Excellence In Education Lincoln Daily News January 2026 Page 15 development. Each student is paired with a mentor. Mentors are business professionals from Logan County who volunteer their time to guide students. Mentors attend a monthly meeting that takes place during CEO time. The mentorship program establishes connections, strengthens understanding of complex career paths, and develops greater social skills through the mentorship experience. Ultimately, these relationships strengthen the CEO program’s success and build generational bridges between the CEO students and the business community. Students create a group business and an individual business during the class. Every CEO program kicks off with a class business, where students collaborate to develop a business idea, create a business plan, secure funding, and manage all aspects of the business - from marketing to project and money management. In the second half of the year, students focus on building their own business. This includes everything from coming up with a business idea to writing a plan and creating a product. Each student also develops their own business pitch. Mentors are actively involved in the business development stage. Mentors critique and provide feedback as well as providing networking opportunities for the students to outsource marketing and production aspects of their business. There is a national “pitch” competition that local LLCEO students have placed highly in, in recent years. At the end of the year, they showcase their business at a trade show, where the community can see all your hard work come to life. This tradeshow is funded by area investors and involves many of the businesses the class visits as well as the mentors. It is a place for the students to showcase and sell their products/services. The LLCEO program is available because of funding provided by investors. A CEO investor provides financial support for handson business education. Investors support student ventures, mentorship, and program operations through funding or by hosting classes and speaking to the students. Teacher salaries, program expenses, and trade show expenses are also funded through the generous donations of investors. Local businesses, foundations, and “friends of CEO” provide necessary support and enable the LLCEO program to continue reaching the youth of Logan County. Board members are also a crucial part of LLCEO’s success. Board members are active, engaged community leaders who volunteer their time and expertise to the
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