SCC CAPS
Global Business Entrepreneurship
August - September Newsletter
The Global Business Entrepreneurship (GBE) strand of St. Charles County CAPS is off to a great start. The associates have a great opportunity to meet at Stauder Technologies and the St. Charles Economic Development Center in one of the conference rooms. GBE has 42 student associates enrolled in the program and 3 of the associates are returning from last year. The program is driven by professional skills, guest speakers, site visits, client projects, and passion projects.
EDC St. Charles
AM CAPS Associates at Stauder Technologies
PM CAPS Associates at Stauder Technologies
Professional Skills Boot Camp
Every year of SCC CAPS starts with a Professional Skills Boot Camp. In the GBE strand, associates are taught the art and science of doing business. Professional skills (soft-skills) is an art and it starts with a good hand shake (see video). After learning how to shake hands associates learned how to give a good elevator speech and share them every time they have guest speakers. One of the common themes associates hear from business partners is the importance of networking. Nina DeAngelo from the O'Fallon Chamber of Commerce held a Networking 101 workshop the first week of CAPS. The associates have had the opportunity to practice these networking skills at three different Chamber events so far.
In addition to the soft skills, associates learned the importance of their social media presence and how to personally brand themselves. Associates spent time cleaning up their social media posts, because they have been told their future employee will search them online. Associates also learned the importance of creating a good resume, cover letter, and practiced interview skills in order to secure their unpaid internship next semester.
The Top 10 Bad Business Handshakes
Sunflower Hill Farm
One art of doing business is business and dinner etiquette. Karen is the owner of Sunflower Hill Farm in Defiance, Missouri and she taught us the importance of manners and some history of diner etiquette.
Dan Vincent with Kale Coaching
Dan is an important business partner with the SCC CAPS program. This summer, associates took the Clifton Strengths Assessment to discover their signature strengths. Dan led a cross-strand workshop for associates to learn more about their strengths and how to apply them to their life.
Paul Westover with Search Ingenuity
Associates participated in a resume workshop with Paul Westover with Search Ingenuity. Paul taught the associates how to prepare, organize, and script a resume to help them secure an interview.
Tina Asher with Build U Up
All the associates did a mock interview video and turned it into their instructor. What they didn't know was Tina Asher watched the videos and came in the next day for a interview workshop. Associates learned interview skills, what to do before and after the interview, and how to dress.
Lean 6 Sigma Certification
This year associates had a huge opportunity to receive White Belt Certification for Lean 6 Sigma Process Improvement. Staff from Edward Jones led the interactive workshop and associates were able to add the certification to their Linkedin profile after completion.
Susan Sams with Sams Carpet Cleaning
Susan Sams is another key business partner for the CAPS program. In addition to being a successful entrepreneur, she is on the SCC CAPS Board of Directors. Susan is a living example of how to personally brand yourself on social media and she shared her expertise with the CAPS Associates.
Client Projects
For the first few weeks of SCC CAPS, the associates focused most of their time on professional skills. These skills gave them the tools to start their Client Project. Every Associate is in a team and working with real businesses or non-profit organizations and providing professional services for them. For example one group is working with Permian Plastics and helping them redesign their employee orientation process and manual. Their first step for this project was to act as "undercover" new employees and participate their current orientation training. They will use this feedback and experience to help develop a new and creative process. Make sure to ask your child what Client Project they are working on and what goals they have for the project. Stay tuned to the next GBE Newsletter and Associates will give an update on their Client Project.
Guest Speakers and Site Visits
Utopia Entertainment
Joey Goone the owner of Utopia Entertainment spoke with the PM class. He was inspirational and motivated the associates to "find your different."
O'Fallon Chamber of Commerce
The AM class had the opportunity to network with the O'Fallon Chamber of Commerce and some associates may have secured an internship.
Permian Plastics
The AM and PM class had a site visit at Permian Plastics and learned about the plastic injection molding business.
Guest Speaker Request
One of the key components of the SCC CAPS program is guest speakers. The goal is to have one or two guests a week to talk about entrepreneurship or their industry. Many of the guest speakers help the associates understand an industry and help with career exploration. If you are interested in speaker with our associates or you know someone who might provide some insight to their industry, please signup for a time on our Calendar Invite by clicking here.
Global Business Entrepreneurship Instructor, Dan Tripp and Technology Solutions Instructor, John Omoresemi were asked to participate in the Lake St. Louis Meadows Mall RetailNEXT contest. Dan and John served as mentors and judges this summer to hear different business plans for entrepreneurs that wanted to open a shop at the Meadows. After several rounds, the finalists gave their final pitch to a live audience under the watch tower. The GBE associates were encouraged to attend and several of them saw examples that will help prepare them for their pitch competition at the end of the year.
Event Information
Parent Conferences
Parents,
Associate led parent conferences are October 9-10th at Lewis and Clark Career Center.
When?
Wednesday, Oct 9, 2019, 04:00 PM
Where?
Lewis and Clark Career Center, Zumbehl Road, Saint Charles, MO, USA
Global Business Entrepreneurship
Email: dan.tripp@scccaps.org
Website: www.scccaps.org
Phone: 636-364-8646
Twitter: @CapsGlobal