University of Dayton and Vector Marketing Corporation Make Dream Come True for 12-Year Old Girl

News provided by

Vector Marketing (Cutco)

Feb 25, 2014, 15:15 ET

Dayton, OH (PRWEB) February 25, 2014 -- Students in Dr. Peter Titlebaum’s sales and fundraising class at the University of Dayton in Ohio recently raised $13,000 for The Front Row Foundation, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping individuals who are braving critical health challenges “experience life in the front row.” The money will be used to fulfill the dream of 12-year old Karen Richards, an 8th grade student who faces many serious health issues. As per Karen’s wish, she and her family will have the opportunity to sit in the front row of a Boston team sporting event.

The Front Row Foundation provides recipients a front row experience at their favorite concert, sporting event, theatrical performance or other form of live entertainment, creating life-changing moments that positively affect the mind, body, and spirit of each person involved. Karen’s health issues include Complex Regional Pain Syndrome, Ehlers Danlos Syndrome, Dysautonomia, Gastroparesis, POTS, Antiphospholipid Syndrome, and a thyroid tumor.

The donation was made possible due to an innovative partnership between Titlebaum’s class and Vector Marketing Corporation, the single-level direct sales company which is the primary distributor of Cutco Cutlery produced by Cutco Cutlery Corporation, the largest manufacturer of high-end kitchen cutlery in North America. The partnership, called Cutco in the Classroom, enables students to expand the theoretical knowledge of sales learned in the classroom and gain real-world sales experience by selling Cutco. The students are given sample Cutco Cutlery kits and are asked to develop and implement an effective sales strategy. Most importantly, they must go out and sell product.

This marks the fourth year the class has participated in the Cutco in the Classroom program. In previous years, students raised money for the university’s John R. Schleppi Sport ManagementCareer Enhancement Fund. This year’s donation was the largest achieved to date. In addition to $6,300 raised from the sale of $18,045 in Cutco products, the students raised an additional; $6,700 in private donations for the Front Row Foundation.

“I’m very proud of the Cutco in the Classroom program and of the enthusiastic participation by students at my alma mater,” says James E. Stitt, Chairman, CEO of Cutco Corporation. “Cutco in the Classroom not only provides college students with the ability to test the waters regarding a potential career in sales within the framework of a classroom support system, it also fosters a philanthropic mindset that we hope young entrepreneurs carry with them throughout their lives.”

Skills developed selling Cutco include:

  • Time management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • Closing techniques
  • Presenting
  • Customer service
  • Teamwork

“Providing students with real-world sales experience is essential to helping them succeed in their future positions after college, whether it directly involves sales or not,” Titlebaum says. “The fact is that no matter what career you choose, you are always selling, be it a product, an idea or even yourself.”

About Cutco Cutlery Corporation and Vector Marketing
Cutco Cutlery is a 65-year-old company with headquarters and manufacturing facilities in Olean, New York. Vector Marketing is the company’s sales division, coordinating all sales for Cutco Cutlery through a national network of college students who sell products through in-home personal demonstrations. More than 15 million US households have a Cutco product.

Diana Laverdure, Vector Marketing (Cutco), +1 561-483-7040, [email protected]