Students with high school companies preparing for Junior Achievement expo

Edd Pritchard, The Repository
·4 min read
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Students with 13 companies will be participating next week in the 2022 Junior Achievement Entrepreneurship Challenge & Expo, better known as the JA Expo.

The day-long event April 21 celebrates the work and entrepreneurial initiative shown by students participating in Junior Achievement.

JA Expo: Students-operated companies from five area high schools will participate next week.

Over the past several months student-operated companies have developed and started selling products. Since December, several of the companies have been selling their products at the Hartville MarketPlace.

Seth Coblentz, general manager of Hartville MarketPlace, is a Junior Achievement classroom volunteer at Lake High School. He said he's been impressed with the energy and effort students put into the program.

"You can tell their passion in how hard they work to succeed," he said.

Junior Achievement's company program allows students to participate in hands-on experimental learning opportunities where the start and manage their own companies, said Lori McCleese, president of JA of North Center Ohio. The program supplements high school business courses.

“It’s truly amazing to watch students grow more confident, sharpen professional skills, and tackle real issues related to running a business,” McCleese said.

JA Expo is at Kent State University Stark campus in Jackson Township. Participating students attend Jackson, Lake, GlenOak and Hoover high schools in Stark County, and Cloverleaf High School in Medina County.

Judges are reviewing annual reports produced by each company, and they will hear a business presentation from the companies next week. A separate group of judges will evaluate work on trade show booths the companies will set up at the expo.

First, second and third place awards will be presented, as well as awards for innovation, financial performance and other categories.

Several of the companies already have a competitive edge after making presentations last month in the Stark Tank program through Strengthening Stark.

InnoVistics, a company from North Canton Hoover, won the Stark Tank competition for high school teams, while companies from Jackson — Desert Pouch and Cordinator — finished second and third, respectively.

Junior Achievement of North Central Ohio covers 16 counties, including Stark and Summit. It's one of eight JA groups in the state, forming in 2019 when the Canton and Akron programs combined.

Downtown Massillon honors members

The Downtown Massillon Association thanked members for their service with the resumption of the awards breakfast held on Friday.

The breakfast was paired with with the association's annual meeting, and was the last of organization's annual events to resume following the coronavirus pandemic.

Holly Bryan-Huth, current president, noted the past year saw the association resume its annual events, including Fun Fest with the Massillon Museum and Massillon Cable, the Community Pep Rally to kick off the Massillon Tigers football season and Santa's Cottage and Light Up for the Christmas holidays.

Bryan-Huth, who represents Blue NIle Dental Lab, noted that the association has reviewed its strategic planning and developed a new mission statement this year.

Awards were presented to:

  • Outstanding service to Jerry Martin, of St. John's UCC Massillon and Chapel Hill Retirement Community, and Mark Villono, of the Massillon Public Library, for leading the holiday lights committee;

  • Outstanding effort to Bob McVay, of Array Inc., for his wokr helping over the past year and for providing new ideas; and,

  • Distinguished service to Phil Elum of Elum Properties for his work with Massillon Main Street.

The association also recognized its past presidents, Barb Schumacher, of A.A. Hammersmith Insurance, who led in 2019 and 2020, and Scot Phillips, of the Massillon Museum, who served last year.

Bryan-Huth praised Kathy Shultz, of Farmers Bank, who organized the event at the Massillon Museum following the two-year hiatus. Massillon Mayor Kathy Catazaro-Perry and Canal Fulton Mayor Joe Schultz also participated.

New vehicle sales decline

Limited inventories are translating into lower new car sales, according to numbers collected by Greater Cleveland Automobile Dealers Association.

Northern Ohio car dealers reported selling 19,034 new vehicles in March, compared with 23,671 in the same month or 2021, a drop of 19.6%. Through the first three months, new vehicle sales have fallen 17.8%, as dealerships reported selling 50,082 units compared with 60,942 last year.

Louis A. Vitantonio, the association's president, blamed the decline on limited inventories. “You can’t sell what you don’t have on the ground," Vitantonio said in a press release. He said more customers have begun ordering vehicles through dealerships.

This article originally appeared on The Repository: High school companies preparing for Junior Achievement competition