Each year since the program started in 2004, the Martha Guy Summer Institute for Future Business Leaders has welcomed 24 students to the campus of Appalachian State for two weeks of business and leadership classes and hands-on learning, followed by a one-week trip to Washington, DC, and New York to see business concepts in action.

 

Deanne Smith, director of the program, noted that the institute helps expose some of the state’s brightest students who have an interest in studying business to the campus, but it also helps those students decide whether business is the right educational path for them.

 

“The program helps participants understand if they definitely want to pursue business or if they want to major in something else and pursue a minor in business,” said Smith. “Business is so varied in terms of areas of study and job opportunities that it really helps them zero in on what they’re interested in.”

 

Smith added that the program also helps students decide what they don’t want to major in, which can be just as helpful to a high school junior.

 

As a part of the two-week on-campus portion of the program, participants work in groups of four to take an idea for a business and develop a business plan, then present that plan to a panel of judges. The top proposal at this year’s institute, which concluded Aug. 1, was for a Web site called Exchange.com, an online marketplace in which buyers and sellers could exchange items, rather than simply purchasing them. Other ideas included a company that would help other businesses become more environmentally friendly, a company that would provide marketing information about Generation Y, an organization that would help schools raise private funds, a drive-through convenience store and a company that would create new products from leftover wood from construction sites.

 

Smith noted that there are a variety of outcomes of the program that affect both Appalachian and companies across the state.

 

“For Appalachian, it shows that we are very committed to helping students, even those who aren’t even our students yet,” she said. “I also think it shows that we have a commitment to supporting economic development — and not just in our region. These students are exposed to a lot of topics that they can take and use in their daily lives, so I feel like we’re providing a lot of citizenship and leadership development opportunities as well, not just business education.”

 

The program also gives a variety of industries the opportunity to expose students to the importance and value of what they do. For example, this year’s institute included a focus on the tourism industry, and students learned about the size of the industry in North Carolina and its importance to the economy. 

 

“We give them so much in the way of information and knowledge and just experience that I think that they’re just blown away by what’s been given by them,” said Smith, “and it’s all been made possible by Ms. Guy.”

 

Martha Guy, who provided funding for the program, has an interesting story of her own. After graduating from UNC-Chapel Hill at the age of 19, she went on to pursue a master’s degree in chemistry. Then her brothers left to fight in World War II and she returned home to help run her family’s bank in Avery County. She eventually warmed to the banking industry and went on to lead Avery County Bank for the next sixty years.

 

Guy’s endowment means that, while the three-week program costs about $2,750 per person, students pay only $700, including housing, meals, instruction and all travel expenses.

 

“Ms. Guy has been a good friend to the College of Business over the years,” noted Smith.

 

As for the lessons the students learn while at the summer institute, Smith said they will last a lifetime.