Class Business

The Grand Gala: CEOnopoly Style

Celebrating Businesses in the Belleville Area

What do you get when you mix the charm of Monopoly with the class of a gala? Belleville CEO’s first Grand Gala! We are hosting an event to celebrate the businesses of Belleville: you! To work into our theme of monopoly, we are looking for sponsorships to recreate the board. Many of us have spent our youth competing for these make-believe properties, but now you can actually be them! We have several packages for you to choose from that not only guarantee you a spot on our life-sized board, but come with additional benefits too! The proceeds will benefit the future businesses of Belleville: the Belleville CEO students’ personal ventures. We would love for you to be a part of this great opportunity so you can get your name out there as one of the pillars of Belleville. If you are interested in this time sensitive offer, please let us know at bellevilleceo@gmail.com, as there are a limited number of spots, rapidly being filled, for each level.

Belleville CEO Students,
Class of 2016

We are proud to announce the addition of five more businesses to our grand revision of the Monopoly board!

The $450 "North Carolina Avenue" property: Rauckman Utility Products

The $450 "Pacific Avenue" property: The Nicol Foundation

The $350 "Virginia Avenue” property: Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship

The $300 "Tennessee Avenue" property: Kurowski Shultz LLC

And FKG Oil Company, who now holds a Monopoly on both the $150 purple properties “Mediterranean” & “Baltic” Avenue: Moto and Moto Mart

Belleville CEO would like to thank the following investors who have already secured a place on our board for sponsorships to our "Grand Gala.”

The $500 "Boardwalk" property: Precision Practice Management

The $500 "Park Place" property: Greensfelder, Hemker & Gale, PC

The $450 "Pennsylvania Avenue" property: CliftonLarsonAllen, LLP

The $350 "Illinois Avenue" property: Kaskaskia Engineering Group, LLC

The $350 "Indiana Avenue" property: Belleville News-Democrat

St. Clair Country Club

This week, the Belleville CEO students went to the St. Clair Country Club in preparation for the gala. During the visit, the club manager, Mr. Thad Payne, taught the class about table manners and etiquette. Afterwards, he gave the students some ideas for centerpieces and displaying decorations. With his former experience as an event planner in the military, he proved to be a great resource for the class as the students work to make the gala ‘Grand’.

Written by David Rauckman

Work Days

Throughout the week our class has been working tirelessly on our Grand Gala event.

Wednesday was devoted entirely to working in our committees. Sponsorship has secured five additional sponsorships this week with several more pending. Production enthusiastically brainstormed designs and decorations for the event, while Advertising delivered hundreds of flyers and promoted our event in both online and print mediums. On Thursday, the class came together for a meeting to discuss the many issues which have come up and work through them as a team. And on Friday, we worked within our committees, rehearsed for the event, and started on our personal businesses!

Written by Jessica Stern

Just a Reminder

Our door is always open. Entrepreneurs, visitors, guests, and friends are welcome and highly encouraged to join us. Drop in and share your story with our students or participate in our class discussions. Check out the schedule on the website.

If you are interested in hosting our students for an educational visit about your business operations or would like to speak to the class and share your story, please email the facilitator, Julie Siebers, at jsiebers@bths201.org or call or text her at 618.719.3177.

Journal Tidbits

On Tuesday we went to the St. Clair Country Club and I was amazed to learn all the intricate rules that go into proper dining. Mr. Payne had such a nice presentation for us and I’m glad he told us how to ‘properly’ eat because there are some skills that you are just expected to know and people will judge you for if you don’t. I am so happy to be in CEO where we can learn these experiences from experts in the field as we travel on our journey to become successful business people. He had so much knowledge about the aesthetics of everything – from the centerpieces to the colors and setup. It’s incredible. I am excited for production committee to get together with him so the creative ideas they have can be grounded with taste.

 On Wednesday it was nice to conclude our final workday… as it becomes more and more apparent that the remainder of class business work because most of the sponsorship work is best done through emails/calling/meeting outside of class, advertising has been delivering flyers and negotiating deals during and after school, and Production has their hands full with creating centerpieces etc. for the big event.

 On Thursday we regrouped in a class meeting and everyone was updated on the current financials/projections/contributions/entertainment/etc. I love seeing how the collective efforts of a group of people can blend beautifully into one united event – it is so exciting! On Friday we took a break from our Gala to focus on CEO in general, which I always appreciate. Having a timeline of the class was nice but also a little bleak… in a few short months CEO will be over. All good things must come to an end but I’m happy we’re just at the start of this semester and the end is still “a ways off”. We also started working on our personal businesses on Friday. It was weird… I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do and then one day it just hit me. Although I don’t plan on being particularly prosperous (as we all know any good business takes time and perseverance to achieve true success) but I think I would be able to do this idea well. It probably helps that both Siebers and Craig Lindvahl told me they were intrigued/interested/ and Lindvahl told me “I totally love your idea!” when I emailed him about it – then he gave me advice on how to get started. So many amazing resources are available because of CEO. Talk about opening doors for yourself!

 Written by Jessica Stern

One of the most exciting things this week was learning about proper etiquette. I never knew the dos and don’ts when eating a formal meal. For instance, you don’t cut all your food at once, don’t take a sip of your drink while chewing, or leave the table without saying “excuse me”. In addition, I learned how to invite guest to a formal dinner, as well as setting up table decorations. Altogether the visit to the Country Club was very helpful for planning our Grand Gala.

 Other than going to the Country Club this week has pretty much been a work week. I am working hard to make this gala a success. When Jessica sends me work I need to do, I do it. This week in class I mainly looked up potential sponsor’s phone numbers and did some work on the budget. The budget has gotten a little bit more complex but I’m learning what to do. Overall, this has been a very productive week.

 This week we also talked about our personal business a little bit. I believe mine is coming along well. The robotics teacher, Mr. Hodson helped me out and told me all the parts I would need to make the device. Surprisingly, I think I found the parts, while in class on Friday. Just to make sure, I’m going to verify it with Mr. Hodson probably on Wednesday. With this in mind, my mentor Mr. Marchal contacted me and we’re supposed to meet up on Tuesday after school. I’m a little nervous but I think it’s going to go well.

 Written by Montez Douglas

Class began this week at the St. Clair Country Club. Thad Payne gave us a small lesson in etiquette. I could not believe all of the “rules” I’ve been breaking once it came to etiquette. I grew up with the basic “don’t eat with your mouth full” and “no elbows on the table” but I never knew how extensive the rules of etiquette were. I definitely need to learn how to hold myself at a formal dinner for the sake of our gala. Being an entrepreneur is honestly one of my top aspirations and since that meeting, I’ve been considering taking a few etiquette classes to prepare myself for future formal events.

 After our etiquette lesson, Thad lead us to the room our event is going to be held. It was my first time seeing and it was so beautiful and spacious! I am the leader of the production committee so I have a great vision for the room to make it monopoly themed. I also realized how much it is going to take to make this event come alive and be visually pleasing. The production committee as a whole are putting in lots of effort as well as contributing great ideas.

 On Thursday, the class came together and discussed what we are working on and what we’ve accomplished so far. I am so proud of everything that everyone has accomplished! As a result, we are selling tickets and sponsorship spaces at a reasonable pace.

 Written by Melony Allen

This week was more of us working on our class business.   We have made very important moves in progress with it.  As a group, we were able to learn about formal etiquette at the St. Clair Country Club with Thad Payne.  We have also received a lot of sponsorships.  This is great progress from what we have came from which was practically nothing.  I am very proud of everyone in the program for working hard to help make this happen! 

 With Thad Payne, we learned the correct way of formal dinner etiquette.  I learned there is so much I do not know like with utensils and the right way to eat your food.  I have been to many weddings and other formal events, but there is always room for improvement.  Now, with the skills I learned from Thad, I will try my best to have great etiquette at the gala.

 My business mentor is Geri Boyer.  She is one of the most inspiring people I have ever met!  I cannot wait to tell her my idea for my personal business and have her input on how I can go about it.  I think she will be able to help me find a way to create it.  I  think will learn more from her than I already have after this experience of mentoring.

 Written by Sandy Amorado