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Understanding Your "Main Business"


Precision Practice Management

Mr. Mike Barnell, Ms. Angela Willis, and Mr. Alan Pulliam

Mr. Mike Barnell, President & CEO
Mr. Alan Pulliam, Owner & Partner
Ms. Angela Willis, Director of Operations

 On Wednesday, the CEO class visited their new home base, Precision Practice Management.  The class met Mike Barnell, Alan Pulliam and Angela Willis.  Mr. Barnell told the class how the business was started.  Mrs. Renae Eichholz was the beginning founder, but later joined forces with partners and owners, Mr. Barnell and Mr. Pulliam.   Since then, the business has grown 15 times its original size.  The class also had a tour of the office building and saw the enormity of the business’ expansions through the large later additions to the building.  Precision Practice Management continues to grow, and the CEO class will have the privilege of seeing finishing touches to recent additions.  Thank you to Ms. Willis, Mr. Barnell, Mr. Pulliam and their employees for the tour and background of Precision Practice Management and allowing us to make their facility our class’ new home base.

 Written by Kaitlynn Borik


CEO Reunion

Mr. Montez Douglas
Ms. Heather Gosebrink
Ms. Emma Gregowicz
Mr. David Rauckman
Ms. Jessica Stern

 On Thursday, our class had the great opportunity to meet with some of the students from last year’s class. We were able to ask them about their own class business, Grand Gala:  CEOnopoly Style.  They told us about their biggest struggles, the kinds of problems they had to solve, and how it has helped them after the program. We also got into a discussion about our personal businesses. Overall it was a phenomenal experience for us to hear from people who have been in our exact shoes. Our class would especially like to thank Emma, Jessica, David, Montez, and Heather for taking time out of their day and sharing their story with us.

 Written by Tim Donaho


Ms. JoAnn DiMaggio-May, Illinois Metro East SBDC Director

On Friday, Mrs. JoAnn DiMaggio-May returned to class to talk to us about our class business plan. There were a lot of issues with our plan including lack of detail and content. Thank you, Mrs. May, for walking through the details of our class business plan which will ultimately help us in putting on one of the best Belleville CEO events.

 Written by Jaylen Davis


Thank You!

Belleville CEO class would like to thank the following students who chaired the following committees during First Semester:

Greeting Committee:  Alayna Wells, Stephen Waltrip and Cole Maul
Write-up Commitee:  Michael Lassman
Introduction Committee:  Jaylen Davis and Epiphany Smith
Thank You Committee:  Tim Donaho and Jaylen Davis
Place Card Committee:  Austin Thurman and Kelly Rowden
Social Media:  Claire Randle and Alayna Wells
Treasurer:  Carson Gamboe
CEO for the class business:  Stephen Waltrip and Tim Donaho

 The following students have accepted the responsbilities for the first part of this year:

Greeting Committee:  Devin Alexander
Write-up Commitee:  Joe Beussink
Introduction Committee:  Michael Lassman
Thank You Committee:  Claire Randle
Place Card Committee:  Kelly Rowden
Social Media:  Claire Randle and Alayna Wells
New Website Committee:  Jaylen Davis
Treasurer/new CFO for the class business:  Carson Gamboe
CEO for the class business:  Stephen Waltrip and Tim Donaho


Around the Fountain: A Belleville CEO Experience

Sponsorships & Tickets Still Available

Belleville CEO’s purpose is to encourage a closer community and to inspire the success of small businesses. Although our class consists of high school seniors, we are driven entrepreneurs that see the untapped potential of this city- potential that we wish to bring out in our second annual class business by giving you a chance to network and market your business. This year we are hosting a business conference with our inspirational keynote speaker, the artist and entrepreneur Ben Glenn. Around the Fountain is the experience we are offering to unite the business community while creating lifelong connections that will benefit Belleville as a whole. We offer a plethora of options to be involved, so don’t miss a chance to be successful and buy your tickets today!

The Students of Belleville CEO, Class of 2017

Sponsorships and Tickets Available

GOLD SPONSORSHIP - $450

Logo will appear in slideshow
Logo will be in program
Logo in weekly newsletter
Logo on website
Logo on gold banner
Logo on a chocolate fountain
Name announced
2 tickets

 Investing in your community

*Slide show will play during the event
*Banners will be displayed around the wall of the room
*Free tickets allow you to come and enjoy the event
*Names will be announced at the beginning of the event to thank the businesses for their investment

SILVER SPONSORSHIP - $300

Logo will appear in slideshow
Logo in program
Logo in weekly newsletter
Logo on website
Logo on silver banner
1 ticket 

Growing your community

BRONZE SPONSORSHIP - $150

Logo will appear in slideshow
Logo will be in program
Logo will appear in weekly newsletter
Logo on website 

Supporting your community

BOOTHS 

Come to the event and listen to the speakers while being able to advertise for your business! Hand out samples and information while networking with potential business customers or partners.   

The booth includes:

 *Admission for two
*6 foot table included in price

SILENT AUCTION

 You can also contribute to the event by donating a basket to the silent auction. Donations are appreciated and the donor's name or logo will be on the bid sheet.

 **Please do not include alcohol in a donated basket**

If You Are Interested In Any Sponsorships, Booths, Or Contributing To The Silent Auctions, Please Contact Carson Gamboe At (618) 604-8211 Or Cgamboe@Gmail.Com.


Student Journal Highlights for this week

On Wednesday, our class went to our new home base, Precision Practice Management.  We met Mike Barnell and Alan Pulliam, co-owners of Precision Practice Management along with Angela Willis.  Mr. Barnell told the class of the business’s background and beginning.  When Ms. Eichholz joined forces with Mr. Barnell and Mr. Pulliam, the business grew fifteen times its original size.  We also got a tour of the building, seeing recent additions to the original building.  The background of the beginning of Precision Practice Management was inspiring.  Ms. Eichholz’s hard work ethic was strongly shown in the genuine determination of the employees to continue to grow the business and themselves as well as the successful growth of the business from its startup.  I think it is amazing to see that businesses can grow beyond original goals.  Ms. Eichholz’s business shows that hard work really does pay off.

On Thursday, our class met a few former students of the CEO class.  The former students gave great advice for our upcoming class event.  I learned that we need to be persistent in getting sponsors for our events.  We need to continue to ask different businesses for sponsorships or booths.  We also realized that our booth price was too large for small businesses to be able to participate in the event.  We are going to lower our booth price and try to include smaller businesses that make Belleville unique.  I learned a lot about new ideas for starting my personal business as well.  I learned that not all ideas will work and business is about trial and error.  Even if some of my ideas fail, I should continue to try new ideas to improve my business.  I am hoping to put some of the previous class’s advice to use in both the class event and my personal business.

On Friday, our class was assisted in our business plan by JoAnn DiMaggio May.  Mrs. DiMaggio May helped us expand our business plan to be more detailed and gave advice on sections to add.  Mrs. DiMaggio May was extremely helpful and critical in the planning of our class event.

It was our first week back to work and there was a lot of work to be done. Over the break I accomplished little to nothing. My first few days were filled with creating and sending invoices and dealing with the problems of formatting. But I have also thought more on my personal business and asked around. It sounds like it may work out, but I am going out to individual businesses on Sunday and asking if this is something that would work or that they might take part in. (I’ll tell what it is if it becomes official)

Monday the CEO of Precision Practice Management and his team came and spoke with us then gave us a tour. It was really cool to see a national company and that it started here in Belleville and continues to stay here.

Tuesday we had sort of a reunion day with previous CEO students which was very insightful. We got to ask them questions for what they should have done better, and what we could do to improve our class event/fundraiser. I think we are going to have troubles bringing in people and selling tickets. We are also having a problem with booths. So we have come to the point where we are just trying to fill tables and are selling booths for an incredibly low price.

Following that we had Mrs. DiMaggio in to help with our business plan, I found out pretty quickly that it is a lot harder than I originally thought to create one. We spent the entire hour and a half writing it and are not even halfway done. It was really helpful getting to work on it as a class though. Hopefully she can stop by again and help us out. However, it seems like she doesn’t realize how much we appreciate her.

Carson Gamboe

Carson Gamboe
Friday, January 6, 2017Learn More About Carson

This week in CEO was somewhat reasonable. Although this week was short, consisting of only three days there were a decent amount of decisions made. This week was the first week back from winter break. The almost two week break from school and CEO was well needed, and personally gave me more time to myself.

With the New Year we are no longer at Barcom. I'm going to miss going to Barcom simply because it was closer to school and home although on Thursdays we’d have to walk through wet grass. The new location is Precision practice management. PPM is a very appealing business on the inside. For years I went to school across the street but never knew what inside the building.

We were given a tour of the business by Angela Willis the Human Resources director. Though there are some parts that are under construction, the rooms look like they will turn out nicely. Hopefully our class will get a tour when it's finished. What I liked most about the business is that the employees dress comfortably and seem to be satisfied with what they do. I like the concept of business like PPM who outsource what they do to other businesses, to help them complete tasks more efficiently and effectively. Another thing I liked is that they don't have to do much marketing of themselves to be successful. From looking at the size of the building and the amount of people who work on the building I wouldn't have thought that they would have as many clients as they do.

In the presentation from Mark Barnell one thing that stood out to me was when he said, “You can do it with a shovel or you can do it with a backhoe”. That statement means a lot in terms of getting tasks completed efficiently because oh can do things small bits at a time but it take a lot less stress and time to do it with help or in one big setting. Allen talked about how the biggest competitor for their business is the company they are trying to represent because what they can offer them they can do themselves and that it is easier to get clients out of state rather than locally because most people's perspective of a local business and businesses far away are different. 

We are finally back into the swing of things after a long Christmas break. I hope that everyone had a good break, but I am glad we are back to work on our class business and meet more speakers.  I have very high hopes and expectations for this semester.  I hope that we are able to finish the trade show with at least 6,000 dollars profit.  Our goal is 4,000, but I will work my hardest to make this business successful.  I think the key is obtaining sponsorships as well as booths. We also need to start selling a lot of tickets. We each need to sell 20 tickets to reach our goal. My personal goal is to sell 30-35. 

We are meeting at Precision Practice Management this quarter. It is nice to get a new atmosphere for class.  We met with the a few people from Precision.  It was very interesting to learn about the business, and how Renae started it many years ago.  She is the perfect example of starting a business off of an idea.  She has become very successful, and I thought it was important how she reached out for help from professionals when the company began.  I cannot wait to meet with Renee. I have known her for many years.

On Tuesday, we met with a few students from last year, and I thought it was very beneficial. They asked us questions, and we asked them questions. It was very nice to get insight from students who are just a year older, but have lived through it. It. Was refreshing talking to some more kids, and hearing how the class has affected their lives as well as college experience.  I think that they are very supportive, and willing to help us. I think that shows one of the most important things about the CEO program.  Networking and the willingness of people to help others succeed.

This week in CEO was a short one but all three days were jam packed with a tour of our new location, meeting some of the old CEO students, and making our business plan with Jo-Ann Dimaggio. Getting a tour of the new CEO location was really interesting. It seems like most places we visit look really small on the outside but once we get inside there the building feels huge and seems to have many twist and turns to it. I think it's really awesome that Renae, the owner of Precision Practice Management, started by working as a secretary at a doctor's office and then left to start a business that has grown into one of the biggest in the industry. I also noticed that there were barely any men there but apparently most men don’t apply for jobs there and that seemed a bit weird.

On the second day back we got to hear from some of the students of last year and what advice they wanted to give us. They gave input on our class business and talked about their struggles of doing their class business as well. Ticket sales seem to be a big thing to them and emphasized that we got to get out there and sell some tickets. They also gave some input on our personal business ideas and what to do and what not to do.

The third day Jo-Ann Dimaggio came to our class and we got to work on the business plan. Jaylen had been heading this up and had done a good job but Jo-Ann Dimaggio stopped by to polish it up.  When someone starts a business,  it's easy to forget all the work that goes into starting it. One part of that is the business plan. I forgot how detailed someone needs to be with this plan and all the work put into it but it really is beneficial for keeping that person and their business in the track.

Joe  Beussink

Joe Beussink
Friday, January 6, 2017Learn More About Joe

The break was nice and relaxing but it's time to now get back to work. Like we thought, the class business is now sneaking up on us and ad a whole we are all unprepared. But that's life, we'll all have to buckle up and make this trade show happen. But, if the lackadaisical attitude continues our business will fail.

 Starting our week off at PPM (Precision Practice Management), we spoke with the CEO Mike Barnell and his colleagues Alan (Pulliam) and Angela (Willis). It was very cool to hear their story and the humble beginnings of Precision Practice Management. It was cool to see that businesses based in Belleville can work throughout the 26 states. I think these types of businesses are starting to come up quickly. Working from home has grown tremendously. Even though they work at their building in downtown I think it's great to keep the jobs in Belleville.

   On Thursday we met with several students from last year’s class. It was nice to be with people who have shared our same experiences. More than anything, out of this class period I realized that we a whole class need to pick things up. I wrote a list and intend to have certain things done by Tuesday. Though we have lots to do, we are on track to getting our show to be an event. Now that our business plan is written and we have a solid foundation to base the rest of our tradeshow among. I'm definitely expecting our group to get a whole lot more things accomplished this next week so it won't come down to the wire.

This week at CEO we talked with members from Precision Practice Management, CEO alumni, and Mrs. DiMaggio May.

Precision Practice Management is our new home base, so we spent the first day back from break talking with the heads of the company. They told us about the company's origins and how they have grown. One thing I really found interesting is the way the company has organically grown. PPM’s greatest source of advertisement is word of mouth. One physician who utilizes PPM’s services will likely tell their other physicians and from there the chain continues. I also really found it interesting what Precision Practice Management does. They did not create anything unique or super special. They just found a task with little competition and perfected it.

On Thursday, we were able to meet with past students of the CEO program. We discussed our class business with them and got their advice. One really helpful thing was when we talked about the biggest struggle of the class business. We all agreed selling tickets is going to be the hardest part of making the event successful. Knowing this, we can properly plan around this.

Lastly, we met with Mrs. DiMaggio May once again. This time we worked on finalizing our business plan. We discussed the proper format and the best way of approaching topics. Although the process was a little tedious, we really made a lot of progress.

In these coming weeks we are going to be working on our class business a lot. Our event is only a month away and we still have so much to do. It is time for everyone in the class to really step up and do as much as they say. No one can be slacking or else we will run the chance of failing.

Tim Donaho

Tim Donaho
Friday, January 6, 2017Learn More About Tim

...Anyway, over break I met with my mentor twice. We are really starting to focus on more and more details on my personal business. There is a lot more details and things to do for my personal business than I thought. I never knew that all those details went into a business. I still have to find a name for my business and then create a logo.

This week we met with the management from PPM (Precision Practice Management). They talked on how Renae started this business from her garage and now the business is huge. They keep growing and growing and bringing in different kinds of business and adding more technology.

We also met with the alumni from last year’s group. They gave us really good pointers on what to do to get more people to our class business and how to get more sponsorships. They also talked about how to get our personal business to be successful.

On Friday, JoAnn DiMaggio-May came and visited us to help us with our class business plan. We needed a lot of help and we still aren't done with it. We didn't do most of it right, but that's what this class is for. It is to fail and get back up and do it again.

Claire Randle

Claire Randle
Friday, January 6, 2017Learn More About Claire

This was yet another really good week for the CEO class.  As we adjust to PPM (Precision Practice Management) being our new headquarters, after this long winter break, we still have quite a bit of work to do for our class business.

  We began the week on Wednesday, where we met at Precision Practice Management for the first time, as it is our new home base. There we got to meet a few higher ups in the company where they mainly discussed how worldwide their company has become, and how it functions.  After the talking we were then given a tour of their facilities and even got a sneak peak of the renovations that they are performing.

On Thursday we met back at Precision Practice Management, where we had sort of a reunion with former students of the Belleville CEO class who have since graduated.  We discussed with them some of the many logistics of our class business, and how everything seems to be shaping up for it.  They gave us some advice, and most of the advice spurred on criticisms of the gala that was hosted last year.  So in a way a lot of the advice was to help iron out problems that occurred last year, in hopes that they won't recur this year.  

On Friday we met back at Precision Practice Management once again.  Where we got to talk with Ms. DiMaggio, some more.  This time we took action to building our class project’s business plan in preparation to send a final one to Midland for approval.  We made a lot of progress, but there is still much work to do.

Overall this was another great week for the program, and it was nice to have a new home base to come to after the long winter break that we just had.  I'm very excited to see how the class business will pan out, and see what's in store for our class in the weeks yet to come.

Cole Maul

Cole Maul
Friday, January 6, 2017Learn More About Cole

 CEO class has picked up with a bang. Already starting a new, at a new place called Precision Practice Management. While having the tour of the building we also had Belleville CEO Class of 2016 Alumni come in to talk to us as well as Jo-Ann DiMaggio May come in to speak with us

Our week was short this week, it started on Wednesday at Precision Practice Management. Mother Nature was not too kind to us that morning, as the snow was falling hard in the morning. Even though many of my classmates’ journals would be the same for this day, I’m pretty sure Cole, \Tim and I would have the same journal. Our morning started with us being locked out of the building for ten minutes and when we were let in they had lost the CEO class or did not know where exactly they were. The time that the CEO class was found the presentation was merely over but we arrived just in time for the tour. As I walked around I noticed that it is a mostly female dominated workplace, but everyone and I mean everyone seemed to be on one team with one job to do it did not look like a normal workplace with a boss telling them what to do. It looked like a team working together to do one job.

 The next day we had former students come in to talk to us about the class business and they’re personal businesses from last year.  All while having a little morning breakfast to eat. It seems like all of their stories were the same as they could not keep their personal businesses going because of the fact that they were going to college. My mentor actually told me that this could be a good thing for me because the business that I am thinking about doing I can stop it whenever I want and just use it for extra cash flow. One former student that I can relate to is Heather Gosebrink she has a business in which she can stop it when she wants but whenever she needs a little extra cash she can pick it up exactly where she left off.

The day after Jo-Ann DiMaggio May came in to talk to us about our class business plan, Around The Fountain, there were a lot of flaws in our business plan.   We did not have a lot of detail and we did not have a lot of things planned out. We needed a backup plan, it was not available until Mrs. May came in to save the day.

The Second Semester kicked off with a bang it’s hard to believe we only have 90 days of it left, I best not take it for granted.

Jaylen Davis

Jaylen Davis
Friday, January 6, 2017Learn More About Jaylen

Week 18 of CEO featured two guest speakers and a reunion with some members of last years class. Class resumed from winter break on Wednesday and it was our first day at our new base, Precision Practice Management, where we met the owners. Thursday was the class reunion and Friday Jo Ann DiMaggio May visited us to help us write our business plan.

Wednesday we were spoken to by PPM and they seem to have a very similar culture to Holland Construction. A nice lady named Angela (Willis) does the hiring there and she stressed the importance of hiring people who work hard and have the business's best interest in mind. The CEO, Mike Barnell, told us, “People who work hard beat smart people who don’t work hard every single time.” I relate with this quote very much because it is something I always remind myself of in the baseball world, but it is also holds true in the business world too. He also said if you do a good job word of mouth will be your best advertising. I recall many occasions this year where businesses told us that they only advertise by word of mouth. It still surprises me every time but it has also opened my eyes to how beneficial word of mouth is.

Thursday some of the students from last year came to offer us advice for our business and reminisce a little before heading back to college. They helped us very much in sharing what went well for them last year and what did not go so well. Our class is blessed to have so many people willing to help us and do whatever they can to make sure we are successful.

Friday we were fortunate enough to have Mrs. Jo Ann DiMaggio May come back and help us write our business plan. Writing a business plan is a very confusing process and I can not imagine what it would look like if a bunch of inexperienced teenagers tried to write one without the help of an experienced professional. Once again, we are lucky to have so many people who do so much for us and give us their time to help us. I truly can’t fully express the gratitude I have to be apart of this class and to be involved with such amazing people.

           


           

Our first day back to CEO class was a wonderful visit from the officers of our next home base Precision Practice Management. The staff included the president and CEO Mike Barnell, Owner and Partner Alan Pulliam, and the director of Human Resources Angela Willis.

As soon as they walked into the room you could feel how close these three were, their attitudes and composure were impressive and their interaction was friendly and professional. Observing such a well put together team made me ask them about their office culture. Ms. Willis explained to the class that at the office they pride customer service and satisfaction above all else, and they have to be an efficient team to do so.  I look forward to coming here for our mornings and learning more about their wonderful business.

I was absent a day due to sickness, but was back for Joann DiMaggio-May to help us with our class summary. It was extremely helpful having her guide us through the steps and I'm grateful to have these sort of connections through the program.

Alayna  Wells

Alayna Wells
Friday, January 6, 2017Learn More About Alayna


Alumni Spotlight Entries for this week

Heather Gosebrink

Initial It!

CEO of Goose Prints, Heather Gosebrink

Alumni Heather Gosebrink is currently on holiday break from her studies at Western Kentucky University where she is majoing in Marketing.  On Friday, Heather, CEO of Goose Prints, hosted a home party, Initial It from 7 to 10 p.m.  Heather showcased her monogrammed packages as well as keychains and glasses.  By 7:30 p.m., the house was packed with potential buyers. Heather had a raffle as well as array of finger food.  It was great to see that Goose Prints is not only alive but thriving.  I personally can't wait to get my new monograms for my computer and car to go along with my personalized Yetti cup and wine glass!  Great job, Heather, on your successful party.  We wish you the best of luck at Western Kentucky! -Mrs. Siebers.

Heather answering questions from her potential customers.
This was a working party for Heather.
Heather cutting the vinyl for her first job.
Heather is getting ready to weed the vinyl.
Heather offered several finger food items as well as these cute cookies!
Mrs. Siebers' monogrammed Yetti cup and wine glass.

Heather Gosebrink
- Class of 2016


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