By MARK NEWMAN Courier staff writer
March 07, 2008 11:35 pm
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SIGOURNEY — It’s one thing for students to get something right on a test. But it can be especially rewarding to get things right when money is on the line.
Business students from Sigourney Junior/Senior High School have developed plans in class. And with the grand opening of the eSigourney Entrepreneurial Academy for Leadership [eSEAL], every participating student gets a computer, an office and the support of a mentor.
“Our goal is for all of these to become profitable businesses,” said adult advisor and business teacher Shannon Svenby.
Though only in the idea stage now, Sigourney High School student Matt Christner was getting a lot of attention from the adults visiting the open house Friday.
His Frost Company was not, he said, selling ice. His professional-looking brochure said “Archiving: That’s the job.”
The idea came about when he was told in business class he needed an idea for a company. He had heard people complaining they had paper documents they wish they could access more easily via computer.
His business plan is that he’ll scan those old paper records and turn them into computer files. That way, as companies move from having everything in filing cabinets to having everything on their “desktop,” Christner could help them transition.
“It’s a good idea,” said Angie Alderson, a visitor to the open house.
She said her office has records going back over a century. She’s the Sigourney city clerk.
In her office, though all new records are computerized, there aren’t enough hours or workers to put old records online. And while independent companies have contacted her about transferring records into a computer file for her, those established businesses have one major flaw: They want the records sent to them.
“I’m not letting those minutes out of the office,” she told the student. “I can’t. But would you come to our office?”
Sure, said Christner; he could bring his scanner and copy one document after another. But getting the business going may take some time.
“Nobody’s going to trust their documents to someone without a degree,” he told the Courier. “I plan on majoring in management information systems [in college].”
So right now, he’s developing the plan until he can actually learn “how to make [documents] more secure.”
Near Christner’s cubicle are nine other offices in the district’s incubator building, located on the Sigourney square’s south side. So far, a total of eight are taken.
“We’re six months ahead of schedule,” said Superintendent Todd Abrahamson. “This wasn’t scheduled to open until this fall.”
He and his staff had to do a little creative thinking of their own to get the center up and running.
“I’m always looking for ways to find more money for our kids,” said Abrahamson. “This was actually charter school money from the federal government we applied for through the state.”
Isn’t charter school a concept that makes some school officials nervous?
“Well, you’ll notice I haven’t used that phrase around here,” he said before adding, “but this is a school within a school.”
The grant was $400,000, all of which was used to get the facility up and running.
Svenby said students are in different stages of development, from planning to implementation.
“Some of the students will actually be running their business out of here,” Svenby said.
Not only does that space on the Sigourney square provide room for the young business leaders, it really is a business.
“We wanted a storefront,” said Svenby, who opens the center five days a week. “You’re not in class; you’re going to the office.”
And that’s where they learn, she said, by actually doing what they studied in school.
For example, one student has an eBay business, listing items for people who want their item sold on the auction site. Customers can actually bring their knick-knack to the office.
Next door to Christner’s archiving startup is “Crouse Creek Quail, Eryn Utterback, owner.” Her business is at an advanced stage of development. She’s already acquired some baby quail at home.
Utterback will raise and sell them. There’s a shortage in Iowa, she said, and her business could help relieve that shortage. But who would buy wildlife?
“Around this area, hunters can use them for their scent to help train their dogs,” she said.
So she’ll sell each bird in May for $3.50. Whichever birds she does not sell will be released into the wild, starting on her family’s property.
“If we let 40 go at a time, in a food plot with cover, you’re guaranteed at least half of them will survive,” she said. “In this area, there are people who want to let them go on their own land.”
She was explaining the concept to Dawn Bowlus from the University of Iowa, which consulted on the Sigourney entrepreneurial project.
“This is the first incubator I know of for high school students in the state of Iowa,” said Bowlus, director of the Jacobson Institute for Youth Entrepreneurship through the U of I’s college of business.
She said the unique project can expose all Sigourney students to the entrepreneurial concept, while allowing those who are most interested to go to the next level.
“Our biggest goal is to get adults and students working together, so if you know someone who wants to start a business, send them our way,” said Abrahamson. “Our ultimate goal: a business that employs 10 to 15 people, and to keep business right here in southeast Iowa.”
Mark Newman can be reached at 683-5358 or by e-mail at mgnewman@mchsi.com.
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