Gonzaga School of Business Administration to Host Washington Business Week July 9-14

Sunday, July 9, 2017

SPOKANE, Wash. – More than 150 high school freshmen, sophomores, juniors and seniors statewide will be on the Gonzaga University campus July 9-14 to learn about business principles during the 41st annual Business Week 2017, sponsored by Washington Business Week.

The weeklong, intensive summer program provides university-level, experiential learning and hands-on mentorship with Washington business leaders and executives. The students compete as industry professionals in a dynamic simulation in which they sharpen communication skills and face real-world challenges. With the guidance of a mentor from the business community, students gain an edge on college preparation, workplace readiness, and overall life success.

In the simulations, students are divided into teams and are responsible for running an existing company and launching a new product or service. Mixing the art of persuasion with sound business tactics, students role play to pitch products to potential investors.

Teams are challenged to answer the question: How do you work together with people you’ve never met to make an organization succeed?

Each team is assigned a company advisor. The advisor, a community or business professional, acts as a mentor and guides the students through the college-level curriculum. Students learn from both speakers and firsthand experience.

Students will give presentations to mock stockholders and boards of directors, and conduct a trade show starting at 11 a.m. Friday, July 14 in the Cataldo Hall Globe Room. Members of the local business community are invited to participate as investors and members of boards of directors. (Orientation for the trade show starts at 8:30 a.m. in the Jepson Center, Room 113.)

For more information or to volunteer for the event, please contact Jane Hession at the Gonzaga School of Business Administration at (509) 313-3425 hession@gonzaga.edu. For more information about Washington Business Week, please contact President and Executive Director Herman Calzadillas at (253) 237-3545 or visit WBW.org.

Founded by the Association of Washington Business in 1976, Washington Business Week is a 501©3 nonprofit made possible by the financial contributions of businesses in the state.