40th Annual Entrepreneurship and Economic Program Launches

6/26/2017

The 40th Annual Cochrane Summer Economic Institute (CSEI) launched this morning in the Sharp Academic Commons at Collegiate School. The intensive four-week community outreach program provides 27 area high school students with the opportunity to learn about the economy and entrepreneurship.

CSEI is administered by Collegiate and funded by the Powell Economic Education Foundation. Corporate sponsors and private donors make contributions to the Powell Economic Education Foundation in support of the annual program.

Schools represented, in addition to Collegiate, include Appomattox Regional Governor’s School, Clover Hill High School, Deep Run High School, Huguenot High School, Maggie Walker Governor’s School, Mills E. Godwin High School, St. Catherine’s School, St. Christopher’s School, The Steward School and Trinity Episcopal School.

“CSEI challenges students to actively participate in the business community by serving as consultants, interacting with business leaders and working collaboratively with peers,” said Trina Clemans, CSEI director and Collegiate’s Director of Economic and Entrepreneurship Education. “It's an opportunity for rising seniors to apply classroom learning and get a jumpstart on developing business soft skills most often learned in the workplace.”

During the next four weeks, these students from 16 schools will take part in a series of workshops facilitated by Collegiate faculty and by local business leaders, who will share case studies and real-world lessons from their careers.

The students, who receive a $500 stipend, also will participate in team-building exercises to strengthen the skills necessary for today’s careers, and will spend time immersing themselves in the work environments and opportunities for growth faced by seven organizations. The 2017 partner organizations include Childsavers, Ginger Juice, Impact Makers, Indivior, Richmond Kickers, Royall & Co. and World Pediatric Project.

Today’s program kickoff included a welcome luncheon for this year’s participants and for area students who previously participated in CSEI.

Caroline Matawaran, a St. Catherine’s School student who worked with Impact Makers when she attended the program last year, says participating in CSEI was the best decision she made in high school.

“There is no other internship I found in Richmond where you do work like this,” she said. “The companies actually want your input. It really made me want to pursue a business career.”

Pinson Neal, another program alum who attended Culver Academies, worked for Indivior last summer. He says CSEI expanded his connections and helped him grow.

“Coming into the program, I didn’t know too many people,” he said. “It increased my confidence, which is important in business. You need confidence to network with people.”

Click here for more information about CSEI.

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