Taylor Career Center’s BMA Students Win 3rd Place in Statewide Insurance Challenge
The Business Management Administration (BMA) students at Taylor Career Center are
celebrating a big win—third place in the 2025 Ferris State University/Auto-Owners Insurance
Challenge!
This statewide competition gave students a unique, hands-on experience in running a simulated
insurance company. The challenge began with students selecting and voting on a company
name—TrustHaven Insurance was born. Over the course of six weeks, these future
professionals worked through every critical aspect of running an insurance business, from
marketing strategies to financial portfolio management, all while staying focused on profitability,
growth, and solvency.
To prepare, students learned about renters insurance through instructional videos created by Dr.
David Allen Brown, Professor at Ferris State University. From there, they dove into the core of
the challenge. Each week, students analyzed their company’s financial statements and made
key decisions in the following areas:
● Marketing Decisions: Determining advertising budgets and sales promotions, and
setting commission structures for sales agents—both for new policy sales and existing
policy renewals.
● Finance Portfolio Management: Choosing how to allocate company assets across
cash, stocks, and bonds, and weighing how much investment risk to take on.
● Underwriting Decisions: Selecting which types of customers to insure based on risk
levels, setting the average policy price, and determining commission strategies that
balanced retention with growth.
These decisions directly impacted the company’s performance across several metrics, all of
which were factored into the competition’s scoring algorithm.
The team’s hard work and strategic thinking paid off—TrustHaven Insurance earned third
place in the state, bringing home:
● $100 for classroom use
● A pizza party with representatives from Ferris State University and Auto-Owners
Insurance
● An in-class celebration scheduled for April 22, where students will receive their
awards, enjoy some well-earned pizza, and have the opportunity to speak with
professionals in the insurance industry. There may even be some surprise swag!
This was Taylor Career Center’s second year competing in the challenge, and the results
speak volumes about the students’ dedication, growth, and teamwork.
“I am so proud of my students for taking this seriously and working hard to make their company
successful,” said their instructor Mrs. Hale. “This competition is not only educational but
incredibly rewarding, and it’s amazing to see how much they’ve learned and accomplished.”
Congratulations to TrustHaven Insurance and the BMA students at Taylor Career
Center—you’ve insured your spot as rising stars in the world of business!
Students earning this honor are Adam Barnett, Jamar Braxton, Shania Cardinal, Darion Conley, Ariyana Freeman, Joshua Howell, Rylee Kujat, Matthew O'Connor, Camila Perez-Neri, Angel Ramos-Ramos, Jamarri Salter, Zane Sarandrea, William Serrano, Alonna Spencer, Jenna Stover, Jaylen Wiseman!