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| navigate: home: magazine: fall 2003: article | |
| An adventure in business By Karen Tuohey Wing | ||||||
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Save a company. Settle a strike. Count up the profits. Some days, it’s tough to be a teenager. At least, that’s the experience 60 freshmen and sophomores from high schools in seven counties had at the Northern Tier Business Adventure held at Pennsylvania College of Technology’s North Campus. This engaging experience in business and economics education was modeled after the award-winning program Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week and was organized by Candace Baran, project manager of the Technology Transfer Center at Penn College, with the support of Shirley B. Bixby, regional director for the Susquehanna Region of Penn State Cooperative Extension and Outreach, as well as the Northern Tier Regional Planning and Development Commission and the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education. During four action-packed days in April, high school students learned firsthand about the free enterprise system by forming an executive management team with the task of turning an imaginary company into a financial success. A computer program was used to simulate two years of operations for the companies that sold either backpacks or sneakers. The students elected a chief executive officer, developed a marketing strategy and campaign and managed production, sales and profits (they hoped!) while facing hardships, including a dock strike and weather problems. Teams were comprised of 10 to 12 students from across the Northern Tier, each with a company adviser to help them embark on a weekend journey into the computer-simulated world of business. Company advisers did more than consult. These local business professionals volunteered their time to mentor and motivate the students. “It was a unique bond created in the learning environment,” Baran said. “And the students truly appreciated their efforts.” The concept for the experience is grounded in the often-cited reality of the brain drain that affects rural areas. Youth tend to migrate to cities and other centers where they perceive there are greater opportunities. The Northern Tier Business Adventure was designed to allow students to meet some local business leaders and to get a taste of life as an entrepreneur. “We wanted them to meet the people who were out there and get an idea of what is available in their area,” Baran said. “In addition to entrepreneurship and economics, the program is about teamwork and motivation, leadership, negotiation skills, building consensus.” In addition to running a company, students created products from piles of junk, sold lots of 1,000 barrels of oil in a mock commodities market and attended motivational lectures by business leaders. There was substantial logistical effort involved in running the residential program for teenagers, some of whom were away from home for the first time. Bixby supported Baran’s efforts with the resources of Cooperative Extension, helping to make the program run smoothly. From 4-H leaders who supervised the young people in the hotel, to assistance with planning, the partnership was a great success. “This is a fine example of where we brought our strengths together,” Bixby said. “Penn College had the programming in place, and we called on the extension resources to help make it happen. We’re looking to further our partnership, so we can take this program beyond the Northern Tier and bring this opportunity to other students around the state.” She added, “All of this came about because of our Regional Outreach Council and the support we have developed for building our partnerships.” The program was funded with a Stay, Invent the Future grant from the Commonwealth Department of Community and Economic Development and private sponsorship from C&N Bank, Electri-Cord of Westfield and Pepsi. Additional sponsorship from the Ben Franklin Technology Partners has been committed for Northern Tier Business Adventure 2004. An outreach program of the Pennsylvania College of Technology and the Susquehanna Region of Penn State Cooperative Extension and Outreach | |||||
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