Wednesday, September 27, 2000
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Wednesday, September 27, 2000 |
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Students' trading company still 'Star' of the show By PAT NEWMAN It's business as usual for the executives and employees of Star International. Pending orders, an upcoming board meeting and plans for community projects including a blood drive are just a few of the agenda items addressed by Courtney Cranford, chief executive officer at the morning meeting. Dressed in navy shirts embroidered with the company logo, Star International's team could pass for any group of employees on casual Friday. The only difference is the location of the company's home office, and the average age of its board of directors... 17. Now in its sixth year of operation, Star International is a student-owned and operated business based at Sandy Creek High School. Official hours of operation are between 8:30 and 9:40 a.m., but overtime is not only expected, it's anticipated. The 24 young men and women who run Star International are all seniors. They were hand picked from a field of 60 students to run the company for a year as an integral part of their international business and economics classes, taught by Sandy Creek teacher Dan Smith. Students are selected based on their ability to be "team players," Smith said. He looks for students who are cooperative, honest, hard working and dependable; basically the same characteristics an employer would seek in a prospective employee. In return, the students are given the responsibility of running a trading company that exports goods to their partner school in Ayr, Scotland. The Scots, who run the Tartan Trader Club, send over pewter jewelry, candy and traditional plaid accessories like scarves and hats for sale by Star's enterprising students and receive a varied assortment of products including makeup, pecan candies and novelty items from their American counterparts. The students involved consider it a wonderful opportunity to be involved in Star International. "It's good to meet a lot of local business contacts," said Evan Smola, who co-chairs Star International's capital funds team. The notion of making money on the venture is appealing, too, Smola conceded. Each student purchases at least three shares of Star International stock, which sells for $10 per share. Depending on the success of the year's sales, students can increase their initial investment significantly and receive the profits in cash at the end of the school year. Cranford anticipates taking the business in a new direction this year, by introducing a catalog to market their Scottish wares. Currently, research is being conducted to determine the cost of printing. Many students who had not considered business as a post-high school option "lose themselves" in this class and eventually major in some facet of business, be it international business, corporate law or management, Smith noted. Star International's web site is being overhauled and will be up and running as soon as possible, reported Andrea VanBuren, who heads the technology team with Janson Webb. Look for Star International imports at the fall Sandy Creek arts and crafts fair, or contact Star International by e-mail at starinternational@fcboe.org.
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