For the City Times

Nearly 50 of the best and brightest student “CEOs” in Portage and Wood County will be competing in the Annual Junior Achievement Business Challenge on Wednesday, April 13^th, 2016, sponsored by Sentry Insurance of Stevens Point, Wisconsin. Sixteen teams of local students from area high schools will be participating in this year’s event held at Renaissance Learning, Wisconsin Rapids.

Students are paired with volunteer business mentors from the community to test their knowledge at running a virtual business through a hands-on computer simulated business strategy tournament which utilizes JA Titan.  Teams will make their own business decisions regarding price, production, marketing, capital investment, charitable giving and research and development.

“The Junior Achievement Business Challenge provides a great opportunity to inspire students’ creativity, test their leadership skills and demonstrate the competitive nature of the free enterprise system,” said Serena Sblendorio, Director of Junior Achievement in Portage and Wood Counties.

The top performing team will earn $500 for each member in scholarships to MidState Technical College and will advance to the Junior Achievement of Wisconsin Business Challenge Championship on Thursday, April 28, 2016 hosted and sponsored by Acuity in Sheboygan, Wisconsin.