The tradeshow was a huge success. The turnout was great and it was neat to see how many community members were in attendance to support our program. I think the show was much more successful this year because there were more businesses and they were all very sustainable. The room looked very full this year, and I think it was neat to walk around and see so much hard work pay off. 

I always enjoy working on our exit interviews because it is nice to reflect on the year. This program has given so much to me so I hope I can eventually come back to this area and become an investor. This program teaches life lessons that will be vital to our future success. I honestly think this class sets us all up for college and prepares us for anything that we may encounter along the way. I will forever be indebted to this program for the opportunities that I was given.

05/05/2018

The visit to Homestead Lumber with Mr. Schwartz was very insightful. He is a true example of giving back to the community. I know he tries to get involved as often as he can, and I think that is very inspiring. I want to follow down a similar path when I start my own business in the future. The information about how the tariff causes an increase in price was very interesting. It is weird to think that our daily lives could be impacted by something like that. The other thing that I took away from the visit was how important it is to build a good support team. Having good employees is vital to a company.

04/28/2018

Hearing from Martin Accounting & Tax Service about how successful you can be in a small town should really appeal to all of us. There are a lot of opportunities here in Hancock County for all of us to come back to after college. The one thing that stood out to me during the visit was how they ran their business on honor. Mr. Schafer said he is always honest. Sometimes his honesty makes the customer unhappy but it always pays off in the end.

04/21/2018

Our last mentor morning went really well. This year was very successful. I think meeting during CEO worked out the best. That way both the student and mentor were able to actually
meet and not have any conflicts. I think that the students got so much more out of the time with their mentor this year than in the past years. I believe that the entire aspect of having a
professional to draw from is one of the neatest things about the CEO program. I know I will continue my relationships with my mentors for years to come.

Baby Bliss and Rural Bliss were great visits. It was the first retail only store that we had been to, so it was awesome to hear how the process works. I didn’t know that you could buy clothes for a store on Facebook. I really took away how vital marketing is for any company. It is so crucial to get the word out about your company. Baby Bliss was really neat. It was a very well-organized place. I can see how the target market would be grandmas. They are always looking to buy stuff for their grandkids. Rural Bliss looks so much nicer in the new building. They really utilized the extra space nicely. Another thing that was interesting to learn was that they do many online shipments. It is awesome that they are getting their business out into the nation, rather than being strictly a small community business. I can also see the need for other restaurants and coffee shops to make Carthage a destination for outside people. Hopefully we can bring those extra businesses here so someday this can be the place everyone wants to come.

Ten Acres Treehouses was another great visit. It is so neat to hear how he started. It all started from a zip line and watching tree house masters. I think that is how a majority of businesses start, just by random thoughts. It still blows my mind how neat and well-decorated the bigger treehouse is. It is almost nicer than a hotel room. I still want to go and stay a weekend there. One thing that really stood out to me was how almost all of his customers were from big cities looking to get away for a while. It really makes sense.

04/14/2018

Mrs. Wetzel was a very interesting speaker. She seems to have a lot on her plate every single year with all of the events that she puts on. It is pretty remarkable to hear how much organizing she does for the hospital. She knew a lot about time management and that is something that each one of us should take away and use for our personal business.

Royal was another great visit. Mr. Asbury is a great guy. I am so thankful that he has printed my business cards the past two years. The size of business that he has established is amazing.The quote that really stuck out to me that he shared was, “it is not as important to know the destination as it is to be headed in the right direction." You can tell that Mr. Asbury and his son both have a true passion for what they do each day.

Carthage Suites with Mr. Rye was a very neat visit. I had no idea that the business existed. I had heard about it last year at the Chamber dinner but I didn’t know where the suites were located. It is absolutely astounding to see the end product compared to the other room next door. The finished product is incredible. The quality is top notch and even better than your typical hotel room. I would definitely recommend the place to anyone coming to Carthage from out of town looking for a place to stay.

I am really looking forward to the end of the year and the tradeshow. We have had a very successful year and I think the program is truly headed in the right direction. There seems to be an increase in awareness for the program each year.

04/06/2018

Mr. Talley made the visit to Case interesting for us. It is very neat to see how many processes go into making one machine. The assembly line that they have going there fascinates me. The thing that stuck out to me the most was the electronic storage system. That is extremely cool. I don’t remember that from last year. For that whole storage area to be computerized has to save a ton of time. Tuesday was neat because we got to hear how a big corporation can be related to us. Mr. Talley did an awesome job of tying everything together. I liked how he made the connection of each group within a big business is like an individual small business. I think sometimes walking through a huge building can overwhelm people, but the follow up day was very helpful to digest all of the information. I like that the visit and guest speaker were back to back days so everything from the visit was still fresh in our heads. The backhoe that we were able to play with was very neat and a lot of fun. I think it’s awesome that Mr. Talley built that. 

03/31/2018

Monday was very productive. I am a huge goal oriented individual. I truly believe that if you set a goal, you are more likely to achieve it. Action steps are very important for each goal
because it gives you a direction to start. If you just write down a goal with no plan to achieve it then it will be hard to obtain that goal. CEO has really helped me with setting goals. I now know the correct process to go through when planning out what I want to accomplish. I believe that I will be able to take the lessons and skills that I have learned through this course and apply them to my future business.

Mr. Figge is a very knowledgeable guy. The visit to the Athletic Center was a lot of fun. It was interesting to hear how he started with a surveying job in Florida to owning the Athletic
Center in Keokuk, Iowa. I have known Mr. Figge for a very long time but I had no idea about his background. When he was talking about maintaining inventory I could understand how that would be difficult. You want to make sure you have things that people need when they come in but not too much on the shelf. Mr. Figge said to always be equal with your employees and to treat them appropriately. He said that ties right in to quality customer service. I think that if you treat your workers well that they will treat customers well. The other thing I didn’t know was that Mr. Figge was the 3rd owner. It is very cool to see a sports business like the Athletic Center maintain business for that long.

You could really tell how much passion the owner of Annie’s Frozen Custard has for her company. I really like how she decorated the inside of her building. Everything fit the theme of homemade so to speak. She was very highly regarded by her peers. The Apron was a very neat business. I had no idea that it was there in Nauvoo. The inside was super nice. I loved listening to the story on how the owner didn’t know what she wanted to do but eventually followed her true passion. The success story that she told about having health issues and then just going after her dream was very inspiring. The Nauvoo tourism center was interesting to learn about. Sharon seems like she has a true love for the city of Nauvoo. She seemed like she was a true entrepreneur at heart. It will be interesting to see the progress that the center makes in the next few years.

Mr. Zumwalt was a great visit. I feel that we covered a lot of information and learned a lot of business strategies that we can utilize with our businesses. I like how Mr. Zumwalt runs his
farm. The fact that it is family owned makes it a very interesting operation. It would be neat to run a business with your entire family. It would be vitally important; however, to keep everyone equally involved. Getting to hear from a seeds salesman, farmer, and an elevator manager was a huge advantage. They were each a wealth of knowledge in their respective fields. The one thing that really hit home with me was to not fear rejection. If you fear rejection, especially in the business industry, you will struggle tremendously. 

03/24/2018

Banker day went really well. Each banker gave us great feedback on our businesses. The opportunity that we have to get in front of actual bankers and go through the process of presenting our plan is amazing. There are many adults who have never went through something like we did on Wednesday. Regardless if we ask for money, the knowledge that we gain from the experience is well worth the work. I hope that everyone took as much as they possibly could from their meetings.

Mr. Dickinson has a very interesting business. The things that he does with his company is over my head, but it all sounds absolutely amazing. I can’t believe how advanced technology is in the agriculture industry. The fact that combines drive themselves just blows my mind. Mr. Dickinson had a very good presentation for us. It was really cool to listen to him speak on the ownership side of a company. We learned the most important steps for handling employees, which is typically the most difficult task. He taught us how he scaled his company after a few years and how quickly you can expand. The thing that Mr. Dickinson said that really stuck out to me was to keep your financials straight. The record keeping is the most tedious thing in running a company.

The business visits to Wear Drug and Lake Hill Winery were very interesting. Mr. Wear is just a wealth of knowledge when it comes to running a business. He has pretty much done
everything in the business industry. The biggest thing I learned from the visit was to not be afraid of competition. They started their own business and made it their mission to be the best. I love that mentality and I think that is what it takes to be truly successful.

03/17/2018

Trevor shared a lot of valuable information with us on Monday. One of the biggest things I took away from his presentation was try everything you possibly can. He said not to worry about whether or not it’s a good or bad idea, just try it. I think that is true with everything in life. Everything is always changing and you won’t be able to adapt and figure out what actually works if you don’t try new things. Entrepreneurship can be a risky. However, you will never be successful if you don’t get out of your comfort zone and take risks.

03/10/2018

I believe the presentations went really well. I think everyone got a lot of valuable feedback from the board. It was very helpful to have Mr. Wear, Mr. Dickinson, Mr. Parrish, and Mr. Pope there all at the same time. They each offered great information to everyone that presented. Mr. Dickinson and Mr. Wear were able to give advice being that they themselves owned businesses. Mr. Parrish gave great advice from a banker. That helps too since we will be presenting to him here in a few weeks. Mr. Pope deals with all kinds of different businesses, so he has a ton of useful information and experience. I think that everyone did a great job. It was good for each student to be able to verbalize what their idea is.

02/24/2018

The class seemed to learn a lot about insurance. It was a great opportunity for us to share what our ideas are and what we will be starting. Then, Mrs. Boley was able to help us out with what we could possibly need either now or in the foreseeable future.

The recruitment breakfast was a lot of fun. It is really awesome to see the class grow. This class has done so much for me and I think it can do the same for so many others. The elevator pitches were a fun activity to get everyone involved and it gave the CEO students a good start for their business presentations next week.

02/17/2018

WIEC- This was a great business visit. It is really interesting to hear how the whole company is run by a co-op. I didn’t know that they served as many people as they do. Mr. Long and Mrs. Dickinson were very interesting to listen to. It is awesome that Mr. Long has been there for forty years. You can just tell how much knowledge he has by listening to him speak. What really stood out to me was how neat it is that they haven’t changed their five-dollar entry fee to become a member. There is just a ton of history out there at WIEC.

I think the greatest strength of the CEOlympics was the competition. First, it resembled the actual Olympics and it got everyone excited. And second, it was very interactive, so they weren’t just there listening to a speaker.  The highlight of the event, for me, was seeing a packed room. It is awesome to see how much the program continues to evolve each year. I am a huge believe in this class and I believe it is the best class I have ever taken. Having the opportunity to get up and speak to a room full of people was amazing. I am forever grateful for the wonderful opportunities that I’ve had through this class.  I will never forget being able to get up on stage and having the honor to do a speech in front of a crowd of business owners. That prepared me for anything I will ever do in the future.

02/10/2018

Mrs. Johnson shared a lot of useful information with us. One of the biggest things that stood out to me was that you want to make connections with the people that you’re selling to. The connections can be small. For example, if you are from the same town, know the same people, or like the same activities. I think that making that initial connection is key. Once the ice is broken, so to speak, the rest of the conversation typically flows smoothly. Confidence is another key that is very important when selling. If you are confident in the item or service, you are selling it will be much easier to be enthusiastic during the presentation. Knowing the business inside and out also helps build confidence. If you go in knowing exactly what you’re going to say, then it will be much easier to sound convincing.

01/27/2018

Harrisons Monuments was another great visit. I think that the laser is so interesting. The story about how the business was started always intrigues me. I always enjoy going to businesses for the second time because I learn something that really sticks out to me. The part of the monument business that is the most interesting to me is the sand blasting. It is so cool how the designs and lettering are done.

I think it was one of our best weeks of the year. We achieved more this week than we have in the past three weeks combined. 

11/11/2017

Mr. Boyd was extremely insightful. When I listened to him speak I could tell that he was a true businessman. I enjoyed learning about how to figure out an idea for a business plan and how to write a business plan. The biggest thing that stood out to me was that a business plan is just telling the story of your business.

Mrs. Bair was very informative. I loved learning how the CEO of such a big organization manages each employee without necessarily overseeing each person. I liked the quote of, “Leaders eat last.” This is very true because leaders need to take care of the people that take care of them every day by helping their business succeed. The idea that really struck home with me was when Mrs. Bair was talking about how she was told she couldn’t do something so she went out and made it a mission to prove the doubters wrong.

Mr. Probst was a great speaker. He taught way more than just business lessons. Mr. Probst taught us all valuable life lessons. I am so glad that he talked about asking more questions, because I think that I can insert that into my daily life. The only way to learn additional information is to ask questions. I liked how Mr. Probst told us that not knowing what we want to do is okay but we need a plan to figure things out. If we have a plan to figure things out then we will always be on the right path. 

10/21/2017

The Sharpe Real Estate visit was very interesting. I really like hearing from them about what is going on with the house market right now. Mrs. Whitaker put us through an activity that simulated selling a house. We started off selling the house for 100,000 dollars. After we covered all of the expenses that are required when selling a house, we had 52,225 dollars left over. It is crazy to think how much money goes into selling a house when the main goal is to make money, not spend it.

I had no idea what the Farm Bureau was. I found Friday to be very interesting. I didn’t know that the Farm Bureau was a group of farmers serving more or less as a board. I think that it is really neat to hear that Illinois has one of the most powerful Farm Bureaus in the nation. I really learned a lot about what Mrs. Huls does for her job and what she enjoys.

10/14/2017

Martin Sullivan was extremely interesting the second time around. I always love listening to Mr. Murphy give his presentation on financials. I like plugging numbers in and seeing what the outcome profit will be.

Mr. Pope is always an informative speaker. I liked when he said to learn patience and have a plan. After being in this class for two years now, I understand that you must have those two
qualities. I liked Mr. Pope’s quote of “I would rather have a plan and not have to use it, then need a plan and not have one.” It is always better to be prepared then wish you were prepared. I always learn valuable business information when listening to Mr. Pope. I like the idea of his job of bringing in businesses to our community from other communities. I think that our community can use a lot of new businesses that are not here. The last bit of advice that I gathered from Mr. Pope was follow up and follow through. I really think that those two
qualities should be applied to every single business.

09/23/2017