William Ferguson, 9^th - 12^th grade educator at The Brockman Institute in Fountain Valley, CA (www.brockmaninstitute.com), is spearheading a project called California Business Venture 2009 for 100 students. The week-long project covers business, ethics, financial literacy, and workforce & college preparedness and is being hosted on the campus of California State University Long Beach this month.

Students participating in the project are randomly placed in groups of ten to twelve, and each group acts as a management team for a mock company that has been in business for one year. Each group begins the week with an equal 33.3% share of their industry’s market, and has the same financial situation.

The generous Givers Gain ® grant of $1,000 from the BNI Foundation has provided California Business Venture 2009 with two computers which are imperative to the project’s success. Computers are necessary because through the use of a computerized simulation program, each student-led company is charged with operating twelve quarters of business during the course of the week. These include production, marketing, and financial decisions which are analyzed and altered, if necessary, each quarter. Each student-led company has the benefit of a Company Advisor.

Students will benefit from the project’s hands-on business experience and will be better prepared to enter the workforce. Also, by experiencing life on a college campus for one week, students will be motivated to continue their education beyond high school graduation.

Each student is to complete a pre & post program survey which will help to measure the effectiveness of California Business Venture 2009.

The BNI Foundation thanks Craig Muller, BNI member, for this referral.