Nearly a year after Hurricane Helene devastated the region, ETSU’s chapter of the American Marketing Association (AMA) is gearing up to raise awareness in Erwin, Tennessee.
This year’s Marketing Week, which runs Sept. 29 to Oct. 3, is open to all ETSU students interested in marketing as a major and a profession, centered on the theme “Erwin Rising.”
“Downtown Erwin wasn’t physically devastated, but they were economically devastated because the access to get to downtown was destroyed,” said Michelle Sullivan, ETSU’s AMA faculty advisor.
Sullivan said students will work directly with local business owners to increase visibility and revive economic activity in the downtown area. As part of Marketing Week, AMA will host Erwin business owners as guest speakers on Sept. 29, 30 and Oct. 2. Students will travel to Erwin on Oct. 1 and Oct. 3 to meet with business owners and customers, producing usable marketing assets such as social media posts, email campaigns, blog content and overall marketing strategies.
“These businesses are trying to make their soup or sell their beer. They don’t have time to figure out how to create a whole digital marketing strategy,” Sullivan said. “Student skill sets in the digital world, particularly social media, are a key asset in today’s market.”
Sullivan said that community and social impact are pillars of the collegiate AMA experience, and ETSU’s chapter is no stranger to getting involved. In addition to their work in Erwin, the chapter partners with The Philosopher’s House in Johnson City each spring, offering free monthly marketing help to anyone in the community.
Another key initiative connects students with veteran entrepreneurs through the eight-week STRIVE program, where students assist new business owners in developing marketing assets and strategies to support their startups.
“These opportunities help build their skills, their portfolio and their professional networks so that they are career-ready upon graduation,” Sullivan said. “This past year, every AMA member who wanted a paid internship had one.”
The Erwin Rising initiative builds on the Generative AI Marketing Internship Program that launched earlier this year through a partnership between ETSU’s College of Business and Technology and local startup CloudWise Academy. Sullivan emphasized how AI is shaping the marketing industry and noted that ETSU students are learning to use these tools both in and out of the classroom.
“You can technically be a one-person marketing agency because the AI tools that you’re being taught in the classroom will carry over into the workforce and make you more marketable than your peers,” she said.
In a society where AI has faced significant backlash, Sullivan said students must stay ahead.
“Any societal shift or cultural change is always going to experience a lot of pushback,” she said. “Those who take advantage of it and are early adopters of the technology are going to be the ones who are powerful later. Those are the students and future employees that industry leaders will be looking to hire.”
For Sullivan, combining service, innovation and career readiness is a point of pride.
“It makes me super proud that our students can get this experience and benefit the community at the same time,” she said. “ETSU will definitely, in the near future, be recognized as one of the top AMA collegiate chapters in North America.”
