The overall winning group “ReNew Market” of the Lewis County Business Academy was honored during the closing ceremony in the TransAlta Commons of Centralia College on Thursday, Dec. 19.

This year’s Lewis County Business Academy began Monday, Dec. 16, and continued through Friday, Dec. 20, at Centralia College.

At Business Academy, students from the participating schools are blended into small groups. Teams invent a new product and compete with other “companies” over the course of six fiscal quarters. Winners receive bragging rights.

Teams appoint students to the positions of CEO, marketing directors and so forth. Students make decisions about when to take out loans, where to invest money over the course of a fiscal year, and when to adjust product quality and quantity.

Teams also create a commercial for their product and present it to “shareholders” on the Business Academy’s final day.

Local business leaders and community members assisted as judges and advisers throughout the week. The event was organized this year by Kiddn’ Around, a Centralia-based nonprofit. Learn more at https://www.kiddinaround360.com/business-academy.