The Riedel Foundation is teaming up to help educate and train future leaders in business. The Foundation awarded a $17,500 grant to help establish a Creating Entrepreneurial Opportunities (CEO) Chapter at the Hannibal Career and Technical Center.
The Hannibal Regional Economic Development Council applied for the grant. It is partnering with the Hannibal Public School District, the Hannibal Area Chamber of Commerce, and the Small Business Development Center to create the CEO initiative through the support of the Riedel Foundation.
Through CEO classes, the local business community partners with schools to create project-based experiences for students by providing funding, expertise, meeting space, business tours, and one-on-one mentoring.
“In this program, students visit area businesses, learn from guest speakers, participate in a class business, write business plans, and start and operate their own businesses,” said HREDC Executive Director Corey Mehaffy. “This is the kind of hands-on approach that will help students succeed in business as adults.”
Though the program will benefit students in seven area school districts in Northeast Missouri, the Riedel grant will cover the start-up costs for Hannibal students who are expected to enroll. A term of the Riedel trust is that money can only go to benefit the people of Hannibal.
“This is a great collaboration for the Riedel Foundation,” said Trustee Paul Richards. “We get to help Hannibal students who are interested in business, and our surrounding communities will also help fund this program to benefit students in their school districts.”
The goal is to have the CEO chapter start in the fall of 2023 at the Hannibal Career and Technical Center. It is a program of the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship.
The Riedel Foundation has awarded more than six million dollars to Hannibal nonprofit organizations since it was founded in 2000.