Junior Achievement of the Michigan Great Lakes (JAMGL) cut the ribbon Dec. 1 on several mini businesses participating in its Tom Fox Family JA BizTown program, a simulated business community allowing area students to apply, interview and step into roles at sponsored models of area businesses. “It’s all about introducing kids to different careers that they might not be familiar with,” said Clare Shubert, capstone director for JAMGL. The JA BizTown program helps fifth and sixth grade students learn financial literacy and work/career readiness in a mini business town featuring real local businesses represented by small storefronts. The program involves 12 in-classroom sessions that lead up to a day working a “job” in the simulated BizTown, where students learn how to operate a bank, manage a restaurant, oversee health care systems and more. Each business students run in JA BizTown is sponsored by a real, local business or organization. JAMGL was joined by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce to cut the ribbon on several finished storefronts in the town, which is located at the Huizenga Family JA Free Enterprise Center, 4090 Lake Drive SE. Perrigo, BISSELL, Chick-fil-A, Lake Michigan Credit Union, Gordon Food Service, Corewell Health Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital and Independent Bank all cut ribbons on their mini business storefronts, which are expected to see their first students in spring 2023. Shubert said she is excited to see the program get on its feet, as it has been several years in the making. The JA BizTown program will be one of several new programs coming to JAMGL, alongside a planned finance park for students in grades eight through 12, which will teach skills like personal and family budgeting in a shopping mall-type environment. “Junior Achievement of the Michigan Great Lakes is getting ready to roll out brand new programs that are a little bit different from the traditional JA that people think of,” she said. A typical JA program involves a volunteer teaching students in the classroom, but BizTown will take students from their desks to a real environment. Prior to attending BizTown, students learn about banking, STEM careers and basic principles of economics, how to write checks, fill out job applications and explore business pricing, revenue, profit and advertising. Students are allowed to choose three businesses at BizTown that interest them, fill out applications and are hired into one of the locations by a teacher. “They’ll work together with their colleagues or their team to do things to prepare (such as) make their cost sheets, figure out how much it’s going to cost to pay all of the employees (and) utility bills and apply for their business license from City Hall,” Shubert said. “That amount is what they will apply for a loan for when they come (to BizTown) on the day. When they get here, they already know where they’re working, what their job is, who they’re going to be working with and then they will run their business for the day. “Inside each storefront there will be an adult volunteer. Most of the time for JA BizTown, that’s going to be a family member, (or someone) that came from the school.” Throughout the course of the four-and-a-half-hour “workday” students run businesses alongside volunteers and receive paychecks, make bank transactions and go shopping at other BizTown businesses. The students’ goal is to pay off their business loan by the end of the workday. According to JA, after the BizTown program, students will be able to: “It’s really all about career readiness,” Shubert said. “‘Adulting’ for the day, but really learning how individuals and businesses interact and form a thriving, successful community.” The storefronts are designed by the businesses that sponsor them, allowing local businesses to get hands-on to create an enjoyable, immersive experience that teaches students what they need to know about the company. Shubert said she has been enjoying watching the mini-town spring up and seeing the creativity that goes into each location. “At BISSELL, you walk in and you feel like you’re in a little retail space,” she said. “They took one of their robotics vacuum cleaners (and) made it basically into like a remote-control car and then built this maze for kids to drive it through and created a (sort of) video game out of it. It’s so fun. And kids who are super into robotics are going to learn that (they can) pursue a love of robotics and also work for this company that’s been in Grand Rapids for over a hundred years. “They also brought in the BISSELL Pet Foundation as part of their experience. So, one student will be the director of that foundation and collect charitable donations and present a giant check to the animal shelter at the end of the day. Donors really can drive with this experience, to introduce careers and different businesses.” Currently, JAMGL BizTown still has storefronts and sponsorships available for businesses interested in joining the project. The JAMGL’s Tom Fox Family BizTown is the only BizTown program in Michigan. According to Shubert, JAMGL covers 50 counties, including 55,000 students from Grand Rapids to Lansing and Kalamazoo to Traverse City, making the program accessible to a wide range of students that she hopes will be positively impacted by their experience. “It’s just such an impactful program,” Shubert said. “When we all think back on experiences we had as students, it is always the experiential ones that last. For kids to come really be a grownup for a day, it’s just a great learning experience.” This story can be found in the Dec. 12 issue of the Grand Rapids Business Journal. To get more stories like this delivered to your mailbox, subscribe here.
