Local Students Excel in Business Simulation

Junior Achievement is an international non-profit organization that teaches financial literacy in schools all over the world. On Friday, high school students from Clarion, Jefferson and Clearfield Counties gathered to compete in the organization’s regional Titan Business Challenge.

Each team of two or three students acted as the management team for a mock-business, making all the decisions a business owner would have to make in a fiscal year, all in one day. The future entrepreneurs at the competition, held at the DuBois Business College got a taste of what it will take to sustain their own businesses. The event was sponsored by FedEx, Community Action, Clarion Hotel in DuBois, Clarion Holiday Inn, and Billie’s Awards by Design.

“The simulation helps them realize how businesses function by seeing how to make all kinds of business decisions in a safe environment,” said Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania District Operations Manager, Greg Sands, “They get to see how it works before they try owning their own business.”

The Junior Achievement Titan Business Challenge brought together students from five different schools to see whose computer-simulated business would be the most profitable. When all the numbers are crunched, one team is named the “Titan of Business,” but every student gained skills that will serve them well in the future. And while not all of the students have their careers mapped out quite yet, they can all use what they’re learned preparing for the Titan Challenge to explore their options. The top three teams in the Titan Business Competition received trophies as well as Wal-Mart gift cards. Union High School won the 1st place trophy, and teams from Brookville High School won 2nd and 3rd place.

For more information on Junior Achievement of DuBois / Jefferson County, please contact Greg Sands at 590-3480 or e-mail GSands(at)jawesternpa.org.