Students at both Malverne High School and West Hempstead Secondary School had an opportunity to compete at the New York State and Northeast Virtual Enterprise Business Plan Conference and Exhibition, held at the Long Island University Post Campus on Jan. 8 and 9.
Virtual Enterprise is an elective class in which students participate in a business simulation, the classroom transforms into an office setting where the students become business executives. Together, the students create a business and run it virtually throughout the school year, experiencing the challenges a real company may face.
This class is implemented with the help of the nonprofit educational organization, Virtual Enterprise. Since its inception in 1996, their programs have provided over 140,000 students authentic business and entrepreneurship experiences.
At the competition, students competed with classes from across the state in two events. The ‘Business Plan Competition’ requires students prepare written submissions and oral presentations of their company’s complete business plan, demonstrating student’s business expertise for a panel of judges. The top teams from this round will qualify for the championship round in February.
The ‘Best Booth & Sales Pitch Competition,’ provides students the opportunity to showcase their skills by promoting and selling their products and services to guest shoppers. Participating volunteers interact with students on the trade show floor and rate their sales pitch and booth design. Teams that perform well will be invited to participate in a real trade show, where they will demonstrate the business skills students learn through the VE program.
West Hempstead Secondary School sent students representing two firms to compete at the conference. Both ‘Activ8,’ an athletic performance product business, and ‘At Your Service,’ an eco-friendly luxury jewelry business, participated in the exhibition’s events. The high school students demonstrated their skills for the judges, as well as members of the VE-JV firm, who observed their teammates to prepare for their spring tradeshow.
The students behind ‘Activ8’ went home with a silver medal, winning in the Best Sales Pitch category.
Malverne’s founding VE class took home two gold medals for their conference presentation. The Student Executive Board presented the sales pitch for their virtual business ‘My Growth’ to the judges and won a gold medal. In addition, Malverne students took home a gold medal in the Best Booth category.