2015 National CEO Trade Show a Hit

(SYDNEY THOMAS SHOWS OFF SOME OF HER "SNIPPETS OF BLISS" PRODUCTS)

Students from Minnesota, Missouri, Indiana and Illinois gathered in Effingham Monday evening for the first-ever CEO National Trade Show.

The event featured two dozen business owners and their products or services as a way to show not only what they have to offer, but also how the CEO Program has grown.

CEO (Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities) began in Effingham County as an effort by some forward-thinking business leaders such as Jack Schultz and Karen Wolters who wanted to encourage students in developing business ideas and then implementing those ideas. A hope was that some of the area's best and brightest wouldn't flee for supposedly greener pastures, but instead stay home, or return home after college, and bloom where they were planted.

Eventually, Midland States Bank launched the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship and hired original CEO instructor Craig Lindvahl in an effort to expand CEO throughout the nation. The program will grow again in the coming school year, including locally where there will be two classes and 40 students.

While CEO students are schooled in marketing techniques, profit and loss statements, and interacting with adults, some of the products developed are the results of the students' own experiences. One example is Sydney Thomas of Jacksonville, a member of the Morgan-Scott CEO. Her business, "Snippets of Bliss", specializes in creating sugar scrubs for your hands, feet and face. Asked where she came up with the product, Sydney said it is her mom's recipe, a combination of sugar scrubs to serve as exfoliants and coconut oil to moisturize. As to the price for her product, Sydney admitted she had to adjust it due to the cost of the jars she uses to package her product. She said, "they're expensive", so had to make sure the cost was covered in the retail price.

Each of the CEO students have similar stories, including one exhibit from Minnesota, who had to figure out how to bring their large display to Effingham. The eventual decision was to drive rather than fly. It's typical of the choices the students have to make on an almost-daily basis.

Meanwhile, there were already comments last night that it will be tough to house next year's Trade Show because of the ever-expanding network of entrepreneurs, but, it's a nice problem to have.