Limited spots remain for students who wish to compete at BEP Summer Business Camp Presented by State Farm, scheduled for 8 a.m.-3 p.m. weekdays July 15-26. The camp will be hosted by Middle Tennessee State University's College of Education on campus at the Center for Educational Media.
Students who attend this tuition-free, two-week summer day camp will have the benefit of meeting and working with volunteers from the Rutherford County business community. The camp provides students with the opportunity to explore business as a career option and to understand how the world of business works.
During camp, students are placed into teams; each team then creates a hypothetical business for the competition. Each team must choose someone to fulfill the following roles: CEO, CFO, Vice President of Marketing, Vice President of Sales, and Vice President of Human Resources. Volunteers who serve in similar roles in our business community assist students in developing their business ideas, writing business plans, developing marketing strategies and financial plans, and creating presentations of their work for the final competition. On the final day of the camp, teams present their business plans to a panel of volunteer judges, who will then decide whether to fund the businesses. Although no actual money is awarded for the students’ hypothetical businesses, all members of the winning team receive laptops as their prizes.
"State Farm is proud to sponsor the 2019 Summer Business Camp. Our mission at State Farm is to help people manage the risks of everyday life, recover from the unexpected and realize their dreams. Through our support of this camp we hope to help students realize their dreams of future career and business success. It’s important to help middle school students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills which will help them throughout their lives," State Farm Public Affairs Specialist Judy McConkey said.
Regardless of whether the students receive the prize for having the best business plan, the robust learning experiences they gain through the camp open their eyes to the world of business and enable them to attain knowledge and skills that many adults do not possess. They have the distinct advantage of understanding financial statements and basic accounting, marketing strategy, creative and critical thinking, and public speaking.
Camp participants enter high school with the ability to work in groups, understand and fulfill work responsibilities, develop positive work habits and behaviors, understand the basics of the business world, think creatively and critically to solve problems, interact with successful adult leaders, speak to large groups, and to think on their feet as they support and defend their plans to competition judges.
Rising seventh and eighth grade students from Rutherford County are eligible to apply for the camp; however, camp space is very limited. Applications are available at rutherfordbep.org/business-camp.
The Business Education Partnership (BEP) Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization formed in 1988 with the help of the Rutherford County Chamber of Commerce. The BEP states as its mission: "To foster interest in and to promote and support programs in public schools of the City of Murfreesboro and Rutherford County that will prepare students for the business world."
To learn more about the Business Education Partnership Foundation and its programs for students, teachers, and guidance counselors, call Amelia Bozeman at (615) 278-2008, or email abozeman@rutherfordchamber.org.