By Emily Williams
While choosing their classes for this fall, Vestavia Hills High School students were given the chance to apply for a brand new program: the City Youth Connection, an initiative of the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce that pairs students with local businesses to give them business skills firsthand.
According to chamber Executive Director Karen Odle, the group of participants have been narrowed down to 18 rising juniors and seniors and 20 local businesses.
“We wanted to limit the number of students to 20. We ended up choosing after looking at each one closely. We needed them to be committed,” Odle said.
The students had to submit an application that showcased their character and skills. They also had to maintain a GPA of 3.0 or higher.
After she sent out an email to chamber members, Odle said she was surprised by the positive comments she heard.
While working with the students, each business will not only have the opportunity to mentor someone, but also to use the students’ skills to better their own business.
Odle has found that many chamber members seek help managing social media, something these students innately understand, having grown up with the media.
“We host a lot of digital marketing seminars because a lot of businesses either aren’t using social media or don’t know how to use it in the right ways. When it’s used correctly, it can be an incredible tool for them,” she said.
With the students’ abilities to navigate the different social media forums, the program officials also see an opportunity for the kids to learn more about their own internet presence.
“Hopefully this will help them think about how these methods relate to them – how these things they do on the internet are there forever – and make the connection to the audience that they are targeting,” she said.
By looking at their social media presence from a business standpoint, she said they will learn that how they present themselves on various forums will directly affect their own success.
“Social media is here to stay whether we like it or not and we’ve got to embrace it,” Odle said. “And by me, I mean us older adults. If you are a business and you are sticking your head in the sand it is going to come back to haunt you.”
“We want these students to understand the importance of local businesses, particularly retail businesses, and how their success drives the community,” Odle said.
She noted that the increasing desires of the Vestavia Hills community for amenities such as a new community center, improved sidewalks and new ball fields at places such as Wald Park, all take money. Part of the students’ lessons will be that successful local businesses are key ingredients to help the city make these kinds of improvements a reality through the money they generate in taxes and their donations.
“We want them to understand that correlation of businesses being vital to a thriving community,” she said.
The result the chamber wants to see in these students is a better sense of business in general. According to Odle, “whether you are a street sweeper or a neurosurgeon,” the basics of business can be related to any chosen career path.
“A doctor could be fabulous at what they do, but they often leave the business side of things to someone else by hiring in,” Odle said.
She also said that, at a recent meeting about the program, board members noted that many colleges are beginning to require some kind of business course for nearly all of their students. By entering their collegiate career with this program on their resume, Odle hopes it will set the students apart from their peers and give them a leg up in the future.
“Hopefully they will also understand the value of contributing to the community,” Odle said. “I firmly believe that every person – young, old or what have you – we all need to pay our civic rent.”
Through the program, Odle said, the chamber hopes students will understand the importance of local businesses and what they give back to the community.
“We want them to learn more about the city and maybe visit some stores and shops and get to know people that they wouldn’t have known about otherwise,” she said.
In addition to working with the businesses, Odle said, students will help the chamber itself “behind the scenes,” volunteering at the organization’s events, helping set up booths and tents and cleaning up afterward.
“We want them to see parts of all of the things we do in the community, not just through the businesses, but the quality of life and community,” Odle said.
