Pennsylvania Business Week 2024 began at Corry on Friday, April 5, continuing to Tuesday, April 9 through the following Friday, April 12.

Pennsylvania Business Week was developed back in 1997 by the Manufacturer and Business Association in conjunction with Ft. Leboeuf High School. In 1999 the MBA turned the program over to ACES which has continued to run business week ever since.

Business Week is designed to allow teams of students to manage companies for a school week. This week teaches students how to manage finances, advertise, market, and work together to run a successful company. Throughout the week there are five different competitions: Advertising, Stockholders, Trade Show, RONA and Top Company. Points are given after each competition, and at the end of the week a team is announced the winners. Every member of the winning team receives a $100 bill as well as a bag of goods.

There are approximately 15 students in each group, every group has a teacher who volunteered to be an advisor and one or two local business people who volunteered as well.

As a junior, my personal experience with Business Week was very good. Overall, I enjoyed the week, although it was a lot of work and at times very stressful. Personally, I enjoy working in the sort of environment that comes with Business Week. I had a lot of fun with the competitions. My favorite was the Trade Show, which is an optional event that takes place after school. I really liked this because we got to try and sell our product to actual people, which was very fun and I loved answering everyone’s questions. My second favorite part was doing our commercial in front of our classmates. It was a very fun way to end the week.

I am very thankful I got to participate this past week, and I cannot wait to see the upcoming junior class do the same thing this time next year.