WATERVILLE — Thomas College students won top awards in this year’s Society for the Advancement of Management International Business Conference, held March 30 and April 1.

Thomas College student Jake Warn finished first place in the business pitch competition, and the team consisting of George Dakin, Addison Landon, Gwyn Perlmutter, and Abbey Violette finished second place in the written case study competition, according to a news release from the college.

This annual series of competitions, reaching back more than 40 years, is organized by the Society for Advancement of Management, the oldest management organization in the country, and provides an opportunity for students to showcase existing skills and further develop fundamental skills for business success. College students from across the globe compete each year.

The full Thomas College team — Daniel Brewer of Casco; Perlmutter of Springfield, Massachusetts; Violette of Caribou; Dakin of Stockton Springs; Warn of Winslow and Landon of Bangor — competed virtually in categories consisting of a case study presentation, a written case study, an extemporaneous speech, a business pitch, and a knowledge bowl.

“The student team demonstrated an outstanding positive attitude and work ethic in representing Thomas College in an international business school competition. Their results show Thomas College business students can compete with anyone in the world and that they are receiving a first-class education right here in Maine,” said Thomas College professor and co-coach Dr. Rick Saucier.

This is the fifth year in a row that Thomas College students have placed in the SAM competition.

Violette said, “This was a valuable experience in which I not only exercised the skills and tools Thomas has taught me in the world of business management, but I also had the chance to meet some great people.”