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CEO Business Visits


Belleville's Got Talent

Come and enjoy an evening full of live, local entertainment by the best talent in Belleville.  The night will be filled with dinner, networking, and supporting inspiring artists.  We will also be kicking off our new Belleville CEO's Artitorium which will eventually be an on-line venue to assist local artists in selling their work of art.  Belleville CEO will have on hand that night pieces of local art to purchase through a silent auction.    

 Belleville's Got Talent tickets are now available. 

Adults:  $25     
Students:  $15

Tickets can be purchased through Eventbrite www.tinyurl.com/bellevilletalent  or by contacting bellevilleceo2018@gmail.com.  

Belleville CEO's purpose is to encourage a close community and to inspire the success of individuals and businesses.  Although our class consists of high school seniors from Althoff, East and West, we are driven entrepreneurs who see the untapped potential of this city and the people who live here--potential that we wish to bring out in our third annual class business.  Belleville's Got Talent is an experience that will unite the community through what Belleville knows best...ART!  So don't miss a chance to be part of this wonderful event and buy your tickets today!   


Thank You to our Sponsors

We wanted to thank the following businesses who have already committed their spnosorship to the Belleville's Got Talent event.

Diamond Sponsors

Platinum Sponsors

Gold Sponsors

Friends of Belleville CEO

Mayor Mark Eckert


Sponsorships Available

Belleville’s Got Talent’s financial success greatly depends on sponsorships. That is why we are happy to visit 50+ businesses throughout the school year, we know our community has many great organizations that strive to have superior community involvement. The Belleville’s Got Talent’s sponsorship investments will be tiered by levels of diamond, platinum, and gold. There are several ways in which Belleville CEO will ensure the sponsors receive recognition for their contribution and it is dependent on the level in which their contribution is applicable. The ways Belleville CEO will advertise their sponsors can be found below.

Diamond | Sponsorship Criteria: $750

All diamond sponsors will receive total benefits from their contribution. All diamond sponsors will get:

  • Occasional mentions between acts by the host(s)
  • 4 free tickets
  • VIP Status: front table seating and priority dinner serving
  • Listed as sponsors of silent auction items
  • Company logo placed:
    • Individually in the event powerpoint
    • On all table centerpieces
    • On the Belleville CEO Class Business website
    • In the weekly newsletter
    • On sponsor page in the event program
    • On the main stage banner
    • On our Facebook Event page
  • Your sponsorship, which includes 4 tickets for attendance at the event valued at $25 per ticket may be eligible for a charitable tax deduction in the amount above the ticket value.

Platinum | Sponsorship Criteria: $500

All platinum sponsors will get:

  • 2 free tickets
  • Their company logo placed:
    • In the event powerpoint, grouped with other Platinum sponsors
    • Scatter-displayed on the table centerpieces
    • On the Belleville CEO Class Business website
    • In the weekly newsletter
    • On sponsor page in the event program
    • On the main stage banner
    • On our Facebook Event page
  • Your sponsorship, which includes 2 tickets for attendance at the event valued at $25 per ticket may be eligible for a charitable tax deduction in the amount above the ticket value.

Gold | Sponsorship Criteria: $250

All gold sponsors will get:

  • Their company logo placed:
    • In the event powerpoint, grouped with other Gold sponsors
    • On the Belleville CEO Class Business website
    • In the weekly newsletter
    • On sponsor page in the event program
    • On our Facebook Event page
  • Your sponsorship may be eligible for a charitable tax deduction.

Friend of Belleville CEO | Sponsorship Criteria: Any Desired Amount

All Friends of Belleville CEO will get:

  • Their logo/name placed on the sponsor page in the event program
  • Your sponsorship may be eligible for a charitable tax deduction

Becoming a Sponsor

To become a sponsor, email bellevilleceo2018@gmail.com to:

  • State your interest with a Belleville CEO student
  • Express level of sponsor in which you would like to invest

The 2018 Belleville CEO class is grateful for all sponsorship investments.  


Artitorium

Belleville CEO will be hosting a silent auction at Belleville's Got Talent which will showcase young upcoming artists.  Eventually Artitorium will be an on-line website where one can view pieces of art by local young high school and college age artists.    

Here is a sneak-peak of some art that will be featured that night at Belleville's Got Talent:

The artist is Aliyah Willis

The medium is Paint.  

Title:    An Ode to Doge


City Hall Tour

Mayor Mark Eckert

On Wednesday, the class met with Mayor Mark Eckert at City Hall. Mr. Eckert expressed from the beginning how fond he is of the CEO program, and how he hopes some of us use the skills we acquire to help Belleville continue growing as a city. He very openly discussed how hard he’s been working to help our community since his 2005 election, and some of the steps he’s had to take to improve people’s lives. One thing that he made sure to emphasize was the importance of local business, and how it affects the community. He and his wife actually own Eckert Florist, located downtown, and admitted that the company was how he’s put his four kids through school. Owning a local business has shown him how hard it is to both maintain his own company, and has given him a connection to all the other local business owners.

Another topic Eckert emphasized was the importance of having a strong police and fire force. He talked about the reconstruction of city hall, as well as how he wanted to provide Belleville police with a new station that met their needs as well as the communities. Thank you again, Mayor Eckert, for continual support and spending the morning with us.

 Written by:  Josie Proffitt


Fish Fry at the Scottish Rite

On Friday, the CEO students were fulfilling part of their obligation with the Scottish Rite to help with Fish Fries.  Ten students worked the Fish Fry in two shifts.  The students had a great time calling out the numbers and deliveries the food to the tables.   


FBLA Regional Competition

On Saturday, Tristen Missey and former CEO student, Mahlik Good, received first place in Entrepreneurship at the Regional FBLA Competition at Kaskaskia College.  This year the Southwestern FBLA Regionals involved 187 students in 8 different local high schools.  Tristen Missey and Mahlik Good also presented a workshop to other FBLA students titled, Project S.U.P.P.O.R. T., evaluating who would be in your immediate circle and support system.  Congratulations again, Tristen and Mahlik!


Student Journal Highlights for this week

Another week of CEO has passed. This week we mainly focused on our class business. We have secured our 10 acts and they will all be able to make it. We have three judges in line for the show. The programs and sponsorships power points are in the making and will probably be finished sometime next week. The event is starting to creep up on us; I'm a little nervous but also super excited to finally host our event. We really need to start pushing ticket sales; I like Ian's idea of just one ticket a day because I believe that is easily doable.

We also I got to meet with Mayor Eckert at City Hall. I thought it was super interesting to hear about what a Mayor’s daily work day looks like. I never realized how much time and effort goes into being a Mayor. It was crazy to see that even the city of Belleville is ran just like any other business and the Mayor is like the CEO of the city. It was also amazing to see love and passion that Mayor Eckert has for the city of Belleville.

“One on one communication is the best form of communication.” Mark Eckert said this very true statement. Nothing can beat one on one communication because when you interact with a person face to face you can form a better relationship with a person than talking to that person over the telephone. Mayor Eckert also said the reason why he is so successful is because he surrounds himself with good people. He said the most important challenge is to build relationships. Mayor Eckert said that whatever job that you choose make sure it is a job that you can put some passion into. He said to get good results you have to work. To be good anything you have to work hard at it to get positive feedback from it. It was very nice to meet with the mayor and to know that he still loves his job. He is still achieving things in his life that is very excellent.

I am still thinking of things to do with my personal business my mentor and I are still brainstorming to come up with the best idea for my personal business

This week we got the chance to meet with Mayor Mark Eckert. He is a nice person and he was interested in listening to. I liked how he told us about how he started as mayor and what the process as a mayor is like. It was interesting because he told us about how the city hall began and how the buildings were changed throughout the years. I learned that the building we went to meet Mayor Eckert was not the same building as from previous years and that they had use an old building to build the current city hall. I did not know that and I had always thought it was there since the beginning. He also showed the “board” (is that what it was called?) room where leaders make decisions. He told us that it is well protected because they have bullet proof glass windows, a security guard, and somewhere to duck when the situation gets bad. He is an interested person and I am so happy that I had the chance to meet the mayor of Belleville for the first time. It was an honor to have met the mayor and I hope our class gets to see him once again. We also talked about our event and what we have so far. I hope we can finish what is needed and I want this event to be successful.

Emmie Huynh

Emmie Huynh
Friday, January 19, 2018Learn More About Emmie

This Friday, my mentor and I finally had some time to meet together once again. During the visit we mainly focused on the progression of the class business and my ideas on my personal business, along with connecting me with other possible sponsors and offering advice. I explained to Mr. McDermott how we were approaching the end of the project, and that our current main concern is selling tickets. Thankfully, he and his wife are most likely coming to the show, so that will be two more tickets sold. In regards to my personal project, I think we have come up with a good idea as to what I could do. Since I was involved in creating the logos for both the talent show and Artitorium, and enjoy Photoshopping, we figured that I could make logos for other businesses and work with other photo-editing related projects. I voiced my concerns about how I could be come profitable doing that and if anyone would even want me to do those kind of services. He offered me some good advice, including how low-cost that is for me, and how much actual graphic designers charge for those types of services.

The mayor of Belleville is one of the few in Illinois who is a full-time mayor. In order to be a good mayor, and a good leader in general, one must have good communication skills and a good character, which includes being punctual, respectful, and a decent person. You must also surround yourself with good people, which is another common tip that I have heard from many leaders during my time in this program. More specifically to becoming a mayor, and relating to having good communication skills, one must be a good public speaker, since obviously, a mayor does a lot of that.

I definitely give credit to our two CEO’s. I know it may be hard for them try to get everyone to do what they are committed to and make sure everything goes smooth, they are doing a good job at it. Decorations went to get the table decorations for the event. It started off rough because of miscommunication but eventually we met up and got the job done. We went to Michaels, Dollar General, and Dollar Tree and got the supplies. The group went to Joann's to try to find some tablecloths but we didn’t have any luck. For the most part the stuff that we did get it was at a good price and we are only missing the bowls and three vases but we got everything else that we needed.

This week flew by as we only had three days of attendance. Wednesday, we met with Mayor Mark Eckert downtown at city hall. He discussed the importance of his position and how hard he’s worked over his terms to keep everyone happy. Something interesting about the mayor is that he and his wife actually own their own business, Eckert Florist, downtown. I think that owning a business must be a relatable thing for him when dealing with other local business owners.

Thursday and Friday were both workdays. We spent the time contacting potential sponsors, as well as starting to make our documents for Belleville’s got Talent. Sponsorship worked on creating our Powerpoint presentation to loop through the beginning of the event.  

Josie Proffitt

Josie Proffitt
Friday, January 19, 2018Learn More About Josie

As you have hopefully heard about by now, Belleville CEO is hosting our class business at Scottish Rite on February 10th. A couple days ago, ten of us went to Scottish Rite and helped the workers out at the fish fry. I and some of the other students were able to get a good look at the room we would be using for our business, and talked through our layouts and what decorations will need to do. Helping out at the fish fry was a good experience in general, and I’m glad CEO was able to be a part of it. Our class is slightly behind on ticket sales, but Nick and Ian have really been pushing those sales and I’ve seen people start to step up and sell their tickets which are great. At the moment, I am working on getting a good sound setup for the talent show; something that would be loud enough and clear for the whole room, and I know a couple different people who could help me out in the area, and hopefully they will get back to me soon.

I’m excited to see how many tickets we will sell this coming week, and looking forward to a successful class business, from sponsorships to ticket sales. Hopefully we can really kick it into gear this week.

John Lewis

John Lewis
Friday, January 19, 2018Learn More About John

On Wednesday, we met with Mayor Eckert at City Hall. I honestly had no idea what the position of a mayor really entailed so it was really interesting getting to hear about Mayor Eckert’s day to day schedule and responsibilities to the city. He talked about how city government has to be looked at as a business because there is only so much money to fund different programs and city needs. He said that most of the budget goes toward police and fire, which makes sense because these institutions keep our city safe. Mayor Eckert emphasized that in your career, a person’s character is more important than their skill set because someone that works hard and is an honest person will make it farther than someone who is really talented at what they do but unwilling to put in the work and act professional. I thought this was a good mindset to have when approaching a work environment. He said that he accounts his career to surrounding himself with good people as employees and building good relationships with colleagues and associates. He also told us how he makes an effort to be upfront and say what’s on his mind. This sounds like he has a really good work environment, which I agree is really important. It’s always easier to get things done when your team gets along well and can maturely figure out how to solve problems and distribute tasks. Mayor Eckert also told us to choose a job that you can put in new ideas and developments into, but also make sure that it’s something you’re passionate about.

On Thursday and Friday, we met at MM&R for class days. I think we did a good job of utilizing our committees this week. The advertising committee began working on the program for Belleville’s Got Talent and I was put in charge of the Facebook page, which is unfortunate because I barely know how to use Facebook and spent all of Friday trying to figure out what I could do as an owner of the page. I asked someone on the sponsorship committee if they could give me a definite list of all of our sponsors that we have so far and what level they were, but they couldn’t seem to find one so I’m going to have to wait for that start putting up the sponsors. Also, we only have 23 people following the page as of now, so I’ll have to figure out a way to get more people interested in the event online.

On Friday night, we volunteered at the Scottish Rite fish fry which went smoothly and the guys running it told us they were really grateful for our help so I think that went pretty well.

I keep following up with people that said they were going to buy a ticket to Belleville’s Got Talent, but everyone keeps forgetting their money. That’s basically the only reason I haven’t sold all my tickets yet. Hopefully everyone sells eleven like they said they would because tickets are looking pretty dim right now.

Emilie Smyth

Emilie Smyth
Friday, January 19, 2018Learn More About Emilie

This week during CEO we only had three days for class and one of those days we were able to meet with Mayor Eckert, who is the mayor of Belleville. When we talked with Mayor Eckert on Wednesday he gave a lot of great tips on how to run a successful business and have a successful life. There were three things that he said to me that stood out were that you have to have good communication, good character traits, and you have to have a vision of what you want to do.  I believe that what he said with those three tips are very important and will definitely help us while we are trying to finish up this class business and start on our personal businesses. The reason I believe that is because if you are not good at communicating your ideas or you're not a good person or you don't have a good vision you might be able to get your business off the ground.

On Thursday and Friday we worked on trying to figure out what we need to do next to continue setting up for our class business I believe that we are making progress and that we are going to be able to be raring to go when February 10th comes around .

Jake Roche

Jake Roche
Friday, January 19, 2018Learn More About Jake

Money management is a big factor of our class business and personal business. Money management relates to me since I manage our money. Mayor Eckert greatly explained how the management the money of Belleville affects everything. Such as spending almost two million dollars to repair the sidewalks in the downtown area. This amazed me because that was a lot more expensive than I thought it would be. This taught me that sometimes it is necessary to spend a lot of money when it is needed, so having a supply of money is very helpful in times like that.

I am really looking forward to personal business because it is a chance to show myself what I am capable of. I have been thinking of a couple of ideas that I think could lead to great success with the right amount of commitment. With the help of my mentor as well this is a great way to get experience and also gives me a great opportunity to build a long term relationship with my mentor.

Cam Wicks

Cam Wicks
Friday, January 19, 2018Learn More About Cam

I have been thinking about my personal business a lot lately because I have been having trouble with the design part of it. First of all, since it is necessary for me to come up with a creative design that will sell itself, it puts pressure on me, somewhat taking the fun out of the project and stressing me out. I am trying to doodle in my spare time just to start getting some creative juices flowing, then maybe I can compile some into a bigger design for the final project. Before I meet with my mentor again, I want to have some designs to show her and also options for producing them. My idea started out as a tapestry, then evolved into tervis cups and then blankets. I am still not sure which one I want to go with because for a tapestry or blanket I have to create a design that is big enough to cover the entire thing, while a cup would be much smaller and show more detail, which is more of what I currently do. What it will really come down to though is the best manufacturer I can find for one of my three ideas. Meanwhile, I am going to keep drawing as much as possible to come up with something appealing and unique that customers will want to buy.

I enjoyed visiting with the Mayor. It was interesting to learn about his experience in public office, and how he also related it to running a business. He answered all of our questions very well, and seemed sincerely wanting to help us with anything he could. I also liked how he talked about some of Belleville's history. I had no idea that 64 almost went through the city and how Belleville used to have even more shopping centers. I also had no idea that Abraham Lincoln had a friend who actually lived around here.

I like the progress we are making with the class business. We might be still a little behind, but I definitely think we are making up for it strong. I was especially happy we picked up a sponsorship from the Edge, especially since we decided to go on another direction with our venue. They've treated us extremely well with our business, so I hope they really enjoy the event if they can hose to attend. I also think ticket sales will also improve. I'm going to meet with Mr. Marchal soon so hopefully I can see if he or any of his coworkers would be interested in going or spreading the word.

Jacob Gall

Jacob Gall
Friday, January 19, 2018Learn More About Jacob

This week was, I thought, a week to learn and understand. The class is starting to understand the importance of the class business, and how close it is approaching. We have a lot to do in short time. This event will and can be a very great and fun event, if executed properly, starting now. The weeks leading up to the event are some of the most important because there so many little key factors that needs to be done. I believe we can get this project done well, but I feel as though some student are not that “pig committed” to the event, which in perspective will gives all the money we need for our personal businesses. Cam and I have updated the class financials along with an actual and projectile budget of what the event is looking like at the moment. Sponsorships and ticket sales are our big hitters, and it seems like the class is not as focused on those numbers. In order for this class to succeed, we all need to step up and out of our comfort zones to raise the money and attract the consumers.

We also spoke with Belleville Mayor Mr. Mark Eckert. He was a very kind, insightful man who had a lot to say and speak on. I asked him the question, “Looking at the future of Belleville, what is the plan that you hope to accomplish here?” He talked about how he hopes to change it and make it more appealing to customers like it had in the past. The way he views his work and how he looks at the benefits and positivity of the future really showed why he was in his position now as mayor. He loves what he does and he does it with full enthusiasm, no matter the task. He wants the greater good of Belleville, and wants to achieve much during his time as mayor.

Leadership is a huge role when it comes to business. You need to be able to step out of your comfort, and take charge of the people around you. Without some sort of leadership, success will not be achieved. We look at the leadership role of Mayor Eckert, and the thing he has accomplished in Belleville was through good leadership, and doing something others didn’t or couldn’t do. In our Belleville CEO class we need many people to step up and start something.

James Monken

James Monken
Friday, January 19, 2018Learn More About James

...This week we got to talk with our Mayor, Mark Eckert. I thought this was one of the coolest visits yet, because it’s not everyday that you get an inside view of your city’s government. Mayor Eckert told us a lot about on going projects throughout the city, and I didn't realize how much of a comeback Belleville has made in recent years...

James Wiegers

James Wiegers
Friday, January 19, 2018Learn More About James


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