Archived News

Week 34 - April 18-22

Sneak Peek for Trade Show on April 27th

Sprout the 8

Melony Allen will be showcasing the only non for profit in the class, Sprout the 8. Based in East St. Louis, she wishes to transform desolate properties into urban gardens. It will begin with growing flowers and herbs then eventually growing fruits and vegetables for the community. Melony sees this as a way to bring some beauty to the community. She has been working enthusiastically with members around the community to make this dream a reality. Check out her booth on the 27th!


Douglas Gourmet Bakery

 

Hello! My name is Montez Douglas and I am the CEO and founder of Douglas Gourmet Bakery. Douglas Gourmet Bakery is a home based bakery that provides high quality desserts such as cakes, cookies, and pudding. On April 27th I will be selling my desserts at my booth as well as taking orders online starting April 27th at DouglasGourmetBakery.com. Douglas Gourmet Bakery is unique in our delivery services: either to your home or business.  There is no need to ever worry about picking up your order. I am very excited to be show casing my business at the trade show and I cannot wait to see you there!


SJT Window

Althoff student Stephen Toenjes will be starting a window washing business called 'SJT Window'. A bright and innovative young mind, he toyed with several ideas before settling on the practical yet profitable business of window washing. His excellence and experience in outdoor home maintenance will help him prosper in his business. He already has his first client and will be accepting more at the trade show. Swing by SJT Window on the 27th for a service that makes any home look complete!


Emma's House and Pet Sitting Service

And for our fourth featured business, we have Emma Gregowicz's simple yet incredibly practical and needed "House and Pet Sitting Service". Families across America constantly travel or leave their homes. Left unattended, they still have a variety of tasks that need to be taken care of. Emma will take care of you. Trustworthy and reliable, she can fufill any number of tasks her clients may require. Some of her more popular services include taking care of beloved pets (feeding, watering, letting out, cleaning litter boxes), watering plants, and security measures (generally checking up to make sure the home has not been broken into, all the windows/doors are secure, and turning on/off lights). Come see her on Wednesday to sign up for this amazing service!



Jefferson's Tour

Mr. Jim Grindstaff, Franchise Owner
Jefferson’s Restaurant – Friend of CEO

On Tuesday, after a brief stop at the Abbey, the class headed over to Jefferson's Restaurant to hear from Mr. Jim Grindstaff. After briefly speaking of his experiences and how he got into the business, he led the class around the facility into the little seen areas such as the kitchen, storeroom, and office. Afterwards the class gathered again in the dining room to hear about more specific topics, such as getting into the franchise, the costs associated with it, employees experiences, what the original 'Jefferson' is like, and the entertaining story of why they gather $1 bills on the walls and ceiling. Overall the visit was beneficial and exciting to hear from the second restaurant this year. 

Written by Jessica Stern

Mr. Grindstaff explained that his mother and brother have a 'Jefferson's' Restaurant too!
Here Mr. Grindstaff shows the students how his cooks accept orders.
The store room is a vital part of any restaurant!
Originally a tip giving joke, accordingly friends of the owner left their tips on the wall and it has been a growing trend since!

SWIC Elevator Pitch Competition

On Wednesday, the very much anticipated "Allsup Elevator Pitch Competition" at the SWIC campus was held. Although the entire class of 13 submitted their pitches, only David Rauckman was chosen from our group to advance into the competition and pitch his business 'OurGnome'. The event took place from 5-7 and displayed the talent of many young business students from area high schools. Although David did not win the competition, he gave a great pitch and we are very proud of him. See the video posted below.

Written by Jessica Stern




An introduction provided a little background on the event, motives, patron, and schedule.
David gives a mean pitch when he puts his mind to it!
Belleville CEO is always happy to see our Granite City companions as well!
Afterwards the participants line up together for a group shot.

Ms. Patty Gregory

Executive Director
Art on the Square – Friend of CEO

On Thursday the students were lucky to hear from Ms. Patty Gregory, Executive Director of Art on the Square, which the students have come to see as a very prosperous event for Belleville throughout their meetings with the mayor and other public officials this year. Ms. Gregory explained how she started off as a teacher but got the idea for this event.   She discussed how much work it took the first year, but how worth it every moment was. She spoke about all the volunteers involved and how this is a year long and very dedicated process. As well as hearing some of the ins and outs of the event, it was good for the students to hear from a non for profit. Support the 15th year of the show from May 13th-15th!

Written by Jessica Stern

Competing with shows across the nation, Art on the Square continually puts all of them to shame!
The prize money, an award of $25,000, was originally donated by one person!

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.



Student Journal Highlights for this week

This week, I learned a couple of unspoken lessons: 1. Be prepared 2. Be on time. On Tuesday, the class took a trip to the Abbey for breakfast. We waited there until 8am and then went over to the restaurant, Jeffersons. This is where I learned the first lesson. While I appreciate Jim Grindstaff accepting the invitation to speak to the class, he was not very prepared for the presentation. It’s always great to want the audience to participate and ask questions but that should not be what the entire presentation should consist of. Nevertheless, I still managed to take away another lesson from Grindstaff. He made many great points about perseverance. He was told multiple times that the restaurant would not survive, but it has. I also admire how he seems like a person who is willing to learn from their mistakes and sees a problem as a challenge that he can tackle. The second unspoken lesson I learned was from Patty Gregory. I was very excited about this specific presentation. I am very much of an art lover and even plan on incorporating it into my business. She is the executive director of Art on the Square. Art on the Square has been named one of the best art shows in the country and Patty is the creator and head of the operation. While she was very late to the class, I still enjoyed her presentation. Art on the Square is such an important event in Belleville and having the chance to hear about what goes on behind the scenes of the show reminds me of why I love being in CEO. Not many people get the opportunity to meet someone such as her. All in all, I understand that business owners are still human and will make mistakes just like everyone else.
Well we have less than a week until the trade show. I cannot believe where this year has gone. I had no idea I was going to be selling monogram stickers for my personal business. Although we are having a little difficulty with the location it will all work out in the end. People each and every day have problems arise. They have to do their best to fix them and make them work. The trade show dilemma is a perfect example of this kind of bump in the road. Sometimes things aren’t going to go as you planned for them to. That is alright because it helps you learn and grow from it. Jefferson’s is one of my favorite local restaurants to go to after basketball games with my friends and family. Jim Grindstaff wasn’t what I was expecting him to be. I think since I had heard negative things about his views on Althoff I was assuming he was not going to be the nicest. I was surprised to know that him, his brother, and his mom all own a franchise of Jefferson’s. That probably does not happen very often, but it was cool. He had no experience in this industry whatsoever which was also surprising. Clearly, Jefferson’s is doing alright considering he had no experience in the field. Starting a franchise would have a high income because for every branch the owner gets 4% of the gross sales. That is crazy. Patty Gregory seemed really nice and intelligent. She was very informative about non for profits and how Art on the Square works each year. It was amazing that out of 6000 art shows across the nation that Belleville has won first and second so many times. I have actually been a couple times and it was a lot of fun. I will probably try and go this year since we now know more about it. “It’s a lot of work. It’s a lot of passion.” I think in order for something to be successful the people behind it need to have that passion to do it like Patty does. I would have liked to listen to her talk more.
Last week our class went to SWIC to look at our room for our trade show. It really is looking too cool. Everything is coming together and we all are excited to showcase our businesses. This week, the class went to Jeffersons. I love the creativity behind the restaurant. The dollars hanging on the ceiling and walls is so unique! Well, the stores are a part of the franchise that started down south. Our speaker happens to own three. He spoke about his workers being angry and not very cooperative all the time. I guess that’s just life, but I couldn’t help but wonder why isn’t there a culture established. They have been open for 10 years, which is huge for a business in that location of Belleville. He is very relaxed and easy going man. I respect that very much because normally we see suit and tie guys. The class had the pleasure of meeting the very excited Patty Gregory from Art on the Square. She was fun and sooo enthusiastic. She started the project in 2001 with some serious goals in mind. The show has been ranked in the top 10 art shows in the nation after its first years of success. They give out thousands of dollars in prize money, which shows how much they appreciate the artists. They invite artists from all over! This year will be their 15th year anniversary. Gregory is also working with the area’s high schoolers on getting their own art show. The Art on the Square is such a big event now because of the dedicated people on the board, all older individuals, but very intelligent when it comes to selecting and awarding the hard working artists. This has been a wonderful week...and next week begins our big finale on the 27th!
This past week was a good learning experience. With the room for the trade show throwing a loop into how we have to set up, it made us have to adapt to the situation quickly. Clearly no one was happy with the quick change, but I'm sure it happens in the business world all the time so in a way, it's a good thing that we got to experience that. I'm sure The Abbey was happy to have us come in for a few minutes. Jeffersons was a neat place to visit. I've only gone the one time the class went before the gala that one day. The story about the dollar bills was an interesting story to hear. If I ever were to own a restaurant, I would want it to be family style like Jeffersons because I like building those personal relationships with people. His presentation was kind of short, so I wasn't prepared with a lot of questions to ask. Hearing Patty Gregory talk about Art on the Square was refreshing. I've never been before, but I definitely want to go this year. I think it's awesome how a small town like Belleville is ranked in the top 5 for years even while competing with big cities. I'm still a little unclear on how someone gets in, and then are they able to bring more pieces to sell plus they're competing for the grand prize? I have some friends who're in it this year, so I'll have to have them explain it to me. I loved how energetic and spunky Patty Gregory was. I hope I'm still super up beat when I'm older. It's amazing that everyone who works to put on Art on the Square do it for free. I'm sure it's a lot of hard work and time consuming. I didn't realize that online art selling affected at shows. I've bought art online but I didn't even think about the impact that has on their business. Plus the older generations not traveling as much I bet has a major impact as well We got more people to signup for CEO! I think there are 7 people now, which is awesome. CEO is going to be so big in the upcoming years I can't wait to see what it's like in 5 years from now.

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