CEO Business Visits

• Mr. Dale Kurrus and Mr. Shane Kurrus (Investor)
• Mr. Mark Turner, Mr. Mike McManus, & Mrs Anne Thomure (Investor)

CEO Guest Speakers

• Mr. Brian Mentzer & Ms. Lori Taylor

Another week, another great 5 days spent working towards our team goal. This previous week was a great experience for what it means for a business to truly have to be personal and able to have empathy.

Tuesday, when we visited Kurrus Funeral Home, I instantly saw why funeral homes are so important in society. They take care of all the business aspects of a family death, while also having the responsibility and going the extra mile and being consolers to people who have just recently has a tragic incident occur in their lives. Not only are the compassionate with the family, but they also help figure out wills, take care of all the funeral arrangements, but they also take it to a deeper level and truly do what they say they will do. When we were escorted to the crematorium, they displayed the various methods of what it takes and what actually happens when a body is cremated. They place "dog tag"-like flame resistant metal coins inside of the basket alongside the bodies to make sure people's loved ones are truly being distributed correctly.

Wednesday, we visited Memorial Hospital. Never have I realized how much is truly required to run a medical institution! They have to have the safest, cleanest, ready-to-use building probably of any other business out there. The level of sanitation is just mind blowing. Also something I never knew, was that people's healthcare providers do not pay all of what it actually takes to perform operations and procedures. I'm extremely proud to say we have such wonderful places like this in Belleville.

Thursday our walk and talk was really more than what was expected. I didn't expect to see a diverse congregation of people and students alike at Union School. Other than the racial diversities that were present, there were also a great mixture of cultures and professions. From Dr. 1 Dossier, to Lindenwood football players, to even one of Althoff's softball coaches- there were many different kinds of people pouring into these young students' lives.

From a home base standpoint, I'm not sure of how I feel about our work days. They were definitely productive and informative about how to go about these upcoming projects, but there were some things that really stood out. I feel we're starting to get opinionated, but that is not necessarily a bad thing. We all have equal votes, and everyone's opinion counts for something, and as long as we keep our goals in mind and put aside our interests at times, we shall continue to strive as the great program we are.

Royce Payne
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Royce

Our class visited Kurrus Funeral Home, Memorial Hospital, and Union School. I found these businesses very interesting and different from what I usually associate with a business. We also for the most part finished up our badge project.

Kurrus Funeral Home gave us a presentation on their business. It was fascinating to learn about their process and the funeral industry. They told us how the industry has drastically changed in the past 30 years, especially with the increase in popularity of cremation. It was really interesting to hear what all happens after someone dies and the process they will go through. This was not something I had learned about before. We also received a tour of the facilities and saw some totally amazing coffins.

Memorial Hospital answered a lot of our questions. I was particularly interested when they talked about the funding of hospitals. Hospitals don't always get paid the same amount of money for doing the same operation depending on the type of insurance. This causes them to get funding from a variety of sources and always need new ways to find funding. Another thing I found particularly intriguing was the competition between hospitals. This correlates greatly to where the hospitals build their facilities. Hospitals can't build too closely together otherwise healthcare price goes up. When I am running my own business, I need to be aware of where my competition is located. Memorial also taught us that sometimes competition needs to work together. For instance, the Belleville hospitals want to work together to keep locals in their hospitals, instead of in the St. Louis hospitals. This made me realize I need to keep tabs with my competition and sometimes work together with them.

Lastly on Thursday we did some community service. Brian Mentzer talked to us about district 201. He just gave us a brief overview and talked about funding and how they are constantly improving. Afterwards, we helped out with Union School’s walk-n-talk. This showed me how simple and easy it is to get involved in community service. Over the past month I've heard how important community is and making connections. This event showed me how easy that actually is to do. It is as simple as walking and talking with a couple of grade schoolers. I really liked this day and had fun with it. 

Tim Donaho
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Tim

During week six of the CEO program our class visited three very successful businesses. On Tuesday we visited Kurrus Funeral home to talk with Mr. Dale Kurrus, on Wednesday we met at Memorial Hospital and spoke with CEO and President Mark turner and CFO Mike McManus, and on Thursday we talked to Assistant Superintendent of District 201 Brian Mentzer at Union School.

 On Monday we met at Allsup to talk more about our badge project and when we are going to set the order in to get them made. We also talked about our class business and what theme we would have. Our class has decided on taking on the theme of “Around the fountain” meaning historical landmarks around Belleville and the fountain being the one in downtown Belleville.  

 On Tuesday we talked to Dale Kurrus at Kurrus Funeral Home. Even though people don’t look at a funeral home as a money making business it is still ran like one. Mr. Kurrus was very cheerful even though working at a funeral home probably isn’t a very fun job. Throughout the presentation he was constantly making jokes and trying to keep things exciting. Having a good personality is a huge part of running a successful business especially in a job as running a funeral home.

 On Wednesday we visited Memorial Hospital where we met Anne Thomure who is the Hospital/Community Relations Director. Mrs. Thomure told us a little about what she does as for her job then she took us to meet CEO and President Mark Turner and CFO Mike McManus. These two men talked a lot about how they run the hospital being how big it really is. I asked how they keep track of everything in a business that is so big and they explained to me how they have all different people working for them running their own department.

 On Thursday we went to visit the students at Union School and to hear from Assistant Superintendent of District 201 Brian Mentzer. Mr. Mentzer told us a lot about how to make money when there is none to spend. He explained to us how advertising a great way to raise money is. After Mr. Mentzer was done talking to us our class had a “walk and talk” with the students of Union School. Seeing how the kids act reminds me of myself when I was younger. I gave the kids advice and guidance for when they get older.

 On Friday we met back up at Allsup to talk more about our badge project. We have chosen a style and the order for the badges locked in. We also talked about what types of shirts we are going to have made for our class and our sponsors. We decided on making a regular black t-shirt with our sponsors logos on the back, a dark grey collared polo with our CEO emblem, and last we are getting long sleeve white quarter zip ups with our emblem for our class.

Devin Alexander
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Devin

One might ask why have a funeral? The guys at Kurrus Funeral Home believe it is to honor the special unique human life that was lived. It's a final peaceful farewell. Another person may ask why would someone join the profession of the funeral industry. The answer Dale Kurrus gave is I enjoy helping people. And getting them through their grief. There are many steps to a single funeral. It was quite interesting learn how they handle different situations.

Later that week we went to memorial hospital. I and we learned about how the hospital was run. And got to see the ER in the hospital. It was quite interesting seeing how they use space and how they decide how on which patents to treat first.

We also went to union school and got to talk to some of the kids. And we also got to do their morning walk. Where they walk around and talk to different people. A few adults were there to talking to the kids they also had some of the college guys from Lindenwood. It kind of makes you think more on spending time with kids more.   

Kelly Rowden
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Kelly

As this eventful fifth week of the CEO class comes to a close, I've reflected on so many of the things we learned when we visited all of the different businesses this week.  I've learned so many insightful things this week that I hope I can fit them all into this journal.

We began our week by first, paying a visit to Kurrus funeral home where they described in depth, the different aspects of funerals, why they happen, and how they function.  It was also incredible to hear that Kurrus was in its 6th generation.  This is incredible because most businesses fail in their 2nd generation, and they are still going strong.

On Wednesday we visited Memorial Hospital in Belleville, where we were able to meet and talk to some of the higher ups, a listen to their thoughts and advice for the business world.  One thing that blew my mind was that Memorial is the second largest employer in the area behind Scott Air Force Base, with over 2,800 employees!  Also one thing they said that was very impactful was the saying, “Champions are made, not born.”

On the final visit of the week we went to Union Grade School, where we learned how a school runs almost identically to a business.  We also learned about how important sponsors can be towards a community.  Later we got the opportunity to meet and talk with the grade schoolers and learn about their lives.  This was really cool because it's truly fascinating to think about how promising the future will be with all of these great minds in generations to come.

Cole Maul
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Cole

Being part of and helping the community is what I took away as being a must for any successful business. As we walked and talked with the kids at Union school I saw business owners who were there talking with the kids and I realized that this was an amazing way to give back to the community. These business leaders helped these kids get a good role model and their parents also hear all about these business leaders and now are probably more inclined to buy that businesses product or service. It is hard to fathom that Union school in every way has the odds put against its students but time and time again performs at the top level. When Brian Mentzer told us that the teachers are at school about an hour early and stay about an hour late it showed me another example of that hard work ethic. These teachers probably aren’t getting paid for those extra hours but they come anyway and work hard to see their students succeed. I admire anybody with a hard work ethic and Union school kids a place that works hard and benefits our community in so many ways. Talking about the class business this week showed the difficulty of choosing an idea that could make us money. It is already hard enough to come up with these ideas yet when we do have ideas we constantly disagree on if that's what we should do and how we should execute this idea. I never realized how many varying opinions there would be on each tiny little topic and it is really easy to get loss in the discussion and not actually make any progress on the class business. The most difficult part of the project is working together and somehow being able to put all these opinions into an idea that works for everyone and also actually makes money. I can see now why having a CEO for the class business is in heading the discussion and keeping everyone on track.

Joe Beussink
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Joe

My favorite part of this week was going to Union School and doing the walk and talk with the students there. It is really amazing how much work and effort the staff puts into the school there. Most schools you go to don't have such great staff that will work above and beyond to make their students happy. In 2015 they won the most prestigious character award that you can. That's really showing you how much time and effort they put into teaching their students the right from the wrong considering that they are such a small school.

“Champions are made, not born.” We were told this when we visited Memorial Hospital on Wednesday. You can be a champion in anything not just sports. To be a champion you have to work hard and give it your all. To be a champion you have to work harder, wake up earlier, and stay up later. It's a motto we all should be using in life. In your life in whatever career path you decide to take there will be competition and you have to work your hardest and win the fight.

This week we were finishing up our badge projects and moving onto our class project. We have all our badges ordered and we have narrowed our class project to three different ideas. Im very excited to start focusing more and more on these projects and to see what the outcome is. This week we are choosing a CEO and CFO for our class project and talk more into detail on what business we decide.  We have very many different ideas and opinions on each idea we have narrowed down to and put lots of thought into each of them. We have gone through pros and cons with each one. Its really cool getting to see how much we have grown in the last 5 weeks and becoming closer with each other and becoming one team.

Claire Randle
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Claire

Week 5 of CEO featured three more awesome visits, and two great workdays at Allsup. Tuesday we visited Kurrus funeral home, and on Wednesday we went right across the street to Memorial Hospital. Thursday our class had the pleasure of going to Union school and doing a walk and talk with the students. On Monday and Friday we stayed home at Allsup to discuss the badge project, class business, and t-shirts.

At Kurrus funeral home Dale Kurrus spoke to us about the funeral industry and about how customer service is extremely important. In a business involving death it can be very hard to stay happy, but what drives Dale Kurrus is always the appreciation and emotional connections from customers. Dale told us that if you treat your employees well, they will always take care of you. It was interesting when they showed us the cremation room and explained why cremations are becoming more popular and how they have adapted to the market to remain successful.

After going to Kurrus, we went across the street to Memorial Hospital and were spoken to by Mark Turner and Mike McManus about the health industry. Towards the end they gave us their best business advice to be successful and Mike told us that “champions are made, not born”. This quote means a lot to me because it applies to my business life and sports life. I am not born into being a successful business owner, or college baseball player. Everything I do in my life is worked for and I can only get what I put in. Mark also drove home the fact that networking and having connections is extremely important to kind of have a security blanket for when you fail.

The last visit was on Thursday, and it was to Union School. Brian Mentzer was there to discuss some of the things that he does as assistant superintendent to District 201. They have an annual budget of 60 million dollars! However, the real highlight of this day was walking and talking to the young students. I was asked some crazy questions like “Do you play for the blues?” It really humbled me to be able to act as a role model for those young kids and tell them a little bit about what it takes to be successful in high school.

Michael Lassman
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Michael

It’s amazing how much you learn about yourself when you are put in situations that make you feel a certain emotion. This week I had a mixed feeling of emotions, from the pits of sorrow to the rise of joy. I have learned this week what kind of person I want to be in my life, to what it takes to lead a team to how special and intelligent the children of today are.

The week started off at Kurrus Funeral Home and Services.  The funeral director here is the 5th generation in his family. His name is Dale Kurrus. I have to admit that when I first walked into the funeral home I did not like the feeling, it was very depressing to me and all I wanted to do was just stay in my car. However I’m a very curious person and my mind was just flashing with questions to ask with, why in the world are you a funeral director at the top of my list. My question was answered rather quickly. He told me that you have to have a passion for what you're doing, yet it is a very hard job someone has to do it, and all he wants to do is help people. He told us that the funeral industry is rather large; it's an important job to prepare the body for the final goodbye to his or her loved ones. After a while Mr. Kurrus wanted to give us a tour of the place and wanted to show us where cremation took place. I definitely did not want to do that at all but I followed the group anyways. As we walked deeper into the home, I could smell the burnt smell almost smelled like a burnt turkey on thanksgiving. The temperature also rose as it was increasingly getting hot. We entered a room full of caskets, urns and display vaults. It was depressing for me because I started to think of someone who recently died who I had a personal connection with. I didn’t want to cry in front of the group I’m almost 250 pound and 6’2 I should not be crying. When the rest of the group went to the cremation room I stayed behind. Memories of that person were flowing through my head and all the caskets surrounding me did not help. I started to tear up and I could not stop, it got so bad that I could not bring myself together enough to take the group picture. It was hard I was hurt and I was missing that person but when I brought myself together and I walked outside and looked up I knew they were right there watching over me.

Our next visit was at Memorial Hospital. I got to meet the president of Memorial Mark Turner, Chief Operating Officer Mike McManus, and Director Anne Thomure. Walking in I thought it was going to be shades of the day before where my emotions get the best of me but it wasn't. As we first walked in we were treated to an awesome buffet breakfast, and we got to sit down and learn the aspects of how to run a hospital. One thing that he said that stuck with me was champions are not born they are made. At first I did not understand this quote because I was basically thinking everyone is born a hero, to change the world for the better, I was taught that everyone was put on earth for a purpose. Then I realized what he was saying Mr. Turner was saying champions are made from something they have deep inside them a desire, a dream, a vision. They have to have the skill, and the will. But the will must be stronger than the skill. (Muhammad Ali). Most of the visit was a Q&A basically and then we took a tour of the building and got to see the different stations of the hospital and where CT scans are done and the people that perform the procedure.

 Originally we had planned to meet Mr. Brian Mentzer assistant superintendent of Belleville District 201, at Allsup but he had something else in mind he decided to have us meet a Union Elementary School, my former school. When I first walked in I felt like I was a kid again walking through those doors and seeing how big I’ve become. I could not even walk through the halls without a memory coming up or a teacher not recognizing me. And as soon as we walked into the main foyer of the building I remembered my name on the plaque for the young author's award. When we walked into the classroom he gave us a little rundown on how the district budgets there money and how they got turf for the schools spending nothing out of pocket. After the brief conversation Mr. Mentzer told us we were at Union to walk with some kids and talk with them. As he was talking he said that children these days need a person like me a well-respected and responsible African American male that they could look up too. I never personally thought I worked well with children so I did not look forward to this I thought I was going to be just walking with another CEO student. As we stepped outside I started to walk in this square walk pathway and was approached by a young gentleman that was in the 2nd grade who started talking to me about Pokémon, then another young man comes up to me to talk about basketball, then I had a young girl approach me and say that I was cute. I eventually had a whole line of kids walking with me just wanting to get my attention. That was when I realized how special children are to want to be intrigued and ask questions and how intelligent they all were. I loved every single moment being there.

 CEO has finally taken off we have come together as a team and we have completed our badge project and we are now working on our class business, but if you ask me, I can’t wait to get my mentor next Friday and start my personal business.

    

       

Jaylen Davis
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Jaylen

Monday, we continued working on our badge project and started planning our class business.  We ordered our badges this week, and are working very well as a team.  I think all of our ideas for the class business are great.  There were a lot of very original ideas that all sound like they would be successful.

On Tuesday, we went to Kurrus Funeral Home.  Mr. Kurrus explained that he loves his job because he gets to help people in their time of need.  Mr. Kurrus hires positive employees to ensure that his job does not get overwhelming.  I think a positive atmosphere in a workplace is important because it can make work enjoyable.  Mr. Kurrus really takes into account family values and feelings.  He takes caring for customers to the next level.  I believe that customers are the most important part of starting a business.  If you do not have customers, you do not have a successful business. 

Wednesday, we visited Memorial Hospital.  Mr. Turner taught me many valuable lessons.  First, I learned that Memorial is constantly improving.  Mr. Turner stated, “Memorial has a never-ending journey to improve.”  I think this is a great quote because it demonstrates that business is all about working to improve.  Mr. Turner advised us to find a network of people we respect to keep in contact with.  This can help us form a group of people we can trust and ask for advice.

On Thursday, we took a trip to Union School.  Mr. Menzer taught us  about school finances.  I thought it was interesting to learn how districts get money from the state.  I also thought it was cool to discover how schools distribute the funds to efficiently pay for children’s education.  I realize now that not only are schools individual businesses, but they are combined into one larger business.

On Friday, we had a shortened class period, but I think it might have been our most productive class at Allsup so far.  We decided on our t-shirt colors, estimated prices, and decided on our class business.  All we need to figure out is where to order the shirts, the design, and get sizes from our sponsors.

Kaitlynn Borik
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Kaitlynn

To start off the week, you may argue that it was rather “dead”, lol, but as we approached our week, The Kurrus’ were extremely welcoming and had us for a presentation and tour of their funeral home. It was quite an eye opening experience. These men and their staff endure long and unexpecting hours because they put their clients first.

Then we went to Memorial hospital and had a meeting with their CEO and Chief of staff.  As they walked/talked us through their legalities and what not, in awe I'm starting to find there's a system by which all of these businesses are ran.

Then as a pleasant surprise, we walked with the students at Union before school. I found that it was extremely important and truly enjoyed doing so. Though I didn't walk with the kids long, I felt some connections with the younger boys. I wish my school would have done something similar when I was younger so I could meet more positive role models.

It was an incredible week, for instance, our badge projection is coming near completion and people who are the hard workers are really starting to stand out. Personally I liked bringing in donuts on Friday because now everyone knows I'm serious about our class and willing to put in the extra work so we may be successful. As I challenged our class to raise over 2 thousand dollars, we succeeded. Though there were some personality conflicts in our meetings, I believe if we get a white board, we can be better organized and have a visual aid and save time once meeting. I would like us to get a white board donated and am going to bring this up during class on Monday. This is my favorite class since I've been on highschool and I think our group is going to go do some pretty cool things.

Austin Thurman
Friday, September 23, 2016Learn More About Austin