By Darcy Pope

The Business Club here at SMCC is a great group of people that are

interested in learning about the business world. Knowledge of basic business

principles and activities are essential to anyone. When you go into the work

force, opportunities for advancement will appear, you could become a part of

management, corporate, or even end up running your own business. At the

club, we talk about fundraising, social events, the Dirty Business (which you

see in the bathrooms!), stocks, and different careers you can have in

business.

This coming week, we hosted our first fundraising event: a Valentine’s

Day Bake Sale! Which took place on Thursday, February 13th. The Bake Sale

took place in the Campus Center from 9:30am to 4pm. Delicious snacks like

heart shaped cookies, cupcakes, candy arrangements for that special

someone, Little Caesar’s Pizza for lunch, and more were all for sale! Many

students, faculty and staff came by and support the business club! Bake

sales aren’t the only fundraising we do for the club though! We also sell

advertisement spaces on our Dirty Business newsletter, do car washes, hold

races, have raffles, and do so much more. If you have any ideas on

fundraising activities, come to our meetings!

An important part of getting into your dream career is networking. How

would you land the perfect job without it? Networking is essential. Sure, a

resume is great, don’t get me wrong, but when it comes to getting into the

top positions in your field, it helps to befriend some people along the way.

Reputation plays a big role in getting a job, working towards a raise, and

getting that promotion. If the boss heard that you were a lazy worker from a

recommendation you put on your resume, then you have less of a chance of

getting hired. Getting to know your bosses, professors, and your peers can

help you immensely towards getting a great job as long as you put in the

effort.

The Business Club also does social events where members get

together and have a great time! We have previously gone to Galactic

Bowling, Flatbread’s Pizza, and a Portland Haunted Walking Tour for

Halloween! Every spring semester, a lot of our fundraising goes to a club trip

to either Boston or New York City, which rewards everyone for their hard

work! This year we are going to New York City in late April! It’s not too late to

find out more information!

We also have a stock portfolio, where an investor gave us $2,000 for us

to purchase shares in different companies. We have invested in companies

such as Green Mountain Coffee, Ford Motors, Starz, and more. Since our

initial investment, we have gained over $700! We discuss how important

smart investment choices are in order to make a profitable on a business

level and a personal level. We recently began talking about different careers

that business offers. This week we briefly talked about bookkeeping, which is

in the accounting field. As a bookkeeper, your job is to make sure everything balances,

that bills get paid in a timely manner, and to provide essential

information to management. This is a great stepping stone into the

accounting world.

Our meetings are Wednesday and Thursdays from 12:30pm to 1:15pm.

You don’t have to come to both though! We decided to do two days this

semester so that we can gain and keep as many members as we can. Hope

to see you there!