More than a dozen local high school students, including one of Binghamton's own, have just finished up a program with Broome Tioga BOCES which gained them firsthand business experience, as well as the opportunity to donate thousands of dollars to local charities.
On January 11, Binghamton High School senior Paige Kopolow and thirteen other local students from the Broome Tioga BOCES New Visions Business Academy gave a presentation at the Koffman Southern Tier Incubator about their Junior Achievement company they started.
As part of the program, the students developed their own startup company called VenturePrize. The company developed two products to sell. The first was the Greater Binghamton Puzzle, a puzzle consisting of pictures taken around Broome County. The second product sold was an eight-pack of note cards that feature pictures of downtown Binghamton. Breaking out into multiple teams, the group had a direct hand in bringing their products to life – from conceptualization, to the creation, marketing, and sale of the products to the masses.
Paige Kopolow was part of the company’s financial team. Much of the process in the early life of the company was learning different systems for financial recordkeeping. However, the finance team also had plenty of input in actually determining which products were to be sold. The group as a whole originally had about 20 ideas for products, but many had to be set aside because the financial teams’ cost analysis determined the product would not be the most profitable solution.
Once the products to be made and sold were determined, much of the duties consisted of purchasing materials that would be used for production and keeping track of the money made from sales.
In just under three months of operation, VenturePrize generated $5,917.42 in net income. At the January 11 presentation, the group donated $4,500 to five local charities – Food Bank of the Southern Tier, Mental Health Association of the Southern Tier, Binghamton Rescue Mission, Showers of Hope/Outreach Ministries, and A Room To Heal. The donation is the culmination of tireless work and dedication from these young, bright minds.
"The opportunity to work in the marketing department for VenturePrize was an invaluable experience, one that taught us a number of lessons that we would otherwise be without," the VenturePrize final business report reads.
The New Visions Business Academy is a program run by Broome Tioga BOCES that gets students real-world experience in the business sector through working with local businesses and industry partners.