Second year Assiniboine Community College (ACC) students in the Business Administration program are putting the finishing touches on the Capstone Project they have been working on all year. You might remember that it all began with the lemonade stand in September.
“A big part of the college experience and education is getting the practical, hands-on skills that complement the theory that is learned in the classroom,” said Dave Perkins, Chair of Business Programs in ACC’s School of Business, Agriculture & Environment. “The Capstone Business Projects allow our students to put into practice all the theory they’ve learned over the last two years. The projects are real and meaningful. The students walk away with actual experience that they can use in the workforce.”
Today, in conjunction with Capturing Opportunities, eleven student teams will be setting up a tradeshow in the Manitoba Room at the Keystone Centre to market their products and services in a simulated trade fair. Each booth represents the imagination and hard work of the students and gives them experience presenting their business idea in a competitive and open-market environment. All booths are judged by anonymous judges. The trade show is open to the public and will run from 9:00 a.m. to 11:30 a.m.
It doesn’t end there, after a lunch break the groups will regroup to make their final presentations to related business people. Each student team presents their business plans to a panel of community professionals representing the banking, accounting, general business and specialized business community. The presentations are closed to the public and are similar to what some may have seen on the “Dragon’s Den” where a new business idea is pitched and experts evaluate the idea and provide valuable feedback. Mind you, the students are not asking for money, it is just an academic exercise that provides students with a unique learning experience as close to real-life as reasonably possible.
Assiniboine Community College has been in operation for almost 50 years. In 2008-09 the college had over 2,600 students attending college on a full-time basis. The college offers 37 certificate and diploma programs, as well as apprenticeship programs. The main campus is located in Brandon and the Parkland Campus is in Dauphin. Winnipeg has been home to a permanent Practical Nursing site since 1998. Training sites in numerous rural communities extend program offerings throughout the province.
For more information, please contact:
Wanda Kurchaba or Kim Jones Communications & Marketing Tel: 204.725-8717 [email protected]