February 2019
Dear Chamber Member,
When I speak with business owners, one thing I hear consistently is, “We’re having trouble finding and retaining good employees.” Why is that? Do you know that Pennsylvania doesn’t require any economics or business education to graduate high school? That’s why building relationships with students in our area is critical to future workforce development. As your primary business advocate, part of our mission is to help prepare students to be our future great employees and employers.
That’s why we support Pennsylvania Free Enterprise Week (PFEW),
and that’s why I’m asking you to support PFEW today.
PFEW provides a powerful opportunity for high school juniors and seniors to experience business through your eyes – a practitioner’s eyes. At PFEW, students form teams and run manufacturing companies, competing against other student companies. They are immersed in business and learn about the free enterprise system by making the same decisions you do every day. Along the way, they hear world class speakers impart messages that develop them both personally and professionally and prepare them for the world they are about to enter. Last year, over 2,000 students from every region in Pennsylvania experienced the challenge and adventure of PFEW.
What do you get when you sponsor students to attend PFEW?
- A tax deduction – PFEW is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and a participant in PA’s Educational Improvement Tax Credit (EITC) program;
- Confidence – that you are making Pennsylvania stronger by becoming the direct link between local business and future employees;
- Knowledge – that you have opened the eyes of students to the challenges you face and helped them understand the importance of business and the critical role they must play in our future;
- Return On your Investment – the value of a PFEW scholarship is more than $1,500. The value to a student is priceless;
- Pride – that you are helping the next generation develop the very skills you need to grow and thrive;
- Recognition – your firm’s name will be published in PFEW’s annual Impact Report and Program Brochure which will reach nearly 5,000 businesses, chambers, and associations and 2,300 participants statewide.
Students attend PFEW on a $625 scholarship provided by businesses, chambers, civic organizations, foundations, and individuals who believe that this education is vital to our very future. Enclosed is a short brochure on the 2019 summer sessions, and a remittance envelope that will allow you to make a gift to a student now, or a pledge that you can fulfill any time between now and September. If you have any questions, please call Karen Musante, president & CEO, at 814.833.9576 ext. 104, or email her at karen@pfew.org. More information can be found at www.pfew.org. The Foundation for Free Enterprise Education also offers the Stock Market GameTM, an interactive in-school game for students in grades 4-12 that teaches them about the Stock Market and Securities Industry. For more information on how to support SMG, please contact Jeremy Kropf, Technology and Project Manager at 814.833.9576 ext. 107, or email him at jeremy@pfew.org.
Thank you for considering supporting PFEW. It works.
Sincerely,
Pam Henshall
President