President and CEO of Alaska’s state Chamber of Commerce Rachael Petro stopped by the Moose Lodge to update Juneau members of the broader organization.
Petro said the chamber has done well reaching out to past partners, legislators and the next generation of entrepreneurs.
Petro said Juneau sponsored half a dozen students out of more than thirty who participated in the Chamber’s Business Week program (goo.gl/KOyU0). This was the program’s third successful year, Petro said.
The program gives students college credit for running their own business.
“It’s basically a business simulation,” Petro said. “For high school students of all skill levels.”
The program is a partnership with Washington.
During the week students develop a new product and create a trade show presentation, Petro said. Students also contemplate ethical dilemmas they may encounter as a business owner.
“They are required to make business decisions every day,” Petro said. “This really provides a win win situation for everyone involved in the program.”
Students really gain an understanding of their future potential, Petro said.
The high school students, “all of a sudden they have the relevancy factor,” Petro said. “it really clicks.” Students can see why they are in a math class and how it relates to the working world.
“It is not that these students are not bright,” Petro said. “It’s that they are bored to death and they don’t see the connection. This program provides that connection. They are now motivated more because they get it.”
“The program really starts to show it value after 20 or 30 years,” Andy Rogers deputy director of the Alaska Chamber of Commerce said. “After an entire generation has learned about where wealth comes from, [and] where wealth is generated,
it is important to grab kids young and teach them about the private sector principals.”
“People don’t understand where wealth is generated,” Rogers said. The program helps imbue students with the importance of being an employer, he said.
“Grabbing these kids early and teaching these principals,” Rogers said, “we have entire generations of Alaskans, perhaps not employing those principles, but understanding what they are.
For more information visit www.alaskachamber.com.
• Contact reporter Russell Stigall at 523-2276 or at russell.stigall@juneauempire.com.
Comments (12)
Add commentThanks Empire
As a member of the chamber I appreciate seeing the articles each week on the chamber presentations since I cant go as often as I would like.
Local vs National
Local outfits like the Chamber and the NRA are made up of people who care about their communities and the young. They're a positive influence in their communities. This program is a perfect case in point.
Then you get to their their national umbrella organizations and they've somehow morphed into far-right lobbying machines, far more interested in promoting an extremist political agenda than staying true to the charter of their grass roots membership. It's a puzzling development.
"it is important to grab kids
"it is important to grab kids young and teach them about the private sector principals", "Grabbing these kids early and teaching these principals"
...Yikes, this seems very tilted to me.
What our kids really need is a balanced view.
The private sector goal is to maximize profits and this is not always going to be good for communities, people...
“People don’t understand where wealth is generated" ?? Obviously Rogers, you don’t either.
Wealth also comes from people that work in the public sector and the private sector benefits from the public sector.
triadef...
Please give me a direct example of how the public sector generates wealth. As I see it, the public sector redistributes wealth, wealth that is generated from the tax payers...including the business owners, who pay more taxes than any public business sector - in fact, aren't public entities tax exempt?
I digress...
This is a fabulous program, providing tools for the young to harvest their successes, and enhance their learning platforms. It will be interesting to track the results of this program. Will any of these students be dependent on welfare?
Public employees pay bills,
"Please give me a direct example of how the public sector generates wealth"
Ok,
Public employees pay bills and purchase products. Public employees build roads, bridges, sewers, all the things that the Private sector generally will not build, that benefit people in communities, and also benefit the Private sector.
The Public sectors goal is not about making profits but the Public sector still creates wealth. The public sector answers to the public while the private sector more often answers to shareholders, board members etc...
We need both.
There are lots of private industries and wealthy individuals that pay zero taxes. Mitt Romney the GOP candidate for Pres. is one.
Public Employees
triadef - Public Employees, they do not build roads, they hire the private sector to build the roads. They pay their bills with redistributed tax wealth.
My argument is not that the state employment sector isn't valued, my argument is that this sector does not create wealth, it redistributes. And that is indeed, valuable too.
Your statements, as they relate to this article, are misleading. What is your solution to introducing the youth to the valuable properties of the government sector? I think there are many programs in place - Google "youth and government" and you will find many fine examples.
Ha! Call up DOT and ask
Ha! Call up DOT and ask them what they do all day. Then call the city.
Also, do you own a business? Who comes into your store to buy things? People that work in the public sector and the private sector. They all spend their money in your store this is wealth creation. You make they buy.
My points are not misleading, but the talking points in the article are.
Creatring wealth is adding
Creatring wealth is adding value.
The government sector does NOT add value. They just, as previously posted, redistribute money confiscated from those that earned it.
The country will be far better off with more entrepreneurs, & fewer community agitators.
The best thing we can do for
The best thing we can do for our children is to teach them to ask questions like what is wrong with our world and what can they do to make it better. This is where our children will find true wealth. Lets not teach them to keep making the same mistakes we have all been making.
Look outside...... nature works. Nature never takes more than it needs. This is why its been around for millions and millions of years.
The basis of nature is cooperation and democracy, this is in our DNA to.
We are our brother’s keeper and the fact is we are all interconnected; what we do at the individual level really does effect the Global environment. After meeting our own basic needs we should not take more than we need. This is the path that will bring our children true wealth.
It took millions of years for Nature to create the diversity of life we all see today, but in less than 100 years man has destroyed it seeking a false and corrosive wealth.