Website header
OBW News
A quarterly publication of the Ohio Business Week Foundation
August 2007 - Vol 1, Issue 1
In This Issue
Sign Up
Greetings!

Thanks to all the students, parents, volunteers and sponsors who helped make Ohio Business Week 2007 such an overwhelming success! We are thrilled to have touched the lives of 255 students this year, and we look forward to your continued support as we prepare for OBW 2008.

OBW 2007 Participants
This summer, 255 high school students from 109 cities across Ohio and even one student from Michigan converged on the campuses of Ohio Dominican University (ODU) and Youngstown State University (YSU) for Ohio Business Week 2007.

"At OBW I had many new experiences that forced me to step out of my comfort zone and learn by doing and experiencing rather than merely watching and listening," said Makeda Williams, a junior at Tree of Life Christian High School. "Being at OBW made me feel happy and important."

Cindy Bathalter
Traditions make OBW memorable for students and their company advisors (CAs). One of the OBW traditions that teaches a lesson and gets the students excited is the "I Goofed" tie.

Anyone who has ever volunteered their time as a CA has worn this tie. The tie's purpose is to show the students that mistakes are inevitable and the best way to deal with a mistake is to learn from it and to keep improving yourself.

Nikki Edwards
The Ohio Business Week Foundation is pleased to announce the appointment of Development Coordinator Nikki Edwards.

Edwards previously worked for the Jazz Arts Group as the public relations and marketing manager. As development coordinator for OBWF, Edwards will be raising funds, implementing public relations and marketing activities, recruiting participants and volunteers, and assisting with program planning and execution.

Facebook
Ohio Business Week (OBW) is constantly looking for new ways to spread the word about the program. In the fall of 2006, Jenna Schumacher, former public relations specialist for OBW, created an OBW group on Facebook. Facebook is a social networking Web site focused towards young adults, including high school students. There are now 110 members including volunteers, staff and alumni.
EEP Competition winners from YSU
At OBW, students learn the role higher education plays in helping them to reach their potential.

"Our university partners play a key role in showing students how important it is to experience college life and to earn a degree," said Executive Director Nancy Whetstone. "I'm very grateful that our partners have added the extra incentive of offering generous scholarships to OBW graduates."
Congratulations to OBW 2004 graduate Ariana Young. Young was a finalist for the 2007 National Foundation of Independent Businesses (NFIB) Young Entrepreneur Awards.

A senior at Bishop Hartley High School, she will receive a $1,000 scholarship from NFIB's Young Entrepreneur Foundation. Ariana won the YE award for operating an electronic document filing service for a small local bookkeeping company.
Zach Zbinden, winner of JB Hamlin Best All-Around Student Award
Scots Miracle-Gro, National City and Battelle acknowledge the hard work and achievement of outstanding OBW students.

The 2007 awards go to Noelle Andres, Heather Messer, Arus Glover, Arabia Littlejohn, Makeda Williams and Nicholas Stallard.
EEP Competition winners at ODU
The 2007 Emerging Entrepreneur Project Competition awarded Company E at Ohio Dominican University for their "Thermama Teddy." Youngstown State University's Company E also won an award for their "Handy Dandy" magnetic glove.
Roy Passarelli with award
Roy Passarelli, president and owner of Vital Record Storage, and Paulette Thoms, senior manager, collections at GE - Americas, were the first recipients of the Ron Nischwitz Volunteer of the Year Award (named after the founder of OBW) at Ohio Business Week (OBW) 2007.

The award honors OBW volunteers who have served at least five years, demonstrate a thorough understanding of the history of OBW, are actively engaged in promoting OBW year-round, contribute ideas that impact the program's success, go the extra mile for the Foundation, and are nominated by another OBW volunteer or trustee.
Congratulations to the three outstanding individuals nominated to serve on the 2007-2008 Managing Board of Trustees: Dr. Curtis Colleton, Battelle; Jenna Schumacher, National Kidney Foundation; Kernesa Snyder, Compuware.
Company Advisors at YSU
More than 90 percent of Ohio Business Week program activities are carried out by volunteers. We would like to recognize the individuals who have given the most valuable gift of all to the students of OBW 2007 -- their time.

Ohio Business Week Foundation
Real World Experience. Life Changing Results.

Sincerely,


Nancy Whetstone
Ohio Business Week Foundation

Email Marketing by