Students bring works to life in upcoming Business Trade Show

 

[April 25, 2019] 

LINCOLN 

The Land of Lincoln Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (LLCEO) class of 2019 has been hard at work and soon the culminating biggest business venture of the school year, where individual talents shine will happen. The Student-Owned Business Tradeshow takes place on Wednesday, May 1st.

During the expo thirteen students in the program present the business each has been working on. It is when student’s individual business plans and dreams come to life.

A little about the LLCEO program

In the LLCEO program, a small group of students from high schools around the area learn entrepreneurial skills from area businesspeople. The students then develop their own business. As the LLCEO website states, “students are immersed in real life learning experiences with the opportunity to take risks, manage the results, and learn from the outcomes.”

LLCEO facilitator Britta Langley says it is an incredible opportunity for students who come in as ordinary students and go out as mature young adult small business owners. The students work hard and learn a lot of life lessons throughout the year. Langley says that on day one, some are scared to shake someone’s hand and by the end of the year, they will go up to almost anyone and shake hands.

This year’s student efforts to support the trade show most recently included an entertaining Murder Mystery Dinner held on Saturday, March 23.

When asked about all the work that went into preparing for the Murder Mystery Dinner and what they enjoyed about it, students had various responses.

Molly Schempp said the best part was all the students’ planning was ahead of time so they could enjoy the dinner along with the audience.

A theater group performed the murder mystery that evening, and students said even they did not know who the murderer was until the end.

Austin Garriott says the evening went well, though there were a few bumps leading up to it. He was glad to see many people dressed in the 1920s theme for the evening and he said it was a lot of fun.

Others students enjoyed seeing all the participation and said they got good reviews on the food and how well the mystery dinner actors did.

From this experience of working together on a big business, the students say they have learned not to procrastinate on last minute details they had to squeeze out. Until the week before, the students thought everything was ready. All agreed that they got everything done, but it was stressful.

With the dinner behind them, students are now focusing on plans for the upcoming trade show where they will present their individual businesses to the public.

Each student shared a description of their business:

Lincoln Community High School senior Austin Garriott’s business is Austin’s Auto Wash and Detailing, which has five different packages and price ranges. The lowest priced basic package is $60 and includes washing and drying the car, cleaning window, shining tires, and vacuuming, dusting and cleaning the interior. The highest priced platinum package includes all the basics plus waxing the car, doing bug and tar removal shampooing and steam cleaning the carpets, using a clay bar for deep cleaning the paint and removing light scratches.

Hartsburg Emden High School junior Lily Escobedo’s business is On Target Media Management, which she calls a good fit for her since she enjoys writing and designing. Since she has found many websites need to be updated to get the names of the businesses out there and make them more appealing for younger consumers, Escobedo will provide design, marketing, and management for updating social media sites and websites. She will also be designing business cards, pamphlets, and logos. Escobedo has met with a few businesses already and has a few interested clients. She has been doing pro bono work to get experience.

Mount Pulaski High School junior Emma Aylesworth business is Will’s Wax Works, in which she makes and sells soy candles. Something unique Aylesworth says she does is taking orders for candles with personalized colors, scents, and labels.

She chose soy because many candlemakers use paraffin, which is not natural like the soy dried from soybeans. Paraffin can also release chemicals. Aylesworth says the soy candles are safer, last longer, and clean easier, and though they are more expensive, she feels the benefits outweigh the costs.

Hartsburg Emden High School junior Evan Rohlfs’ business is Know How, a tutoring service for junior high kids. Right now, Rohlfs is letting people know about the business and has people that want tutoring. Rohlfs plans to tutor math in the summer and hopes to build up clientele next year.

Mount Pulaski High School junior Autumn Benhart’s business is Dust and Shine, a house cleaning service she will provide at an hourly rate. Benhart says she will clean floors and windows, vacuum, and scrub down kitchens and bathrooms, plus work with the clients’ needs if they want her to clean something not on her list. Benhart plans to provide the cleaning service in both Mount Pulaski and Lincoln.

Olympia High School junior Cavit Schempp’s business is Silky Designs, in which he makes homemade jewelry with stones. Schempp says he uses stones from around Central Illinois. Preparing them is a four-week process that involves rounding the stones the first week, smoothing stones the second week, pre-polishing them the third week, and polishing the stones with water and grit in a tumbler the fourth week. He is currently making necklaces but hopes to make and eventually sell necklaces and bracelets together. Schemmp likes working with math, science, and rocks, and says his business combines all three areas.

Olympia High School senior Molly Schempp’s business is Molly’s ABC’s or ‘Agricultural Boxes and Curriculum,’ which will provide monthly subscription boxes containing ready to implement lessons, a book and supplemental materials for first through third grade teachers. Schempp says the curriculum is like the ‘Ag in the classroom’ being taught around the area but will allow teachers to implement the lessons over two days so grade schoolers can retain the information better. Schempp is currently looking for sponsors.

Lincoln Community High School senior Olivia Shew’s business is Pronto Delivery, a food delivery service similar to the delivery services Grub Hub and Door Dash. Shew says the goal is to make foods available to people in the county and she will deliver food or coffee from a place like Guest House to people’s offices or homes. She says people like having food delivered to them.

Olympia High School junior Colby Burt’s business is Time Out Training, which provides personal training to basketball players for children of all ages. Burt plans to work on basketball fundamentals with kids under age 15 during the summer.

Olympia High School junior Lexi Hoffman’s business is Leashed Animal Photography, which she says is a cost-effective way for people to get photos of their pets. Hoffman also plans to work with animal shelters and take photos they can share in order to help increase adoption rates for the animals. Hoffman says she recently did a photo session with five dogs.

Hartsburg Emden High School senior Brody Baker’s business is Brody Baker Builds, an upcycling business where he hopes to take one person’s junk and turn it into treasure and make any boring room pop. Baker likes to take old items and either restore or repurpose these items to give them new life.

Olympia High School junior Parker Kistner’s business is On the Run, a running subscription service for people running for health or competition. Kistner says boxes will be shipped with goods like workout plans plus protein bars and shakes in bulk.
Eventually, Kistner would like to add running apparel to the boxes.

Olympia High School junior Hannah Casey’s business is Little Miss Tea. Casey started this business because her grandma babysat her and her twin sister every day and they spent every day hosting tea party after tea party. Casey says sweet tea is very near and dear to her heart and Little Miss Tea is an opportunity to give back the community the fondest memories of her childhood. She plans to host tea parties for little girls in hopes of reducing stress on parents.

Langley says, “Logan County is blessed with opportunity and I hope the program will continue for years to come with all the community support.”

To meet these entrepreneurs and learn more about their businesses, come to the Student-Owned Business Tradeshow at the Lincoln American Legion from 4 - 6 p.m. on May 1, 2019.

[Angela Reiners with photos provided by Britta Langley, Hunter Langley and Cindy Schempp]