by Scout Van Cise, editor-in-chief
The week of April 23 – 27, Saegertown sophomores competed against each other in the annual Pennsylvania Business Week competition. Organized by Americans for the Competitive Enterprise System, Inc. (ACES), Business Week allows for sophomores to compete in six teams against each other for five days in categories such as marketing, advertising, and finances to simulate a real business the students are operating. At the end of the week, the teams do presentations to a panel of judges who choose category winners as well as an overall top company. Mrs. Nicole Keller’s group was victorious in the competition, headed by CEO Oliver Smith and CFO Sam Shelenberger.
Smith’s company, called Power Sound Corporation, sold a product called Gemini Speakers. The company advertised their speakers as being touch screen, bluetooth, rechargeable, and capable of splitting in half to provide surround-sound.
While Smith was unable to attend the award ceremony in person, he witnessed his victory via FaceTime. Shelenberger was there: “It was very satisfying. We put a lot of hard work into what we did. It was a nice sigh of relief to know that we did well,” Shelenberger said. “It provided me with a lot of information on how to run a successful business, so if that is something that I choose to do in my future it will help me with that.”
Power Sound Corporation owes the success of its company to the togetherness of their team. “I think the strongest asset of the company was the cooperative teamwork. Everyone pulled their own weight,” Smith said.