Mr. Bevis is a man who seems to have done it all. I plan on contacting him about pharmaceutical sales.  I love to sell things, travel, and help people. So what better way than to sell medicine. Mr. Bevis had a lot of wonderful advice when it came to being an employee or having our own businesses. I have heard it a lot throughout the year, but for some reason when he talked about attitude, it hit me in a different way--almost more believable. He really knows a lot about business!  What a way to end the year!!

05/11/2017

Mrs. Meyer is an amazing person! She is so loving, caring, sweet, and understanding. I have no idea how she handles all the things she does!  I love that she goes way out of her way to help children. I think it's great that after children get an exam they go home with a goodie bag with toys, crayons, coloring sheets, and even a blanket. She doesn't do that because it's required. She does that out of the kindness from her heart. Mrs. Meyer has done great things for this community and I really hope that she doesn't stop!

05/08/2017

I was very interested in Mr. Penrod and his duck “business”. It was amazing to hear that he has some extremely rare ducks! Even to the point the Smithsonian has given him ducks! That is amazing!! Right here in Union County. That has to be history in the making for sure! I wish that Mr. Schaefer would have started out with the story of his crew going down to clean up after Katrina. The stories were awful, but it definitely showed us how he is a very helpful person! What an interesting visit!

05/03/2017

Dyno Nobel was so neat! Not everyone can say that they have been to a place where they make reactors for dynamite! I really wish we could have toured more. We spent most of the morning on safety which I understand. It was so informative. There are a lot of good people who work there. I loved how their loud speaker codes were song based. It was so funny to hear the Star Wars song playing when they needed more of something. They have a really good system set up with whiteboards so they can keep track of all the information and quality of the work place along with quality of their products.

04/25/2017

Mr. Miller has done an amazing job managing Coad. He has built a great relationship with all of his workers and his customers. He is a very personable man and that works great for him. He does a good job at providing great service to his customers as well as a great environment to his employees. I was honestly surprised to hear that there wasn't more vandalism or people who try and steal. I really appreciate Mr. Miller giving us his space for our home base.

04/17/2017

The trade show workshop day was truly amazing! I met another girl my age who was doing the same thing for a business. I did not think of her as a threat whatsoever. We even sat down together and “picked each other's brains”. She gave me some wonderful advice on labeling my products, and I gave her advice on how to package her product and marketing. I loved hearing from the Dippin’ Dots founder. My favorite part of the day was the tour at SIU. I had already taken 3 tours prior to that, but this tour was different--almost like it had more meaning. Our tour guide Cece was so much fun. I love SIU and all it offers to the community. I am so so so excited for the trade show!

04/04/2017

The presentation at the Kiwanis meeting went really well and not only did we get to inform them about CEO, they informed us about the Kiwanis group. I really enjoyed mingling among the group and helping fill Easter eggs. I have a new appreciation for the Easter egg hunt at the Anna Park because now I see all the work and effort that goes into it. They had to fill something like 127 dozen eggs with candy! That’s over a thousand eggs. I only filled about 30 or so, but while I was filling them I felt very connected with the group. I love being involved with my community and helping with events like that.

03/30/2017

I was so fascinated with Mr. Penninger’s fish farm! Each of his two ponds holds 4.3 million gallons of water, and he gets 10,000 4 inch fish to stock it. Something Mr. Penninger said that really stuck with me was, “Plan out everything a week ahead.” On top of a fish farm Mr. Penninger also has an asphalt business. With his trucks he can lay down 300 tons of asphalt an hour! That’s a whole lot of road! I was amazed when Mr. Penninger said, “I’ve done everything from $500 dollar jobs to $500,000 jobs. Mr. Penninger has really done an amazing job from taking his late father’s company and really making it big. I would be a very proud father. One last thing that will I will always remember from Mr. Penninger is “No risk, no reward.”

03/27/2017

I am so excited for the trade show! I am even practicing setting up my booth. My inventory is growing to the point it's filling up my bedroom and I'm totally okay with that. So far I've made $98 that may not seem like a lot, but it is to me! I'm very excited to see what the future holds for me.

03/24/2017

Loan request day was simply amazing! I'm so happy that I got more money than I was asking for! I'm now even more confident in my business thanks to them. I'm excited to say I've bought my business cards and more essential oils! I'm so excited to go today and buy everything in bulk.

03/16/2017

I feel like Mr. Hawk gave us a lot of useful information for our lives. I’ve come to learn that in CEO you do not just learn how to open and run your own business, but you learn a lot of useful advice for your life. Mr. Hawk shared some pieces of his life that I never knew about him. Mr. Hawk has a lot of life experience, and I think that has shaped him to be the person he is. I feel like Mr. Hawk will be a great resource for me.

03/07/2017

Something that really wowed me is that Mr. Lyn Crabtree of Masters Choice isn’t just trying to sell corn, he is trying to change the corn industry! I had never thought of a business not only selling a product but changing the whole basis of the industry. Right here in Union County, a company with 5 facilities, and a whole lot of knowledge about corn is changing the way a billion-dollar industry works. Mr. Crabtree and his team have come up with a floury type of corn used to feed cattle. His corn has been proven to be better for cows than other corn produced.

Something that really stuck with me is when he said, “Everyone in this community is willing and ready to help you.” I really needed to hear that. Thank you, Mr. Crabtree, for letting us use your building as a home base and giving us your wonderful knowledge!

03/03/2017

Mr. Peter Dirks, owner of Whiffleboys Pizza, has a lot of useful advice. Something that really stuck with me is when he said, “Everything is a prediction in life.” That really helped me understand that not everything is set in stone, not everything is the end of the world. Because in all reality everything is just a prediction. That isn't just going to help with my business but in my life in general. I believe now that success is putting effort, time, money and your heart into anything and everything you do. I really enjoyed the visit to Whiffleboys, and I will be back but this time for pizza!

03/01/2017

Mrs. Candy Eastwood was really helpful! She is going to be an excellent resource for me. One website that she showed us that I have used a lot since she showed us is FactFinder.gov. This website gives you the ability to type in any county and get just about any kind of information. It shows things like the population, how many are over 16, how many are over 75, how many households have children under 3 years old. This website has it all! But what is really helpful to me is that it breaks it down even more into how much money people spend on beauty and bath products a year. That gives me the ability to put the information in my business plan to prove that people are buying what I'm selling. Another website Mrs. Eastwood showed us would be helpful to a business trying to find a building. The website gives you the ability to type in any county and even zoom down into the roads to show how many cars drive on that road a day! I really appreciate the time and all the resources Mrs. Eastwood gave to us.

02/17/2017

Wednesday was the best day in CEO so far! On our way up I was excited but nervous about meeting other kids my age in CEO. Once I got there I mingled with probably 50 students and 25 adults. It was such a great experience to talk to other kids about their business plans, and I learned a lot of great advice. One piece of advice I got was from Katy from the Effingham County CEO and she said, “Don't stress over the little things, there are so many people in your community that will help you!” That was amazing to me! I had a sudden realization that there are DOZENS of business owners in my community who would be willing to help me. I feel like now because of CEO I can go into any place we've been to and get the help I need. I really enjoyed when Mr. Howes was the speaker because he was so interactive with the crowd and when I got to take the mic and talk I was overwhelmed with joy. Mr. Bill Ecker made the night even better when he threw snowballs at Jessa or when Mrs. Bailey put snow on Erin and blamed the boys for it. It was truly the best experience so far. I love CEO!

02/07/2017

The visit with Mrs. Kim Emery at Anna Baking Company was extraordinary! I have never had so much fun on a visit before. Ms. Emery not only had so much knowledge and skill as to what she was doing but she was kind enough to share her knowledge with us. I really enjoyed seeing the system Mrs. Emery had on taking orders from her customers. When Ms. Emery pulled out the cupcakes and icing for us I was ecstatic! I was so excited that she made that just for us. Even though I was not good at decorating my cupcake, it still tasted amazing. I think Anna Baking Company is going to do very well.

01/30/2017

Union County Hospital is truly an amazing hospital for our small towns. Mr. Jim Farris did a wonderful job at answering all my questions and showing how much the hospital has improved recently. For example, Union County Hospital is heart attack and stroke certified. That is not only hard to accomplish, but once it is accomplished it's a great way to prove that the hospital is a great one. He is working to change the whole perception of how people see the hospital.. One of the hospital’s job is more to stabilize the patient and send them off to where they need to be. Also, they have this great program called “swing beds” where patients who are recovering from hip surgery, for example, are able to stay just a little bit longer to get extensive physical therapy so they can go home. Mr. Farris has done an outstanding job as CEO, and he is a great fit for Union County Hospital.

01/24/2017

The CEO team has volunteered to help decorate and help at the Union County Chamber of Commerce’s second annual Gala Ball,Saturday, January 28. This year it is a masquerade ball. Mrs. Bonni Littleton came to speak to our class on Tuesday about what we were going to help with. Some of the students will be greeting at the door, checking people in, selling raffle tickets, and assisting anyone in need. I personally am extremely excited for the Gala! I really enjoy planning events in my community and helping decorate and run the event.

01/18/2017

I really appreciate that Mrs. Lasley gave us advice on our business plans. Now that I've heard about 4 speakers say, “Don’t have too much fluff in your business plan”, I think that I should really listen to that. I thought it was quite interesting that A-J National Bank has so many loan officers and could even do a $4 million loan! Practically everyone on the second floor was a loan officer of some sort. Having a lot of loan officers makes me think that people come in all the time for loans.   I think that it is a good thing that Mrs. Lofton and Mrs. Lasley when approving loans don’t look at the person but rather their plan. I feel like because of CEO I can come to Mrs. Lofton or Mrs. Lasley for anything concerning my business plan or my finances.

01/09/2017

I think my favorite part of the visit was talking to Mr. Stokes about all the different types they sell. Mr. Stokes said that if you need anything he can order it. I also learned that Mr. Stokes will go to any project of yours to measure things and give you a rough estimate on price. He also will look at blueprints and tell you a rough estimate of how much it will cost to build your home. I enjoy that Mr. Stokes also doesn't charge any delivery fee and will also haul away any old appliances for you.

01/05/2017

We met with Mr. Farris who is the CEO of the hospital and learned a little history on the building along with taking a tour. I have so many questions to ask Mr. Farris when he talks to us again. There are so many things that I never realized had to happen for the hospital to be up to date. For example, why do they need a sprinkler system in the water physical therapy room? My favorite part of the tour was seeing so many people in their uniforms looking very determined and ready to give their patients the best care. I enjoy the hospital being our home base especially since we get hot chocolate every morning!

01/03/2017

I don't know a whole lot about farming things. However, to my surprise our visit to Southern FS was so interesting! I was shocked when he said that they make $1.2 million a year just off retail sales, not including bulk fuel. I love seeing business people having such a connection with the people of the community. Several men come in every morning and have coffee and just talk about everything.  One thing I learned from this visit is that when a sign says “dressed rabbits”, it's not a live rabbit in clothes

12/14/2016

I was surprised when Samantha Smith said that her personal business did not require a loan nor did she plan to make money for the first few months. Her “money” was the followers she gained from her fashion blog. I really enjoyed how honest Ms. Smith was when she said, “Making your business isn't going to be easy, but it's definitely going to be worth it.”

12/12/2016

I never would have thought that on Monday morning at Shawnee Community College in Anna I would be playing a game like an escape room, that Mr. Rob Lucas, Educational Technology Specialist at Shawnee College, set up. It was so fun! We had to figure out patterns, search all over a room, research things, and even crawl under the table to get a folder that was taped underneath. It was all fun and games, but I learned some very valuable lessons. I really think that is what CEO is about, having fun but learning things that you can take with you for the rest of your life. I learned from the game that no matter what, without teamwork and coming together to solve a problem, it's going to be significantly harder to figure it out.

12/05/2016

Mr. Nimmo is my favorite speaker! He really understands how to speak to kids our age in a way that we can understand. We did an activity on negotiation. He gave some really good advice when it comes to business. He brought up an article that he read on what hiring places look for in college graduates, the most important being “be able to communicate”. They didn’t mean by text or email they meant by talking to one another and really being able to make conversations. Mr. Nimmo is truly an amazing speaker and I cannot wait to hear him speak to us again!

11/30/2016

I never would have guessed that Kiki's coffee shop's name originated from Mrs. Bryan's nickname that her nieces and nephews gave her. I was truly surprised by how she, along with many others, was laid off from her brain rehabilitation job in January and opened a coffee shop in April. She had no prior knowledge on how to make coffee let alone espressos, lattes, smoothies and so much more! She learned how to make all of these items on youtube!  That is just truly amazing. I really admire that instead of going and buying all new appliances and starting off in debt, they slowly built up money so they could buy off of ebay and craigslist. The Kiki’s Coffee Shop was a great visit! I really enjoy going in as often as I can smelling the fresh coffee, seeing Mrs. Bryan and Mr. Hornbeak, and petting the dogs while I wait for my hot cocoa.

11/18/2016

Union County Abstract was a very interesting business visit. I really enjoyed learning all kinds of new things from Mrs. Holderfield.. I was astounded by how many different artifacts they had such as land deeds, house closings, and big record books of who bought what land all the way back to 1808! That is just so incredible to me! It was amazing to see how they wrote out land deeds in 1847 compared to 2017. Let’s just say it’s definitely a lot easier to read when it’s made in recent years, but it’s still neat to look at. A strength that business has is family, it’s all been family run for 3 generations.

11/15/2016

On Wednesday, we met Mr.Frick at Tri-State RV. Mr. Frick is a very business savvy man. He has really figured out how to be successful. I thought it was interesting how Mr. Frick has no college experience, yet he is very smart. Yes, that shows that you don't always have to go to college, but I think it's still a good idea. I really like that Mr. Frick isn't just trying to build a great business with his people, he's trying to build a business family. I find that very honorable. We got to see inside of one of the toy haulers and oh, my, those were amazing. They had heated couches, big beds, flat screen tv's, full size fridge and much more! They were only $80,000 which is a lot of money, but they normally go for $110,000. Mr. Frick has not only figured out how to save his customers money but himself money as well. I really enjoyed this business visit.

11/10/2016

On Tuesday, we had our “Meet the Mentors” breakfast. I was very nervous about meeting my mentor. I learned out she was a very sweet woman who I’m excited to meet with again. Mrs.Nash-Swink works at the Union County Hospital and deals a lot with marketing. I feel as if that is going to help me when it comes time for my personal business. I’m excited, nervous, and ready to start my business, but I know that Mrs.Nash-Swink is going to be a wonderful help.

11/01/2016

I really enjoyed the slide show Mr. Simonds brought for us about the past, present, and future of The Simonds Group. Beck Simonds said, “No job is too big or too small for E.T. Simonds”. To me that says a lot about a company. I also really enjoyed seeing him talk about his children, I think it’s nice when busy business men and women still make time for their family. That shows a real skill of balance between work and home.

My absolute favorite part of this week was going to the Anna Quarry. Upon arriving to the quarry I was bombarded with loud sounding trucks, big forklifts and lots of dirt. Never in my wildest dreams would I imagine that at 7:45am I would be sitting talking to Mr.Pyatt one of the owners of the quarry! I learned so many things about the quarry. I learned that the first original site of the quarry is 450 feet deep but now it's filled with water to help their sand and clay productions. We got to go down inside the pit, see a rock crusher in action, watch rock being moved on a conveyor belt all throughout the site and even stand on a ledge and look down 350 feet! I found out that the Anna Quarry works with big companies but they also let people like you and me get a truck bed full of rocks.

I am so thankful for all of the people who have given time, money, energy, planning and taking this program off the ground so I am able to go back to school and encourage other kids to join by saying “Guess what I did today in CEO.” This program really is a once and a lifetime experience.

10/27/2016

On Friday, we went to Collinsville, Illinois. We went to what was called CEO Empowerment Day. Our main speaker was Mr. Peter Maer who was born and raised in Granite City. Mr. Maer has always been into journalism and he was a White House Correspondent. He worked personally with Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush, Barack Obama, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton, and Richard Nixon. To me that is so amazing. He talked about so many people including John Lewis, John McCain, Senator Bob Dole, and Hank Aaron. One quote that stuck with me out of all of those people was by John Lewis who said, “Believe in the possibility of positive change.” One other quote that stuck with me was what Mr. Maer said, “Have thick skin.”

I had so much fun on our trip to Collinsville and St. Louis. It was not only educational, but fun as well. I am very thankful for all the people who donated money, time and a vehicle for us to go.

10/21/2016

Mr. Jeff Flamm uses a very interesting program called H2A. This program is where he takes visiting workers from different countries and pays for their travel, housing, and food. They also get visas to work for Mr. Flamm for a set amount of time. I think that this is good, but at the same time is kind of disappointing that he has to resort to outside resources because there are not enough locally. Mr. Flamm also showed a lot of perseverance. He talked about how in 2007 they lost all of their crops in a hard freeze. Yet they still managed to come back and make profit from other means. Mr. Flamm is a very hard-working man, and I really admire that. I also learned a lot of random facts such as… apples can sunburn, apple trees are good for 25 years, peach trees take 5 to 6 years for full production and more. I really enjoyed the apple bread at the end.

10/13/2016

My favorite part was probably when Mrs. Fick talked about vision. Before I thought vision meant just what you see, but Mrs. Fick defines vision as where do you see yourself in the future, who do you see yourself as, who do you want to be. I think now I am more focused on my future. We did an exercise on where we saw ourselves in 5, 10, and 20 years. Although, no one can really guarantee where we will be in that time, we can make decisions now that will help us be where we want to be.

10/06/2016

Our first business visit was with Mrs.Boone at the US Bank in Cobden. When I walked into the bank I was preparing myself for a long boring visit. However, I was incredibly mistaken! Mrs. Boone had breakfast set out for us, activities lined up, and even a big poster board on the day's lesson. We started off by talking about credit, how it can be good, bad, and what affects it. Something that is definitely going to stick with me from the visit at US Bank is that Mrs. Boone said “Be careful with your credit, it can make you or break you.”

09/26/2016

We talked about and debated on our T-shirt designs, prices and businesses we are going to ask for marketing. I really enjoy spending time with my team.  But what I really enjoyed about the second day was our “toast” activity. It really showed me that even when doing the same thing we all try and get to the “endpoint” a different way… yet we still are doing the same thing. It really shows you what kind of person someone is when you watch and see their thought process.

09/22/2016

Mrs. Cupp not only gave us business advice, but she also gave us life advice. I enjoyed so much seeing the Cashflow board game she brought. It really put into perspective how sometime you can get into a circle. By circle I mean going round and round doing the same thing. Getting out of the circle is important to improve. Mrs. Cupp also talked about groups that she goes to and visits with. I think that I would really enjoy going to a meeting of Toastmasters, an educational organization that operates clubs worldwide for the purpose of helping members improve their communication, public speaking, and leadership skills.

09/21/2016

I really enjoy our team meeting days because it gives us time to work on things that we need to get done.  For example, Team SHIRTS!!!  I am so happy to say that we finally agreed on the shirts.  It was so exciting and relieving when we got the message of our first ad purchase!  I am so proud of our team.  We've been working so hard and everything is finally coming together.   09/16/2016

Mr. Cain is a very “get to the point” man. He told us about how he lost so much business when the geese stopped migrating here. A quote that Mr. Cain said his father told him that really stuck with me was “If you don’t grow,  you go”.  My favorite part was riding in the duckmobile and seeing all the work Mr. Cain has put into his land.

08/30/2016

At our CEO visit to the Union County Fair, I was shocked to realize how much work is actually put into making the fair happen. I enjoyed hearing Mr. Meisenheimer talk about all the different fees they had to pay making me want to come and spent more money than I normally do to help them out. I know that my $15 for the armbands or my $7 for nachos won’t count much, but it’s more than nothing. I feel as if I appreciate what they do a lot more now.

08/24/2016