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Bethlehem, Pa.,February 3, 2016—ɫ��ɫ College has partnered with Stratix Systems, a leading provider of business technology and managed services, headquartered near Reading, Pennsylvania, to create The Stratix Systems Marketing Partnership. This new program is two-fold and includes a student marketing competition and a research fellowship.  

This initiative builds from shared core values of life-long learning, action-based research and practical experience, and creates a framework through which college students and company employees interact in learning, inquiry, problem solving and implementation within the context of the marketing environment.  

“The Stratix Systems Marketing Partnership combines the best of both worlds,” says Santo D. Marabella, MBA, DSW, professor of management. “We at ɫ��ɫ College are committed to excellence in academics, and at the same time, we understand the value of professional experience. The Marketing Partnership provides another opportunity for students to be critical thinkers, presenters and persuaders to their point of view.”

For the student competition, participants will delve into a timely marketing theme identified by Stratix. The theme of the competition is differentiation. The presentations must answer, “In the world of sales, how do you differentiate yourself and your company from the competition?  What are the key factors to focus on?” For example, students might explore innovations in cold calling or examine whether social media is underused or overdone; then they’ll create a 10-minute presentation to a juried panel of employees from Stratix. Finalists will be selected to present their work to Stratix executives, and winners will receive a cash prize. The competition will take place in the fall once the program is fully underway, but it will roll out this spring on a compressed timetable.  

“At Stratix, we are thrilled to launch this collaboration with ɫ��ɫ College!" said Brent Simone, president of Stratix Systems. "We see the partnership as a win-win for both organizations, providing real world business exposure to the students of ɫ��ɫ while the students provide Stratix with their unique perspective. Our Stratix employees are looking forward to the hearing the presentations and working with the fellowship winner this year and in years to come.”

The second component of the partnership is a Research Fellowship. .A student will be selected to work on a real-time marketing question or challenge facing Stratix Systems. For example, he or she might explore and develop a plan to market the company’s IT services to a specific prospective client or, more broadly, to a targeted industry or business.

The college will present several qualified candidates to Stratix Systems and the successful candidate will be announced before the end of the spring term.  The student will receive a $2500 stipend, part of which covers the cost of the full unit credit that will be earned by the Fellow. “This is a wonderful opportunity that builds on academic work, research, inquiry, and strategic thinking to create solutions to real-world marketing situations,” says Marabella. 

ɫ��ɫ College is a private coeducational liberal arts college, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For over 274 years, the ɫ��ɫ College degree has been based on a liberal arts curriculum where literature, history, cultural values and global issues, ethics, and aesthetic expression and the social sciences are infused with multidisciplinary perspectives. Visit  to learn more.