William Paterson University Students Win 8th Annual National Sales Challenge 2014 Hosted by the University’s Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales

--Win marks first overall for William Paterson University

(From left) Prabakar Kothandaraman with students Denzel Bland and Austen Mahoney

A William Paterson University student team won first place overall in the Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales 8^th Annual National Sales Challenge held at 1600 Valley Road in Wayne, competing against the best sales students from 39 other schools across the nation and abroad. This is the first time a William Paterson team has won the overall competition.

Seniors Denzel Bland of Parsippany and Austen Mahoney of Jersey City, both professional sales majors in the University’s Cotsakos College of Business, are the William Paterson winners.

Bland was also a role-play finalist and took 4th place among the overall individual winners in the sales challenge. Mahoney took 3rd place among the overall individual winners. The event is judged by business executives from around the country who also serve as sponsors.

“Denzel and Austen prepared for this competition by working with a team of William Paterson professional sales students who supported their efforts,” says Prabakar Kothandaraman, executive director of the Institute and associate professor in the department of professional sales. “It underscores the strength of our program in preparing students to have skill and confidence under pressure and rank among the top sales talent in the nation.”

With this win, William Paterson’s Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales builds on its leadership role in educating students for a career in professional sales. William Paterson was one of the first and still one of the few institutions in the nation to offer a bachelor of science degree in professional sales.

William Paterson University’s Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales was recognized in 2014 as one of the top sales programs in the nation by the Sales Education Foundation of Dayton, Ohio.

The Russ Berrie Institute for Professional Sales was created in 2002 when the late Russ Berrie, the founder and chief executive officer of Russ Berrie and Company, Inc., donated funds to establish the program at William Paterson University. Housed in the University’s Cotsakos College of Business, the Institute represents a unique partnership between the private sector and higher education designed to advance the field of professional sales.