Virtual Enterprises International recently announced that the VE students from Berks Career and Technology Center have won the VE New York Metro Business Plan Competition (Southern Division) and are now finalists in VE’s prestigious National Business Plan Competition, scheduled for April 2022 in New York City.
The event showcases some of the best and brightest student leaders and entrepreneurs in the country.
Since the start of the school year, the students have been operating ReCase, a virtual company they created and run each day as a class as part of the VE program. ReCase creates environmentally friendly phone cases from recycled materials.
During the New York Metro Business Plan Competition, students were asked to present a written business plan and oral presentation to a team of judges and educators, who critiqued their entries and evaluated their responses to a follow-up Q&A session.
This April, the Berks Career and Technology Center students and approximately 40 other finalists throughout the country will vie for first place in VE’s National Business Plan Competition.
More than 300 schools compete for the top honor annually. Some of the top entries from the 2021 NBPC can be found here: 2021 Top 8 NBPC Presentations.
The NBPC is one part of the year-long VE program which annually provides more than 20,000 students with the opportunity to create and run virtual business ventures in 430 schools across the country.
Through the program, students form a business together, role-play corporate positions, conduct transactions with other simulated businesses, attend trade shows and run the business as if it were real.
Virtual Enterprises International is a national nonprofit that transforms students through authentic business experiences which prepare them for fulfilling, financially secure futures.
Since Virtual Enterprises’ inception in 1996, it has served over 200,000 high school students, including many from economically disadvantaged communities. In 2015, VE introduced the VE-JV Career Academy, a similar two-year program that enables 7th and 8th grade students to develop technology and entrepreneurial skills by starting and managing business ventures.
Roughly 90% of VE students interact with business professionals who mentor them on a regular basis and 87% identify a career path of interest due to their involvement in the VE program.
