Cedarville Students 'Bowl' Into Business Plan
Community Foundation, Business Leaders Teach Students Determination To See Business Through
By Amy Polk

Rick Shapero of the Les Cheneaux Community Foundation asks Cedarville High School students April 10 to decide if they want to move forward with a business plan for developing a bowling alley in Cedarville. Mr. Shapero and the foundation have offered to seek investors for the project if the students complete a plan. The students decided, despite the challenges, it would be worthwhile to continue working on the plan.

Bringing a bowling alley to Cedarville will take a lot of hard work, Cedarville students are learning this quarter. They are finding that starting a business is a leap into the unknown, and convincing yourself the business could be a success is sometimes the first step to attracting investment.

Portraying an investor, Rick Shapero, of Les Cheneaux Community Foundation, met with Gretchen Story's economics students April 10. The students had picked a project, and started the initial research for a business plan. Mr. Shapero asked them to present what they have so far, including the purpose of the project.

"We're trying to build a bowling alley in Clark Township because we think it would attract other people, so it's not just about Cedarville. The other bowling alleys are each about 35 miles in each direction away from here," said student James Mitchell, noting the facility has the potential to attract residents within that distance from Cedarville.

It also has the potential to tap one of the area's greatest resources: young people. Local teens and young adults complain there is little for them to do, and a facility planned by young people could help fill a gap. When asked to pick something they would like to see in town, that would give them something to do, they considered a number of ideas, but settled on a bowling alley, teacher Gretchen Storey said.

"We know that Cedarville has a lot of empty buildings, and we were trying to come up with a business that could fill one of those and help the economy," Mrs. Storey said. "Some of the things we're examining are whether we have the building here, is it a marketable business, will we have customers, and will there be jobs for people?"

As the questions continued through their meeting with Mr. Shapero, the students learned they are going to need determination to get through the process.

The students have researched and gathered information for the business plan with limited time, trying to map out a plan and do research between vacations, classes, and activities.

A portion of the work will be completed in class, but ultimately, said teacher Gretchen Storey, the students may have to do some of this work on their own time.

As incentive for completing a business plan, Mr. Shapero has offered to seek investors for the bowling alley project.

The April 10 meeting turned into a "make-or-break" illustration of the determination needed to see a plan through. Mr. Shapero tossed more obstacles at the students, who admitted things have been tough.

They have come up short with some of the information they needed for the plan, and they may not finish the plan until next year. Mr. Shapero scrutinized the information students provided on costs, sending them back to their sources for more information. The students did not consider wages in their projections.

They want to make and serve food at the alley, but do not know the cost to add a commercial kitchen to the building. They did not factor in things like insurance, licenses and permits, taxes, and maintenance costs.

"Do you know what profit margin is?" Mr. Shapero asked. "There is not a large profit margin in this, and without a large profit margin, you need a large volume to make money."

To serve a higher volume of people, the facility may need eight lanes instead of the four originally proposed. Steadily the projected cost of the bowling alley grew from $400,000 to nearly twice that figure when they factored in costs they hadn't previously considered.

"What's the point of all this?" Mr. Shapero asked the students.

Silence filled the room as Mr. Shapero asked, "Is this really something you want to do?"

"It is, but it might be tough to pull it off," Mr. Mitchell said.

"I think more people need to care about this to get it done," student Wade Autore said. "We're going to have to go at it full bore."

Mrs. Storey advised the students of the challenges ahead.

"If you do this, I'm going to pull back a little bit more and let you guys figure it out," Mrs. Storey said. "I think you guys are going to have to take some of this on as homework, and if you want to go forward, you need to make a commitment."

The class agreed with Mr. Shapero's suggestion the project has to be better than conventional economics lessons from a book, and agreed to continue the work they started.

"I think if we end up with a bowling alley, it would be very cool," Mr. Shapero told the students. "But I think the work you do here is way more important. I'm really thrilled you have a teacher here willing to take the risk to do this with you guys."

So for the next month, Mrs. Storey's students will continue work on the plan, learning the cost of doing business along the way. Students have already met with financial and business consultants from Northern Initiatives, a Marquette based, nonprofit community development corporation that specializes in business consulting and financing.

Northern Initiatives representatives discussed lending options and how to write a business plan with students. Mr. Shapero has also been coaching the students.

"To me, it's equally important to apply the knowledge in practical ways as opposed to just the things you learn in books," Mr. Shapero told The St. Ignace News.

He and the Les Cheneaux Community Foundation are seeking ways to improve the economic picture of Clark Township. Involving local students is allowing the community to hear a seldom-heard voice, brings fresh ideas to the table, and is giving the students a chance to help their community, Mr. Shapero said. He calls it an applied learning opportunity, because it is giving the students hands-on experience in the business sector, while still teaching textbook lessons. Only these are real life applications, and they may result in a real business.

"I saw our role as trying to attract investors, which requires a business plan," Mr. Shapero said of the community foundation, which embraced the concept.

"With Michigan's new curriculum standards, I wondered how this idea would mesh with the curriculum the school is trying to teach students," Mr. Shapero said. "My first call was to Kathleen Strauss, president of the State Board of Education, and she said this is exactly the kind of innovative thinking they are looking for. If this becomes a success, I hope it would become a model for future classes and schools. We would really like to take the kids to Lansing to present their experiences and talk about how they pulled this off."

Mr. Shapero discussed with staff how the project could be implemented at Cedarville High School, and Mrs. Storey volunteered to adopt the project. Her government and economics classes are working on the plan, and she hopes it becomes a model for future classes.

"I think it's a good thing, and I think if these kids get excited about this, maybe the next class will come along and decide to do something like this for another community building or business," she added.

Since the April 10 meeting, Mrs. Storey said, the students have collected almost all of the information they need to write the plan, taking the initiative to meet with Clark Township officials and Zoning and Building Officer Frank Sims.

They have talked with local restaurants about contracting to provide food for the bowling alley, and will soon schedule an appointment with Colleen Galor of Northern Initiatives to start assembling the plan.