DECA students have ideas for Downtown

I had the opportunity to judge some fantastic business projects at the Cheboygan High School (CHS). Select students from Brent Richard’s marketing and business classes were gearing up for the State DECA competition in Dearborn.   The DECA program helps students to develop skills for successful business careers, build self–esteem, experience leadership and practice community service.

I have to tell you, these students are fabulous. They have worked very hard all year to develop their business plan, research the feasability of the business venture, and develop the business.

As I sit and listen to the students’ presentations, I can’t help wearing my Downtown Cheboygan hat. There always seems to be at least one student who has his or her eyes set on Downtown Cheboygan as the potential location for their business. After their presentations, I remark that these “make believe” businesses could actually work in Downtown Cheboygan.
The following two students are examples of businesses that would fit in the Downtown Cheboygan community:

Ben Slater is a junior at CHS and he presented a plan for a gaming store. This seems like a perfect fit for Downtown Cheboygan – especially because Ben was planning on placing the store near the movie theatre and comic book store. Genius! The product that he wants to sell actually fits in with the neighboring businesses so they can cross sell to one another. What a great idea.

Tyson Eustice is a senior and his entrepreneurship endeavor included building a Hockey/Sports Store. Tyson has many years under his belt as a hockey player so his practical knowledge of the sport helped him with his planning. He knew how many skates, hockey sticks, helmets, and pads he had to sell to make this business viable. It begs the question, why isn’t there a store like this in Cheboygan? We have the ice pavilion which houses six months of hockey and ice skating events, not to mention the various hockey tournaments. The pavilion is used regularly during the fall and winter months. Now there is a plan to build an outdoor ice rink in the Woolworth building location. It seems as though now is the time to develop a business like this.

Hats off to all of the Cheboygan High School DECA students!  You are our future!