The Douglas County CEO Board of Directors will be hosting the Douglas County Trade Show on Wednesday, April 25 from 5 – 7 pm at Yoder’s in Arthur. At this event, the first class of high school seniors that were part of the Douglas County CEO class this year will be displaying and presenting on the businesses they have developed as part of this course. Arcola will have three seniors taking part in the trade show: Sam Dickinson, Verania Garza and Madysen Melton. The Arcola High School Graphics Arts class recently created designs to advertise for the event and Mason Myers’ design was chosen to be used to advertise for the event.
“CEO” stands for Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities. It is a year-long, experientially learning based course, designed to utilize partnerships in our community to provide an overview of business processes and development.
Throughout the program year, students have visited local businesses, heard from guest speakers, participated in operating a class business, wrote a business plan, and, from concept to reality, built their own legal, functioning entity. There were twelve students from the communities of Arthur, Tuscola, Arcola and Villa Grove that participated in this year’s CEO course. Ultimately, this program has guided each team member through starting and running their own functioning business, all while cultivating essential skills and an expansive, long-lasting network of community members and business owners.
Just like any other trade show, individuals attending the shows will have the opportunity to buy products, sign up for services and book appointment times with the owners at each booth. Everyone is welcome to come and see the amazing work from these special seniors on April 25th.