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Dateline: 7/16/2009

GONZAGA UNIVERSITY NEWS RELEASE
Dale Goodwin, Director
Peter Tormey, Associate Director

Young Leaders Gather at GU for Business Week
More than 250 Northwest high school students – sophomores through seniors – are gathering at Gonzaga University this week (through July 18) to learn more about business principles at Business Week 2009, the 33rd annual, co-sponsored by Gonzaga and the Association of Washington Business.

Business executives statewide are introducing students to the worlds of business and health care and will guide them through an intense marketing competition where the students will act as executives in their own mock companies and clinics. At the end of the week, on Friday, July 17, students will display their talents and energy in Trade Shows which begin at 9:10 a.m. in Cataldo Hall. Business Week students will have designed, created and will exhibit to “investors” a new product or service. Healthcare students will present to a “Board of Directors” their plans to develop a medical clinic. Students will creatively draw judges to their booths to ask them to invest in their organizations.

Welcoming the students to Gonzaga was Fr. Robert Spitzer, S.J., Gonzaga’s former president. Speakers throughout the week include state 6th District Rep. Kevin Parker, Mike Egan of Microsoft, and Joe Albert, associate professor of organizational leadership at Gonzaga. Among the business executive volunteers is Don Brunell, president of The Association of Washington Businesses.

Most of the large-group presentations and meetings will take place in the Cataldo Hall Globe Room. Small-group discussions and activities will be held in “company” or “clinic” rooms in St. Catherine-St. Monica residence halls.

Businesses in the state of Washington provide students with scholarships to attend the week’s activities. The Association of Washington Business solicits corporate sponsorships for the scholarship program throughout the year. Students are joined by high school teachers, company advisers and speakers who discuss a variety of business-related topics.

Gonzaga has been the Eastern Washington site for this summer program annually for the past 26 years. The program is considered a model for similar programs in more than two dozen states. The week concludes with a dance Friday evening; check-out is 10 a.m. on Saturday, July 18.

For more information, please contact Jane Hession at the GU School of Business Administration at (509) 313-3425 or via e-mail at hession@jepson.gonzaga.edu.