Business classes give students’ hands-on training

To help students prepare for the workforce, Pratt Community College’s business department has had guest speakers, went on field trips and been working on many hands-on projects.

“Everything we are doing gives students a picture of real life instead of just seeing it through the textbook,” said Junnae Landry, business instructor. “The textbook is a great foundation but to talk to someone who does it every day gives them a different prospective.”

During the month of February, the Intro to Business class had Lisa Coss, KMMM station manager come speak to the class about marketing in different medias and why it is important for business to market.

The class also went to Greensburg to tour the incubators, which is space available for people starting their own business. A person can rent the space knowing they will be given mentors and guided through the process with the hopes that they will eventually be able to rent a different space and have a successful business.

The students are also working on a marketing project as groups, which involve them picking a product and coming up with a marketing plan for it.

The product will be visually displayed in a case by room 24 for two weeks. The students are required to work on a limited budget, and were allotted $10 for every student in their group.

“This makes students recognize a business plan and know that a marketing plan is just a small portion of that,” Landry said. “It’s not just a matter of going out and selling an item. It makes them realize that they have to think about the budget, demographics and how they are going to sell it.”

After each project has been displayed in the case the students will conduct a survey to people at the college asking what they remember about each display and if they believed in the product being sold.

The business department has also toured the USDA office in Pratt and will be going to Koch Industries and Cessna, as well as the Grant Thorton and the IRS in Wichita during March and April.