Students Travel to Guatemala to Help Local Business

VALDOSTA -- Follow the journey of Cameron Hoopes and Nikki Mitchell, members of Valdosta State University’s Student in Free Enterprise (SIFE), as they provide business training to a hotel staff in Guatemala. The students will provide consultation in strategic marketing, Web training and the use of social media.

Located on the edge of Lake Peten Itsa, the El Gringo Perdido hotel is struggling due declining economic condition.

Scott Manley, SIFE Advisory Board member and assistant director of the Small Business Development Center, along with Jeff Shipley, SIFE faculty advisor, traveled with the students, who left on Nov. 18 and are scheduled to return Nov. 24. The group is documenting their experiences via a blog site located at www.vstatesife.blogspot.com .