The Iowa State University Agricultural Business Club brought home two awards—Outstanding Chapter Club and Creative Club—and a top placing in the annual quiz bowl from the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Annual Awards and Fellows Ceremony.

Outstanding Chapter Clubs are recognized for their hard work throughout the school year based on the goals and objectives of the chapter, the club’s membership recruitment and the chapter's activities. Creative Awards are given to clubs that organize a special event during the school year, which are judged based on the club's written account of the idea or project, its implementation, and its result. This year, the Ag Business Club received the award for adding two industry advisor positions to strengthen how the club connects with agribusinesses.

Amani Elobeid, economics teaching professor and CARD faculty member, is one of the club’s advisors. Elobeid said the club is entirely student-run with guidance from dedicated advisors. The committees determine what awards to apply for and arrange events, industry meetings and club educational sessions.

This year, some club members decided to restart the AAEA Quiz Bowl contest team a couple of months before the competition. In the past, the Ag Business Club had sent a team to compete, but for the past few years, Iowa State had not participated.

“I went to some of the executive committee members and said, ‘Why don't we just test it out and see if it's something that we want to revive?’” Elobeid said. “It's a time commitment, and we didn’t get to practice very much. We weren’t even able to get the answering software they use at the competition.”

The other schools had a full year to prepare, but Iowa State’s club had just a few weeks. Elobeid said they went into the competition intending to try their best but not be disappointed if they didn’t do well. The team placed third out of 14 teams.

"This is a testament to the strength of the Agricultural Business program and the caliber of students in the major," Elobeid said.

Learn more about the Agricultural Business Club by visiting their website.