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East Central University’s Oklahoma Business Week, a unique summer program which enables high school students to take a plunge into a hands-on, real-world type of experience in the business world, was recently recognized with a 2015 Great Inspirations Award at the Creativity World Forum, held recently in Oklahoma City.

The Creativity World Forum is one of the largest creativity and innovation conferences in the world, inspiring a broad cross-sector of students, business leaders and community leaders. It’s the only event to held in North America in 2015 which brough global leaders in education, business, creativity and innovation together.

Creative Oklahoma is a statewide non-profit organization, advancing Oklahoma’s creative economy through creativity and innovation based initiatives in education, commerce and culture.

The Great Inspirations Award recognizes and publicizes past and current Oklahomans’ creative endeavors, solutions and/or activities as both a stimulus and an example for other corporations, organizations, communities and educational institutions.

OBW, the multiple-award winning summer camp for ninth-12th graders, offers a firsthand experience with the world of business as participants become part of a ‘company’ and work together in various events and competitions. Meanwhile, they will have the opportunity to interact and learn from various business leaders from across the nation.

The fourth annual OBW is set for May 31-June 5 on the ECU campus.

“Students can combine the summer fun they crave with real world business experiences,” said Stacey Bolin, director for OBW and ECU’s Wilburn L. Smith Center for Entrepreneurship. “Plus, they will get a test run at college life, meet new friends, strengthen their leadership skills, explore their career options and get a chance to win a scholarship or laptop computer.”

The cost for the camp is only $200 per participant, which includes housing and meals for the entire week.

“Although OBW is valued at about $800 per student, much of the costs are offset by our generous supporters,” Bolin said. “They are able to cover most expenses, which cuts the cost for the students tremendously.”

Confirmed speakers for the 2015 OBW are Alan Marcum, executive vice president at Devon Energy; Michael Prince, president and COO of Cole Haan; Steve Hahn, president of AT&T-Oklahoma and Rhett Laubach, author and founder of YourNextSpeaker.

Past awards for OBW include the Association for Continuing Education’s 2013 Distinguished Program and the Exceptional Program Award for Best Conference in the Great Plains Region by the Association for Continuing Education in 2013. OBW also captured a 2014 ACBSP (Accreditation Council for Business Schools and Programs) Best of Region Award (for Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana and New Mexico). OBW is also up for the national award which will be announced in June.

Several spots are still available and the final application deadline is May 1.

For more information on OBW or to register contact Bolin at 580-559-5596.

 

-ECU-

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