Swisher, a junior accounting major from Gibsonia.
Justin Wright, a junior management major from Greensburg.
Cameron Yoder, a junior management major from Baltimore, Maryland.

PHOTO: First row, left to right: Lucy Volna, Kamlin Davis, Maeve Milligan, Emma Andrasko, John Crocetti, Max Schuler, Cameron Yoder, Andre Pradia and Chad Palombo;

Second row, left to right: Tyler Overmier, Kendra Smithbauer, Robert Markley, Edward Muriceak and Jacob Soliday;

Third Row, left to right: Samuel Cancilla, Joshua Henn, Derek Hile, David Swisher, Justin Wright, Ryan McDermott, Aaron Kuhn and Tyler Laughery

(Not pictured: Christina Davis)