Mentors Coach Students to Mind Businesses
When he grows up, Solomon Goodman wants to have his own clothing line. Goodman, a seventh-grader at Hedgepeth Williams Elementary School in Trenton, envisions his line featuring suits, as well as casual wear. Because of a program at Rider University, the budding entrepreneur is off to a good start.
On Saturday, April 5, Goodman and his peers were selling their wares – graphic tees and snacks – at their booth “Snap, Snacks n’ T’z” at Rider’s 12th annual Minding Our Business (M.O.B.) Market Fair. A record number of 2,000 youngsters, college students and community members came out to the carnival-like event held at the Patton J. Hill Elementary School in Trenton. Because the program doubled in size from last year, the fair was able to attract more people.
“This year, as opposed to years past, we had high activity throughout the day,” said Dr. Sigfredo Hernandez, associate professor of Marketing and M.O.B.’s founder.
Goodman said his business’s asking price for the T-shirts, which featured the silhouette of businesspeople headed to work, was $10 or two for $17. Their projected goal of total sales was $100.
“We have people working the floor,” he added.
Goodman’s associates were not the only ones hoping to make a quick and lofty profit. Dozens of elementary- and middle-school students held up goods, business cards and advertisements hoping to catch the eyes of potential buyers. They smiled and called out witty slogans. At the booths, some stood with notepads and pens in hand, while others tried to entice passers-by to buy their goods, such as “Grandma’s Cookies” or bottled “Fabulous Water.”
The Market Fair is the culmination of a semester-long course, CBA-220 Minding Our Business, offered at Rider. This year, 60 college-aged mentors participated, including 52 from Rider. Mentors meet with the younger students once a week, and act as guides as the younger students learn a variety of business skills, from marketing and communications to sales techniques and product inventory. The Market Fair gives the young entrepreneurs an opportunity to put their business plan to the test in a festival-like atmosphere.
Trenton resident Daina Richardson, who has four children who attend Patton J. Hill Elementary School, attended the fair with her mother Janie D. Garcia. Two of Richardson’s children, a 14-year-old son and a 12-year-old daughter, participated in the M.O.B. program.
“I believe M.O.B. is a program that is totally valuable,” said Richardson as she stood next to the “Money Shakers” booth with a fresh smoothie in hand. “It inspires the children. It shows them they have the ability to work for themselves. It teaches them responsibility.”
While the young students benefit, so do the mentors, who call the program a rewarding learning experience. At the “Candy Carnival” booth, Shavon Simmons, a senior Human Resources major, said she joined the program because she enjoys helping children and hopes to start or run a business someday.
“I felt if I could take my passion and help these students then they would benefit as well as myself,” said Simmons, who worked with students from Rivera Elementary School.
The program teaches students business skills and gives them a better outlook on life, she said. Meanwhile, the program taught Simmons valuable communication skills and allowed her to discover a passion for event planning.
While some mentors said it took time to break barriers and relate to the students, for Pedro Figueron, a junior Marketing major, it was a little bit easier.
“I came from the same situation as these kids,” said Figueron, who grew up in Jersey City.
This year was his second year in the program. The program not only shows students how to start and run their businesses effectively, but it also “encourages students to go to college and make something of themselves,” explained Figueron.
M.O.B. is a community outreach program organized by the College of Business Administration that seeks to advance the personal and vocational development of Trenton youth through entrepreneurship education and mentoring. The program has expanded to The College of New Jersey’s Bonner Scholars Program. Currently, Hernandez is working to design a similar M.O.B. program with a partnership between Rutgers University-Camden and Leap Academy, a model urban K-12 school. Hernandez said the program will continue to grow in scope, and in the fall he’ll look to expand the program to other urban institutions.
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