Three NPAS students, senior Meredith Mayer, and juniors Isaiah Podratz and Connor Seeland, were selected to attend Rotary Camp Enterprise in early November, a camp that focuses on developing the next generation of business leaders. This three-day camp for high school juniors and seniors from Minnesota and Wisconsin is designed to introduce students to the free enterprise system and encourage entrepreneurship and ethical business practices.
To attend, the students applied to the New Prague Rotary Club, who fully sponsored their camp experience.
Some of the Camp Enterprise activities included:
- Team-building activities
- Leadership development
- Motivational presentations from business leaders
- Discussions on ethical business practices
- Writing a business plan
- Pitching a business concept to a panel of venture capitalists
- Negotiating the terms of an investment
- Networking with business professionals and students from other schools
At the core of Camp Enterprise is an in-depth case study exercise. Students are placed on teams and assigned a case study containing a set of basic facts and financial information for a hypothetical product or innovation. Each team is tasked with developing a product concept, brand, marketing strategy, and terms of investment. The culmination of Camp Enterprise involves each team making a “pitch” to a panel of venture capitalists regarding a potential investment in their company.
Mayer’s team won first place in the competition. She served as Chief People Officer for her team and had to clearly explain their recruitment and retention plans, benefits program and all the staffing costs for their business. Connor and Isaiah served as legal in-house general counsel for their teams.
Mayer credits her experience in the MARS Business Class as one of the reasons for her team’s success. “Camp Enterprise was a great experience to further the business skills I learned in the MARS class last year. The case study was basically a condensed version of the MARS Shark Tank project. Building on the skills I learned through that, I was able to help my team present a very strong business case to the Venture Capitalists.” Her team was awarded a hypothetical $5 million investment prize.
Thank you to the New Prague Rotary Club for sponsoring this valuable and formidable experience for our students!
