Penn State Harrisburg sales competition draws students from regional colleges

MIDDLETOWN, Pa. — Penn State Harrisburg’s 2025 Sales Competition drew more than 50 students from the region to test their professional sales skills in front of real community business representatives.

The competition, sponsored by Sherwin-Williams and hosted by the School of Business Administration, had participants from Penn State Harrisburg, Penn State Berks, Temple University and Shippensburg University.

The two-day event included a speech competition and an elevator pitch competition, where students delivered their best two-minute pitch on themselves to company representatives at the college’s Career Fair.

Forty students participated in a sales role play competition, where they were challenged to take the role of an assistant manager at a Sherwin-Williams paint store, selling to a contractor. The top five sellers from the first round competed in the final round, aiming to sell additional services to buyers.

The event also included networking opportunities and a keynote speech from Jerel Brown, district manager from Sherwin-Williams. Volunteers from Sherwin-Williams, Fastenal, Hershey Entertainment, Northwestern Mutual, TEKsystems, and Enterprise Mobility served as the judges for the event.

Sherwin-Williams also provided funding for students at Penn State Harrisburg to use an artificial intelligence software, Copient.AI, to train for professional selling.

Winners, who took home awards and cash prizes, were:

Sherwin Williams Sales Competition

• First place: Elinore Goodwin, Penn State Harrisburg
• Second place: Jazmine Judd, Penn State Harrisburg
• Third place: Ayomide Ojowa, Penn State Harrisburg

Speech Competition

• First place: Rachel Polifka, Shippensburg University
• Second place: Ayomide Ojowa, Penn State Harrisburg
• Third place: Baso Regmi, Penn State Harrisburg

Top Networkers

• Gideon Ruch and Jazmine Judd, Penn State Harrisburg

Elevator Pitch winners:

• Eleanor Black, Penn State Harrisburg
• Christopher Hancock, Temple University
• Elinore Goodwin, Penn State Harrisburg
• Folashade Odubona, Penn State Harrisburg
• Ayomide Ojowa, Penn State Harrisburg