Venturing between profit, loss

Junior Achievement Business Challenge tests students' abilities as CEOs

By: Chalie Mathews, Herald Times Reporter

CLEVELAND — About 50 Lakeshore area high school students spent an intense six hours Friday at Lakeshore Technical College trying to make a profit selling "Holo- Generators."

"It's a handheld device that combines the functionality of a Palm Pilot, cell phone and image projector," Roncalli High School's Justin Jagodinsky said of the fictional technology.

At the end of the Junior Achievement Business Challenge II competition, Jagodinsky and his Roncalli teammate, Tom Jessessky, advanced to the state challenge in April.

Success in the Business Challenge depends upon decisions made by the students as company CEOs, with area business leaders serving as coaches offering guidance only.

One strategy the Roncalli duo employed, guided by "coach" Tom Kuenzi of Bank First National, was to lower the price of the holographic image device.

That necessitated an infusion of capital to increase plant capacity, or risk not meeting customers' delivery expectations.

The other student chief executive officers selling Holo-Generators were from Kiel, Hilbert, Manitowoc

Lincoln, Manitowoc Lutheran, Mishicot, Two Rivers and New Holstein high schools.

To compete successfully within the Holo-Generator industry, teams had to plan each element of their company's strategy, including price, production, marketing, capital investment, research and development and charitable giving.

"When you go bankrupt, it's not good," said Blake Loucks of Two Rivers. His teammate, Tara Minarik, said they didn't pay enough attention to industry reports, displayed on each team's laptop computer, showing competitors' information, changes in the economy and industry trends.

But they recovered well from their practice round meltdown, said Jennifer Wetenkamp, their coach from Community First Credit Union.

Succeed in a global economy

"I'd like Junior Achievement to be in every Manitowoc County classroom," said Beth Stetson, a member services representative from Community First CU.

She's leading efforts to expand Junior Achievement's curriculum exposure in county schools, including elementary, middle and high school.

The national organization's stated purpose is to "educate and inspire young people to succeed in a global economy."

Hands-on programming is related to entrepreneurship, work readiness and financial literacy.

"With an elementary school student, the concept may be as basic as just because your parent writes a check doesn't mean there's money in the account," said Stetson, who was a Junior Achievement participant while attending Menasha High School.

Her goal is to raise funds to cover the cost of Junior Achievement course materials and to recruit adult volunteers willing to go into classrooms as guest instructors, perhaps once a week.

One of them might be Dr. Jennifer Rada, a chiropractor and owner of Apple Natural Health Clinic in Manitowoc and Two Rivers.

She was impressed by the complexity of the data students had to assess during Friday's competition, with duos having to make multiple business decisions every few minutes.

Other teams advancing to the state challenge will be Travor DePas and Collin Krejcarek of Mishicot, Bobbi Jo Kitgen and Ye Xiong of Two Rivers, Chad Boesch and Ridge Liebzeit of Hilbert and Nick Boudnik and Andy Grimm of Two Rivers.

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