~Isolated instruction is a thing of the past for McEwen Business Leadership students. Course Director, Sean Ludwig, has implemented new strategies on cross-curricular learning so students have the ability to think more deeply about their business projects.
Mr. Ludwig and Dr. David Joiner, Head of the Geography Department, teamed up to help grade 12 business students with their major project – creating a business venture plan.
Dr. Joiner introduced the students to Esri Business Analyst Online software, a program that allows users to perform market analysis from anywhere, create maps and reports, and gain insights about businesses and people and their lifestyles. This software is proving to be of great value to the students as they embark on their plans, which they will begin to present at next week’s McEwen Entrepreneurship Fair.
“Students are able to evaluate location sites, determine population within a specific distance of their planned business, and identify consumer segments,” explained Mr. Ludwig.
The boys thought the model was pretty cool as Dr. Joiner helped them navigate their business needs. “This will help us find information about our target demography and get our business started,” said Justin Laird, whose team is working on an online travel business for the GTA.
Students learned how to segment their markets and determine the best locations for their businesses. And even if they were running an online business, the GIS-based software allowed them to find new ways to market their businesses with the use of the Internet. For example, they could find better ways to use Google Adwords by knowing the places people spent the most amount of money on travel last year. The software can even predict into the future based on previous and current trends.
“Geography is everything,” exclaimed Dr. Joiner. And the boys certainly tore a page from that book as they had the opportunity to delve deeper into their target marketing.
Story by Nicolette Fleming, Communications Officer
