SIFE undergoes name change

Students in Free Enterprise has changed its name to Enactus, a moniker the Springfield-based nonprofit organization chose in an effort to illuminate its entrepreneurial endeavors.

“Our organization was created almost 40 years ago - long before concepts like microloans and social enterprises even existed - in order to prove the transformative power the entrepreneurial spirit can have in people’s lives,” Enactus CEO Alvin Rohrs said in a Sept. 30 blog post on the organization's website. “Our core belief has always been that the same kind of creativity and rigor and accountability that fuels businesses around the world is not only transferrable but actually essential to human progress.”

The new name is built on its three syllables - "en," for entrepreneurial; "act" for action; and "us" to represent the collection of people making up the group, according to Enactus.org. Enactus teaches concepts such as market economics, entrepreneurship and business ethics to 57,000 student members built up during roughly 42 years operating as SIFE.

With the name change, the organization that works in 39 countries hopes to expand its reach and impact, according to the blog post.

Separate from the name change, Enactus has hired Sharina Smith, senior director of Southwest Baptist University's office of marketing & communications, to join Enactus on Oct. 8 as vice president of marketing for the U.S.

Smith has worked for seven years at Bolivar-based SBU, which has an Enactus team that has won at regional competitions 29 times, she said.

"I do live in Springfield, so I was keeping my eyes open for a position closer to home," Smith said of the job change.