Hewitt-Trussville students learning real-world skills in entrepreneur class taught by Amerex COO

By Chris Yow
Editor

TRUSSVILLE — Students at Hewitt-Trussville are really putting in extra effort. On top of the core classes and basic electives like art or music, many students have chosen to take classes in a career curriculum. One of those classes is entrepreneurship.

Amerex Executive Vice President Vic Modic speaks to an HTHS class. Photo by Chris Yow

Instructor Tracy Jackson said this particular academy has several classes, including marketing, accounting and leadership, as well as a class in business law. This academy also partners with Junior Achievement of Greater Birmingham to allow students a chance to make their business dreams come true. One of the many ways the program helps is bringing in guests to speak.

“We have a general framework that I teach from, but we’ve partnered with junior achievement in the last three or four years through their “Be Entrepreneurial” program,” she said. “They bring in local businesspeople to speak and teach 6-8 units that coincide with what we’re teaching.”

The latest speaker to the class was Amerex Executive Vice President Vic Modic.

Modic spoke of a small business operation and how to calculate expenses, as well as the oft-forgotten learning curve. He was impressed with the class and its students.

“This is fantastic. It’s so exciting to see their interest in this,” he said. “Everybody in this class wants to be there. They don’t need this to graduate, so that makes this class special. It’s an honor for us to be invited and be able to help these kids achieve their dreams.

“I take this very seriously.”

Students in these classes are also taking them seriously, and many of them are looking to start businesses of their own.

Karissa Portera said she was hopeful to use this class, though starting a business was scary.

“On one hand, you’re gaining money and figuring things out for yourself, but on the other hand there’s a chance you could fail,” she said.

Another student, Logan Pitts said the class made starting a business a more viable option for him.

“It’s actually made starting a business seem more appealing because I know more about it now. It’s not as much of a scary topic anymore,” he said.

Pitts added the class was a great learning experience, and after taking several of the classes in this academy, he said he and his friends have several ideas for a business.

“I play a lot of sports, and so we try to think of things that would help us in the sports we play. Things that would be functional in games,” he said.

Modic said now is one of the best times there has ever been to start a business, especially in manufacturing

“This is the best time to start a manufacturing company,” he said. “You have the online and offline community that will help these students. On top of that, you have the internet where they can sell their product directly to the world without having to buy a storefront.”

In fact, Modic said Amerex was even making a move to insourcing several of its components.

“Manufacturing is coming back to the U.S. Regardless of the political party, which has nothing to do with it, it’s worth it to bring manufacturing back to the States,” he said. “At Amerex, we are insourcing. We are looking at every process that is outsourced, we are looking to insource it. Every product overseas, we are looking at purchasing the same raw materials in the US.

“We’re changing the landscape.”

At the end of the class, students will develop a business and business plan as part of the “Be Entrepreneurial” program and will then create a presentation with an elevator pitch — a 60-second explanation on why their product will sell. The top six businesses will then go before a panel of judges, in a similar fashion to the television show “Shark Tank”, and pitch their business with a prototype. In years past, two teams have won first place in the event, and last year Hewitt-Trussville students placed second and fifth in the event.

“This is a great opportunity for these students, and a chance for them to represent our school,” Jackson said.