The community-driven entrepreneurship program in local schools - CEO - divides its year into two-part, a group-created business and then individual businesses.

The divide is almost in line with the semester, though some group businesses are completed after the turn of the semester. Sangamon Valley CEO Facilitator Lisa Shepard indicates her group, consisting of students from Argenta-Oreana, Bement, Cerro Gordo, DeLand-Weldon, and Monticello, have had a great first semester and wrapped up the group business on Jan. 2.

As the students now shift their attention to individual businesses, Shepard indicates they are paired with mentors in the various communities of the program and they get to have a one-on-one interaction with a business owner in their journeys to starting a new business.

A new exercise Shepard is introducing to her class this year is called '1 to 100'. Students receive one dollar and they have to turn it into 100-dollars. The exercise was done in conjunction with the Central Illinois CEO program that encompasses Blue Ridge, Clinton, Maroa-Forsyth, and Warrensburg-Latham students led by Melanie Brown. 

You can visit sangamonvalleyceo.com for more information and follow on social media by finding them on Facebook at the same name, Sangamon Valley CEO.