Fotini and Fernando LaGuardia have baked empanadas out of their mom-and-pop catering business in Austin for 10 years. Now, with the help of four UT students, the couple can add award-winning marketing to their business strategy.

The four McCombs School of Business students were assigned to help Empanadas La Boca improve its marketing as part of the first Students Consulting Initiative competition that concluded Saturday. Team Maverick ­- consisting of Monica Ridgway, Yun Du, Chad Zidow and Alex Schliker - won the competition.

As part of the initiative, teams of four business students were matched up with struggling Austin businesses to gain real-world consulting experience. Team Maverick worked for seven weeks to increase the company's visibility, using marketing ideas learned from their University coursework. The teams presented their projects to a panel of judges Saturday morning.

The LaGuardias owned a restaurant and cafe, La Boca Argentinian Cafe, in Santa Monica, Calif., for five years before moving to Austin in 1994. Though students may have never heard of Empanadas La Boca, they might have tasted their creations at Ruta Maya, The Ginger Man or other partner businesses to whom the LaGuardias sell.

Fotini LaGuardia said she noticed an increase in catering orders in the time that Team Maverick had been working with her business. She said the team helped with some marketing strategies that she could never find the time or energy to do.

"They were very accessible. They were always in touch with us," LaGuardia said. "They were terrific."

The team helped boost business by creating a Web site, business cards, menus and company banners. The team also helped the owners implement a marketing strategy that better showcased the catering business' aim to offer an assortment of Spanish, Italian and Greek foods.

Team Maverick member Zidow, an accounting and business honors junior, said the community service made the competition a good experience.

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