SIFE Projects
What We're Working On
- Sweet Business
- California Men's Colony
- Econo Lube
- Ghana
- ABC's of Credit
- Green Team
- Thailand
- Live oak Music Festival
- Big Brothers Big Sisters
Sweet Business
Sweet Business is a program that SIFE started three years ago where Cal Poly students go to an elementary school to teach kids about fair trade. The program teaches kids basic economic principles and fair trade in a fun and interactive manner. Sweet Business focuses on fair trade in the chocolate industry which kids love!
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California Men's Colony
The overall goal of this project is to positively impact as many inmates as possible at the California Men's Colony. SIFE Cal Poly will educate and assist the inmates to get back on their feet financially upon release. Seminars will be held at the California Men's Colony, instructing attendees on such things as financial skills, job applications, interview tips, resume building, and business ethics. The project will continue into the future with additional seminars, creating an ongoing effort to help as many inmates as possible. The goal is to provide the prisoners with knowledge about resume and interviews so that they can ultimately land a job upon release. By providing budgeting tips for low income individuals, we hope to help them avoid pitfalls. In addition by providing the men listings of halfway homes in their county so all of them will have a place to stay. Provided that it is feasible, the project hopes to expand to multiple prisons and SIFE teams, creating a much larger impact.
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Econo Lube
The Econo Lube project will be creating new marketing strategies for a local auto repair shop to help increase their overall sales. Econo Lube n’ Tune is a full service auto repair shop located in the downtown area of San Luis Obispo. They are currently attracting a sufficient amount of business, but they do not see many Cal Poly students coming in for service. The owners understand the size and potential of the student market so they are looking for a way to attract them. We will create various marketing strategies to help put a new face on Econo Lube n’ Tune in an effort to bring in more students.
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Ghana
This is a brand new project and has a lot of potential for growth. SIFE Cal Poly is partnering with SIFE Sunyani Polytechnic to help in improving the economic status and financial well being of Ghanaians. SIFE S. Polytechnic has chosen to work with the Northern part of Ghana which is among the least developed regions in terms of economic status. They have also identified the Shea nut as a common natural resource and have been working to use the Shea nut as a tool to help alleviate poverty by improving harvesting, processing, and storage techniques of the product. It is SIFE Cal Poly's goal to assist in finding companies in the U.S. that would be interested in partnering with or buying the Shea nut products from these Ghanaians. We are also working on ideas to sell the product locally here in San Luis Obispo as well as ideas for packaging, labeling, and marketing the products. This project is in the beginning stages and will only continue to develop and grow.
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ABC's of Credit
The ABC's of Credit is a project that is targeted twoards college freshman. Many students get their first credit card and this age and SIFE hopes to minimize their mis-use of credit cards. Our presentation consists of the Do's and Don'ts of credit card finance, the basics of credit reports and scores, and how to choose and use credit cards
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Green Team
The Green Team collaborates with members of the SIFE organization, University affiliates, and the community in an effort to reduce the environmental impact of local business. This objective is completed through renovation and modification of existing businesses after a green audit has been conducted and a baseline obtained. Using this information, the team will ascertain the most cost effective and feasible options for the company to lower their impact on the environment. These modifications will not only encourage future sustainable development but will provide the company with added revenue gains by reducing their overhead and making them more profitable.
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Thailand
For the Thailand Project, SIFE Cal Poly’s goal is to help create an economically stable environment for the Village of Mae Num Kuhn, Thailand. The team will do this by creating a market for Mae Num Kuhn’s tea and textiles here in the United States. In hopes to lessen the language and geographical barriers, we have allied with Engineers Without Borders. We also hope to have contact with the Thailand SIFE team nearest to the village. This will give us regular communication with the village.
By the end of the year the team plans to have a reliable trade established. The team will be selling purses made by a woman in Mae Num Kuhn, along with other fair trade products provided by the Fair Trade Club on Cal Poly’s campus. Bundling fair trade products will help spread the message of fair trade, while also creating a profit for those that work on those farms and make the textiles. We plan to establish ourselves on campus, in downtown boutiques and possibly online. Once reaching our goal of an established trade in San Luis Obispo, we plan to join EWB on a trip to Mae Num Kuhn and create a relationship with the villagers in hopes of helping them with their business skills and use of the money that they have earned through our sales of their purses.
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Live Oak Music Festival
We are aimed at making the festival even more green and sustainable. We want to bring awareness before, during and after the festival. The festival is located near Santa Barbara and SIFE is going to help make Live Oak’s green vision a possibility. Possible green initiatives for the festival are knowledgeable activities for children, cutting your carbon emissions prior to your arrival, and implementing a green package for festival attendees.
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Big Brothers Big Sisters
The Big Brothers Big Sisters Youth Career Exploration and Mentoring Program (YCEMP) is a 13 week program designed to address the needs of teens who may not be on the academic track after high school, yet are motivated to explore career opportunities. Participants will learn the difference between a career and jobhopping, receive employability skills training and career shadowing experiences. The SIFE members get to be the one to one mentor of the participants.
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