On Jan. 9, Valley Stream North’s Virtual Enterprise classes attended the 10th annual Long Island Regional Conference and Exhibition at LIU Post. Lead by Virtual Enterprise teachers Joseph Tagliaferro and Kim Logan, North’s four firms, Mobile Made, Stirvana, Tech Haven, and TechTonics, competed against over 100 other firms in the region.
Students have been designing their businesses from the ground up since the beginning of the school year, addressing aspects of a successful start-up. Stirvana is a virtual smoothie company, while Mobile Made is a food delivery and preparation service that creates meals en route to each destination. TechTonics is a technology company that creates products that promote collaboration and creativity, while Tech Haven uses technology to keep people safe with products such as a backpack with fingerprint locking technology, among others.
The executives of each firm participated in the Business Plan competition, in which they presented their business plans to a panel of judges who rated them on execution, content, and accuracy. Results will be revealed in the coming weeks, and the top 10 firms will proceed to the championship round. Each firm also participated in the Trade Show by designing and building their own trade show booths, which were judged in the Booth Design, Sales Pitch, and Marketing competitions. The students of each firm had the opportunity to network with other firms and business professionals, introduce their products to the over 2,000 attendees, and make virtual sales of their products.
Overall, the event was a success due to the support and assistance of the Valley Stream District office, the Career and Technical Education department at North, and of course, the talented, hardworking students in North’s Virtual Enterprise classes. For more information about Virtual Enterprise, or to view competition results, visit www.veinternational.org.