Loretto High School Virtual Enterprise Class Wins Top Honors at the Mid-Western Trade Show

The Loretto High School Virtual Enterprises, International™ firm, The Animal Kingdom, Inc., attended the Mid-Western Region Virtual Enterprise Trade Show in Pigeon Forge, TN on November 19th – 21st. This year’s event included over 1,500 participantsand over 100 virtual firms representing schools from Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, California, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, and New York.

The LHS Business Plan Team, consisting of Sara Beth Conley, Dylan Deese, Tayler Hill, Cainan Phillips, Bobby Vaughn, and Jordan Wilburn, competed on Sunday, November 20th in the Tennessee State Business Plan Competition finals and presented their written business plan to a panel of judges. The LHS team was among six teams who qualified to compete at the state level by winning regional competitions.

The Music Road Convention Center was filled with over 100 virtual companies marketing their products and practicing their professional selling techniques. The Animal Kingdom, Inc. was rewarded for all of their hard work and preparation for this year’s trade fair by receiving the following awards: 1st Place – Flyer Design, Top Ten – Website Design, and Top Ten – Brochure Design. In addition, the company surpassed their sales goal for the day by over 50%!

The students recently competed in the National Branding Competition, where they placed in the Top 10% of scores among 180 schools from across the country. They are currently preparing for additional national competitions, including the International Trade Fair to be held in New York, NY in April.

Attending this year’s trade fair and enjoying the beautiful sites of Christmas in the mountains were LHS students Sara Beth Conley, Dylan Deese, Trinity Ezell, Ian Hall, Peyton Heatherly, Tayler Hill, Cale Kress, Emily Marks, Cainan Phillips, Jordan Shelton, Jordan Shults, Bobby Vaughn, Chase Weigart, Alli White, Jordan Wilburn, and their VE Instructor, Ms. Mary Pack. Also attending were LHS Business Technology Teacher, Mrs. Roberta Niedergeses, and VE family members, Michael, Barbie, and Michael Marks, Jr., and Jeff and Lisa Shelton.

The LHS Virtual Enterprise Program would like to thank all of the community and family members who support them in their fundraising efforts. Without you, programs like this would not be possible!