Adam Burke (left) and Jacob Lawrence (right) developed the idea for a new lab at Thompson Rivers University. (Image credit: Thompson Rivers University)

By Amandalina Letterio

THOMPSON RIVERS UNIVERSITY

TRU unveils new business lab inspired by two students

Nov 4, 2021 | 4:07 PM

KAMLOOPS — Thompson Rivers University (TRU) is unveiling its new Raymond James Trading Lab. The idea came from Adam Burke and Jacob Lawrence, two business students who wanted to get the hands-on experience of a stock trading floor.

It will allow students to start training for jobs in trading, equity research and investment banking.

“We’re building the skills necessary to succeed in these roles, that other universities have that are kind of giving a student an advantage to get into these roles, to just kind of know what they have to do,” said Burke.

Eventually, students will have the skills to support multi-million dollar decisions in places like the Toronto Stock Exchange.

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Lawrence and Burke’s favourite part about seeing their project come to life is that they did it together.

“Over the last three years, we’ve had a lot of fun creating this and overall this experience has been incredible,” said Lawrence.

The duo pitched the idea to the university and with it’s help, Vancouver based investment dealer Raymond James jumped at the opportunity to donate $550,000 and bring it to life.

The company’s senior vice president says he has already hired an intern from the program and expects to hire many more.

“There’s book learning and there’s real learning — and this is real learning. And it’s close to a co-op, and it makes them very well prepared for a co-op, when they take that next step,” Paul Siluch, Senior Vice President at Raymond James.

The dean of the School of Business and Economics at TRU says this lab will give students a competitive advantage when they’re applying for jobs.

“They’ve had the experience of being on a trading floor virtually and using the software and working with traders, so they know how to interact, they know how to make decisions, they know how to provide good advice, based on sound data,” said the School of Business and Economics dean, Michael Henry.

Burke and Lawrence hope the Raymond James Trading Lab will become a competitive edge for future TRU business students.

“We’re also just helping each other get internships, like helping us polish up each other’s resumes and cover letters and sort of getting as much alumni base as possible,” Burke continued.

“So that you know in 10, 15 years, I can come back from my job and bridge connections for students in the fund that just weren’t there before,” he added.