Business Solutions for Winter 2017

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W I N T E R 2 0 1 7 7
BUSINESS solutions
Students visit area businesses, learn from guest speakers, participate
in a class business, write business plans, and start and operate their
own businesses. In the process, they work on the critical skills of
problem-solving, teamwork, self-motivation, responsibility, higher-
order thinking, communication, and inquiry.
From Students to Professionals
Facilitator Pete Visintin, notes, “The 2016-2017 school year is the
first one for the Macoupin County CEO Program. It took several
years of hard work for our board members to get the program off
the ground. Our goal is to transform high school students into sea-
soned business professionals armed with valuable, relevant business
experience and a large network of professional contacts when they
walk out the door on the last day.”
This transformation process is already taking place. Examples
of businesses the students are starting include plasma-cut metal
signs, upcycled apparel, custom party kits, handmade jewelry, and
an event DJ service.
Investors are Key
Madison made a three-year investment in the Macoupin County
CEO Program, which involves financial support as well as a
commitment to provide site tours, guest speakers, and mentor
relationships. There are more than 30 investors in the program,
all key to its success.
“Our CEO Program is entirely privately funded by socially respon-
sible businesses and individuals who care about the development
of their communities and youth. The investors make it possible for
the students to have this unique experience—a huge asset to local
economic development at a grassroots level. It’s highly likely that
some of them will own and operate successful businesses in their
home communities in the future,” says Visintin.
Real-World Challenges
He adds, “The Macoupin County CEO Program teaches students
the business lessons all of us wish we’d been taught in high school.
It’s a chance for local youth to get real-world entrepreneurial
experience before they graduate and greatly accelerate their level
of success in their chosen career fields. The feedback so far from
students is that the program was difficult at first; it forces them to
get outside their comfort zone, put themselves out there, and take
chances they wouldn't normally take. But now that they've had time
to work on their businesses and develop their ideas, they’re glad to
be participating.”
CEO typically means Chief Executive Officer. But in the case of the Macoupin County CEO Program, it stands
for Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities and represents a year-long course for high school students to gain
business development experiences.
The Macoupin County CEO
Program teaches students
the business lessons all of us wish
we’d been taught in high school.”
— PETE VISINTIN, FACILITATOR,
MACOUPIN COUNTY CEO PROGRAM
Community members can get a peak at the work of these young entrepreneurs at the class trade show
on Saturday, April 22 at Cross Church in Carlinville. To learn more, visit .
Macoupin County CEO Program benefits local students and communities
Investing in
Entrepreneurial
Education Pays Off