The annual Southwestern Michigan College Educational Talent Search Camp, which teams with Michigan State University, raised over $1,000 for charity from the products made by the business and marketing students taking part in the camp.
A collaboration between a Southwestern Michigan College Educational Talent Search and a Michigan State University Extension has allowed for 22 budding entrepreneurs to be introduced to the principles of business in a four-day camp that took place between August 7 and 11.
Six teams worked together to develop products that they then marketed in front of the David C. Briegel Building on Southwestern Michigan College’s Dowagiac campus. The proceeds of the projects, which totaled $1,037, were donated to a local non-profit animal rescue called Hidden Acres.
Of the products, the first to sell out were Gaea’s Elegant Plants and Posts, hand painted posts inspired by the deific personification of the Earth from ancient Greek mythology.
The other products on offer were Homemade Hugs tie blankets, Colorful Tote Quotes, Beautiful Beads, Dream Beads, Barbenheimer Bird Houses and Feeders, and K&M Door Decor.
Dowagiac’s Mya Vazquez worked on the Homemade Hugs blanket project. Her goal is to one day become a veterinarian, but is skilled in tie blanket creation. She also recently endured high temperatures in turnout gear fighting fires at ETS Public Safety Camp, which she also completed back in 2021.
During the camp, those taking part were able to talk to Edwardsburg teen Jayla Noland, who started her own business, Cakes by Jayla, at age 13.
She was quoted in an article posted on Southwestern Michgian’s College’s website about her business, saying, “When I was younger, my mom used to make me and my siblings special birthday cakes. One year, for my brother’s birthday, I decided to help and found I actually enjoyed it, so I started doing it for all our family birthdays. A family friend asked if I could make her a cake and she would pay me. We put it on social media where lots of people saw it. I started taking it more seriously and began to invest money I made into purchasing tools and supplies to brand myself.”
Deb Barrett, who serves Southwestern Michigan College as Senior Extension Educator, led a business simulation and facilitated a Real Colors workshop, which is a test that helps identify four different personality types by color: green, yellow, blue, and red.
The campers also learned about logo creation to brand their businesses, tri-fold brochures, business cards, and signage of multiple sizes and types.
Campers participated in a mock scenario where each member of the six teams was given a $200 severance package that they were tasked with using to start new franchises, partnerships, or corporations.
The participants used index cards that cost $20 of the $200 severance money, which were then labeled with business plan terms and then stacked to make a tower. The game also included risk cards that could either help or hurt the players, who were also allowed to buy six inches of blue tape for $20 as well.
As the players worked on their products, ETS Director Bethani Eichel noted, “The majority of people will be adults, so do you want things with SpongeBob or Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on them? Probably not, if you want them to sell. Know your target market. Most (buyers) will be your families or staff here on campus.”
The next day, campers made their way downtown to observe Baker’s Rhapsody, and the farmers market, where Baker’s Rhapsody made its start, before moving to a brick and mortar location.
Later, Associate Professor of Business Andrew Churchill led a lesson on marketing using a banana slicer and peanut butter.
“Marketers identify needs and provide solutions. Sometimes they amplify those needs. If a product doesn’t meet someone’s need in some way, nobody will buy it,” said Churchill.
He also talked about the broad range of possibilities when it comes to marketing, saying, “With social media like TikTok, YouTube, Facebook and Snapchat, you are the product. Your attention is sold to advertisers, who have an incentive to keep you looking at your phone.”
Churchill also brought up the four Ps of marketing: place, promotion, price, and product. These fundamentals allow marketers to know how to get their products to customers, like the farmers market does.
In his lesson, he looked at two brands of peanut butter: Justin’s, which costs $5.79/16 ounces, and Skippy, which costs only $2.99/16 ounces. He noted that Justin’s contains no sugar which aims for older, health conscious, and more affluent buyers, while Skippy’s colorful packaging appeals to families with children.
The next day, students worked on fine tuning their product pitches, and then met with MSU Product Center’s Katje Armentrout over Zoom.
Armentrout provides education about food safety regulations and start-up business practices, even though she does not have a background in business.
She originally used her art degree to work as a painter, before following her passion for food and working to earn her doctorate from Purdue, where she researched farm markets in Traverse City, Midland, and Detroit. Armentrout now serves as a product innovation counselor and community food systems educator.
She works in the University of Michigan’s backyard at her District 12 Extension office in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
She talked about what she does for a living, saying, “I work one-on-one with specialty food entrepreneurs. As well as farmers and value-added producers.” For instance, a jalapeno pepper grower who hopes to market hot sauce.
Product Center serves as a network of resources and was started in 2004. It helps clients navigate the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development’s licensing process.
The organization also hosts the annual Making It In Michigan trade show that attracts over 150 specialty food venders to the state’s capital.
Last year, the Product Center was able to serve nearly 700 clients with over 3,000 counseling sessions and managed $30,085,124 in capital formation.
More information about Southwestern Michigan College can be found at the school’s website.