We are pleased to announce two students have been selected to receive the Joseph and Frieda Faiman Eisenberg/VPC Endowed Scholarship award. Laura Williams and Raffi Yousefian are both Financial Economics majors at UMBC and both will receive a $1000 scholarship.

Laura Williams is currently a junior and has experienced entrepreneurship all her life. Her parents founded a successful electrical contracting company and she has worked in the family business for several years. She started her first business, a cake decorating business, when she was 12 years old. Laura plans to buy her parents' company when they retire, and using the knowledge and skills she has gained in her studies at UMBC, she plans to expand the firm and turn it into a million dollar enterprise.

Laura believes strongly in giving back and serving the community. She has been a volunteer firefighter/EMT for the past 5 years, She wants all the values she has learned from her community service experiences to drive the underlying goal of the future companies she plans to run.

Raffi Yousefian, currently a sophomore, also watched his parents start their own business and he has decided to follow their path. He "loves business" and joined a business club while still in high school. Two years ago he started an online business selling consigned and brand new goods. He then went on to acquire a Maryland real estate license. Working in the real estate business helped him gain experience in a variety of areas including finance, marketing, business law, accounting, and insurance.

Raffi and a fellow student entered the UMBC Business Plan Competition in February 2008 and their entry won 1st place. The business they proposed, NRG Savers, focused on providing energy conservation packages for residential and commercial consumers. They thoroughly researched all aspects of their business and provided a very detailed briefing package for the judges' review. While Raffi is not sure if he will ever transform NRG Savers into an actual venture, he resolves to start his own business one day. And he plans on entering more business plan competitions.