Becoming a teenage millionaire is a dream shared by many young people, but few have the business resources to become one.
The University of Michigan hopes to help a handful of Southfield High School (SHS) students get a step closer to realizing that dream.
The University’s M-REACH program is giving 35 SHS students the experience, connections and even money to get a businesses going.
The program is sponsored by the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, which was ranked first in the nation by the Wall Street Journal in 2008.
Robert J. Koonce, the leader of the Ross School of Business, said, “Students need to start being prepared to enter the business school as early as ninth grade.”
The official purpose of the program is to recruit minority students into the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business through an early business grooming process.
U of M chose several Michigan schools to participate in the M-REACH program. Selected schools, said Koonce, had a high number of minority students that apply and are accepted to U of M. Other schools in the program include Southfield-Lathrup High School, Cass Technical High School, Martin Luther King, Renaissance High School, and Southfield’s University High School.
Students can enter the four-year program as freshmen or as sophomores by contacting business teacher Erin McBrien in room O-204.
Those who enter the program are broken into groups and assigned to a mentor from the U of M business school. The mentor helps them through the program by providing advice and insight.
The first-year members of the program mostly observe business practices, said McBrien. They talk to experienced business people who know what it takes to break into the world of business.
Second-year members play games that simulate the business start up experience, said second-year member Andrew Melton. The second year members role play as if they are starting up a business. They learn about the costs it takes to start and run a business.
Melton said, “I’m learning a lot about business playing these games. I’m learning about things like stock, pricing and inventory.”
Students in their third and fourth years begin to plan out their own business and then actually begin the business. After students come up with a detailed business plan, they are given $2,000 as start-up money.
Senior Michael Orange, who is in the program, has begun a typing service named Type Co. that he says is beginning to take off.
Orange said, “I wouldn’t have been able to start up my business without the experience that I gained from the M-REACH program. They gave me the knowledge and start up money it took to begin my business.”
McBride said that the M-REACH program is an excellent opportunity for Southfield High School students who are considering a career in business.