Business Management & Entrepreneurship

Creating a generation of young people with the skills, knowledge, and drive to become business leaders and entrepreneurs…

The Business Management & Entrepreneurship program places an emphasis on college and career readiness. The program offers students interested in business a competitive edge through project-based, collaborative learning and the development of 21st Century skills including business management, entrepreneurship, financial literacy, technology, global awareness, problem solving, and communication. Students learn business by doing business with coaching from industry professionals.

The program at BCTC is part of Virtual Enterprises International (VEI). VEI is a live, in-school global business simulation and entrepreneurship program that is part of a global network of student-run businesses in over 40 countries. VEI replicates all the functions of real businesses in both structure and practice and brings the workplace into the classroom. The program transforms high school students into independent-thinking business professionals and their classrooms into offices that become an incubator environment. Under the guidance of a teacher-facilitator and local business mentors, students create and manage their virtual businesses; learning all aspects from market research, business planning, product development, production and distribution to marketing, sales, human resources, accounting/finance and web design.

Guided by a task-based curriculum rather than a textbook, students produce the key deliverables that are required in a real business. The virtual companies the students create engage in international trade with other student-run companies on a continuous basis, participating in a global economy of over 5,000 firms across 40 countries. The simulation environment encourages risk-taking and continuous cycles of improvement and innovation based on successes and failures. Local Berks County business partners play an integral role in helping shape students’ experience by providing their expertise, skills, and knowledge inside and outside the classroom.

The program closes the skills gap, engages students in their learning, and prepares them for college and career success by providing them with relevant, hands-on opportunities to develop, test, and apply academic, business, financial, and entrepreneurial skills.