We hear “I can’t find great employees!” all the time. With the improving economy, many businesses have trouble finding people with the knowledge and skills they need to help their business grow and thrive. We have a solution – Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (PFEW).

This award-winning summer economics education program has benefitted local students for over 40 years. PFEW holds five week-long sessions on the campuses of Lycoming College and the Pennsylvania College of Technology in Williamsport, serving nearly 2,100 students and 200 volunteers each year.

PFEW participants form teams of approximately 18 students and one volunteer adult business mentor who become the simulated management team of an underperforming manufacturing company in direct competition with other student companies. Each company must determine, through 12 business quarters, their selling price, marketing costs, production levels and budgets, banking needs, R&D costs and more.

The Chamber has proudly supported PFEW for many years, and we encourage local companies and civic organizations to provide sponsorship for students and, if possible, volunteers for sessions. Every student attends PFEW on a fully tax-deductible $625 sponsorship (the actual value of which exceeds $1,500), provided by a local firm, foundation, civic organization, or individual.

Sponsorship donors are prominently recognized in several publications circulated throughout the state, and each student wears the name of their sponsor on their ID badge during the week. Students write their sponsors after graduation to report on what they have learned.

If you would like to learn more about the award-winning program and how you can get involved, please visit the Foundation’s website, www.pfew.org, or contact Scott Lee, vice president of marketing & development for the Foundation for Free Enterprise Education at (814) 833-9576 ext. 8, or scott@pfew.org.

This article was published in the Venango Chamber’s February 2020 VenangoWorks! Newsletter.