Kids learn about running own business

Ten-year-old Andre Booker got his first look at the Junior Achievement program that shows kids how to run a business. Eighteen-year-old Andrew Seal has finished four years of actually running a JA business that earned a profit each year.

Andre Booker

Andre of Chesterfield and Andrew of St. Peters represent each end of the age spectrum of kids in Junior Achievement of Mississippi Valley, Inc. The JA program has something about the economy and business for kids from elementary grades through high school.

JA gives kids both a broad view of the U.S. free-enterprise system and the specifics of running their own local company.

Andrew Seal

Andrew is a 2005 graduate of DeSmet High School and is heading to Truman State University this fall. Most of his JA experience was during after-school hours. That's when kids met to design, make, market and sell elaborate Christmas ornaments.

And they had to "keep clean books" to determine whether their company made money.

With some pride, Andrew said, "We made a profit each of the four years."

For Andre, his JA experience involved a field trip to the organization's new headquarters building in Chesterfield. Their field trip centered on a tour of the Enterprise Village.

That exhibition hall included store fronts for 18 public and private enterprises and told how they interacted with each other to make a whole community. The village had it's own retail stores, TV station, newspaper and even a city hall.

In future years, Andre will tour the JA Finance Park. That's an exhibit that shows how the money makes the economy work, from retail sales to investment in new businesses.

JA also has in-school classes, with different subjects for various age groups.

Andre said, "I want to learn how to be a CEO (chief executive officer) of my own business." He plans to be more involved in JA at Parkway Central Middle School.

But, he's already served as a spokesperson for JA. He told of his first-year experiences at a Global Business Hall of Fame banquet and auction of business leaders last April. He also appeared at the Junior Achievement Golf Classic in June.

But, what he's looking for most is experience in starting and running his own JA firm.

Andrew got into his first JA company when he was a freshman at DeSmet High School. The first group of kids decided to design, manufacture, market and sell "glow balls."

"Since our company started in the fall semester, that gave us a chance to sell the large 'glow balls' as Christmas ornaments," he said.

In both his sophomore and junior years, the kids formed new companies. But, they decided to stay with the "glow balls" as their product.

Although each company earned a profit, the third-year company, Up and Coming, Inc., had the highest earnings. And that happened even though the company switched presidents and made an unsuccessful try at a Halloween "brand extension."

'The guy elected as president didn't know much about business. We elected a new president after the first week," Andrew said.

Also, the company thought they could develop a second selling season by coming out with a Halloween "glow ball." But, he said, "The purple and orange balls didn't sell like the red, green, blue and white Christmas balls."

"We just took out the purple and orange bulbs and made more Christmas balls," he said.

Andrew credited the higher profit in the third year to a new and larger sales staff.

The result was not only higher profits for the company but the individual workers got bigger payments as their share of year-ending earnings.

"The salespersons got bigger commissions but other workers got bigger year-ending payments," he said. That year, the company earned a 2nd place finish among all JA companies in the metro St. Louis area.

In Andrew's 4th year in high school, he switched to a different JA company. This company met in Chesterfield and most of the other kids were first-year JA students.

"Since I had had experience, they named me president," he said. The company decided to stay with the "glow ball" product. About the end-of-year results, Andrew said, "We weren't among the top companies but we did well and ended up profitable."

He said what the first-year kids lacked in experience, they made up in enthusiasm and drive. "We had a lot of dynamic people," he said.

If you'd like to learn more about JA in St. Louis, visit www.jastl.org. Also, you can read an earlier JA story on Young Saint Louis.com but clicking on Past Stories and go to the June, 2002, edition.