From start to finish: Local students display start-up companies at Entrepreneur event

Posted on May 20, 2019
Students from Normal Community and Normal West High School showed their start-up companies to investors on Monday at the Marriott in Uptown Normal. (Photo courtesy: Blake Haas/WJBC)

By Blake Haas

NORMAL – Creating start-up businesses was the goal of twelve Normal West Seniors and twelve Normal Community Seniors 9-months ago, those goals turned into reality on Monday.

Students working with business around Blomington-Normal were able to construct individual companies for-profit and nonprofit.

CNBC’s Chuck Brewer who has been seen on ‘The Profit,’ served as a guest judge giving students advice. Brewer said students are learning tools today that will help build success tomorrow.

“Leaving here with the mind set that you have to continually adapt to remain relevant in the market place is key,” said Brewer. “Learning this skill and realizing that its okay to fail at an early age, and go through different iterations of an idea, refining it is a process that you have to learn.”

Robert Harris a Senior at Normal Community High School said displaying his start-up businesses provides ample opportunities.

“What’s great about these event’s is that we can all show what we have been doing all year long, to our parents, to our colleagues all different things like that” added Harris.

Blake Haas can be reached at [email protected].

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