A Cajun- and Creole-style restaurant in Denton recently received new upgrades thanks to the efforts of a Texas Woman's University student group.
For five months, 10 students representing Students in Free Enterprise, or SIFE, a student group focused on enhancing the quality of life of communities, helped make certain areas of Frilly's Seafood Bayou Kitchen more eco-friendly and helped it reduce expenses.
Funds for the renovation project were made possible by a $1,000 grant from the Sam's Club Environmental Sustainability Challenge, which provides SIFE teams an opportunity to help a Sam's Club business member become more environmentally sustainable.
The TWU group won the grant last fall after competing with other university organizations across the country. As part of the challenge, students provided a detailed project concept and a list of expected expenses.
The students, led initially by An Martin, worked with TWU's School of Management faculty sponsors David Rylander and Derek Crews to complete the challenge.
Amanda Petree, another team leader, said Frilly's owner Greg Strange was happy to help the students complete their project. So much so that he matched the initial grant to help the students complete the project.
Petree and the team members took an audit of Frilly's existing facilities to find areas where improvements could be made.
"They had already installed low-energy lighting and added more-efficient televisions, and we figured we could help in the restrooms, since they had older sink models and toilets," said team member Tiffany Johnson.
When the students finished their project, Frilly's had a new waterless urinal, three high-efficiency dual-flush toilets, as well as touch-free hand dryers and new toilet paper dispensers. To celebrate the upgrades, Frilly's representatives and SIFE members had a reopening celebration on March 10.
Rylander said this was the first time team members had worked on an environmental challenge project.
"We have a small-business institute partnership on campus and we target every semester four to five different small businesses. We go out in teams and see how we can improve their marketing and help them save on costs," Rylander said. "This specific project was done outside of the class as part of the Sam's Club environmental challenge."
Rylander said his student group is diverse. Some students are business majors but others come from programs such as computer science, fashion design, fashion merchandising and biology. Presently, there are 40 students who are part of SIFE and they work with local business owners to find projects that can help the community.
"We have a business advisory team of local business people. They are there to serve as advisers," Rylander said.
Johnson said she believes SIFE really does help local businesses become more environmentally conscious, more so than similar organizations at the university.
"TWU does have a recycling and conservation committee, but as far as business goes, this is the first organization that I have seen that has gone out in the community and truly made a difference," she said.
Last year, about 149 teams across the country were awarded Sam's Club Environmental Sustainability Challenge grants of $1,000, said Rita Neff, project manager of Strategic Partnerships for SIFE USA, in an e-mail.
The purpose of the nonprofit organization is to change the world by creating better and more sustainable environments through the positive power of business, according its website.
As of August, 48,000 students were involved in as many as 1,500 active teams in 39 countries.
SIFE was established at TWU in 1996 and has conducted numerous projects that have helped people of all ages, according to a press release.
In 2010, the TWU team conducted its third Girl Scout Interest Project conference, during which members presented different areas of studies to more than 130 Girl Scouts. The young students were exposed to topics such as business management, public relations, graphic design, food and nutrition, and environmental studies.
TWU SIFE students also compete annually in the SIFE USA National Exposition, one of the largest regional competitions for the organization. In the last nine years, team members have won five regional competitions, and took first runner-up four years. A group of five SIFE students competed Friday at the regional competition in Dallas. KARINA RAMÍREZ can be reached at 940-566-6878. Her e-mail address is kramirez@dentonrc.com.
ON THE WEB
Students in Free Enterprise: www.sife.org
