LITTLE EGYPT HOST TRADE SHOW
The Little Egypt CEO Class of 2024 capped off the year with the program’s annual trade show.
Held from 4:00 PM until 7:00 PM on Thursday, at the Centralia Chamber of Commerce conference room, the event featured the homegrown businesses created by each of the class’s students.
Shannon Cooney, who co-facilitates the Little Egypt CEO program with his wife Mindy, said the trade show was the students’ opportunity to show off all they had learned throughout the year.
“The trade show is the culmination of all the work [the students] have done. At this point, they have the opportunity to build their brand, build their products and vet out their services,” Cooney said. “What we are seeing tonight is their finished products, and they are all selling the products or services or representing the ideas they have come up with.”
Cooney said the class met every weekday morning from 7:30 AM until 9:00 AM, visiting over 70 area businesses throughout the school year and hearing several presentations from guest speakers.
“We’re going on-site to a location, visiting with a business, and learning how they started their operations. We’re hearing their stories and their business journeys,” Cooney explained. “We did this with the idea of inspiring the students to think about what they might want to do with their own businesses.”
Centralia High School junior, Brenae Pate, who presented her sensory kit business, Lil’ Buckaroo Boutique at the trade show, said she took much from the CEO program.
“It’s been great. It’s been a very educational program, and I have learned a lot,” said Pate. “I have developed some great social skills and have had a lot of fun working with everybody.”
Jacbo Thrash, Salem Community High Schol senior and owner of Thrash Woodworking, said the CEO program enabled him to pursue his longtime passion as a business.
“Woodworking is something that I always loved to do, but I was never able to do much with it, since I didn’t have much knowledge or the financial ability to do it,” said Thrash. “But with the class, I have been able to make a business out of something that I love to do.”
Marcus Holland, director of the Centralia Chamber of Commerce, one of the program’s investors, said the Little Egypt CEO program is a great avenue to connect students with current business needs.
“Seeing the students’ businesses and seeing what they have accomplished throughout the year is really the key point for the trade show,” said Holland, who along with chamber marketing director Jaime Resch, serves as a mentor in the CEO program.
In addition to Little Egypt CEO, the Centralia Chamber of Commerce also works with the Centralia Junior High School, Centralia High School Kaskaskia College, and other area schools to discuss business opportunities and entrepreneurship.
“The past few weeks have been a busy time for our student outreach with our involvement in the Regional Office of Education 8th Grade career fair at Kaskaskia College, the senior career fair at Centralia High School, the Centralia Junior High Soar Program joining us for our chamber luncheon, and the CEO trade show this week,” said Holland. “It is a part of our mission to connect real jobs and opportunities in our community with the future workforce and business owners.”
The Little Egypt CEO program is funded entirely by local businesses and selects candidates from seven area schools: South Central, Odin, Sandoval, Patoka, Salem, and Centralia.
The program is expected to have up to 18 students in 2025.
