Muncie Times, Muncie, Delaware County, 19 December 2002 — Page 13
The Muncie Times, December 19,2002, page 13
ENTREPENEUR from front page have implemented the program in varying degrees into the school curriculum. The California State Lottery sponsors the program. Students gain hands-on vocational training using mathematics, geography and social studies in the global import/export marketplace. They learn to locate and negotiate trade deals between buyers and sellers of goods by accessing the WBE.Net's database of international buyers and U.S. sellers'. The database is licensed for use as part of the curriculum. The students are also shown how to handle trade leads and arrange for shipping through freight forwarders. All monies earned by the students by way of agent's fees go to the school to finance desired projects. According to Roby, the schools have witnessed a marked improvement in attendance, team building, oral and written communication skills and the ability to use technology as a problem solving
tool.
On Friday, 13th Roby discussed the international trade program with seniors in Ms Clark's 8:00 a.m. economics class at Muncie Central High School. A video was shown
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Part of Ms Clarkâs economic class which depicted how the program was being implemented in California and the exposure it has given students there to international trade and cultures. The students were clearly motivated by the idea and a number of them promised to log on to the www.wbe.net website for further investigation. "It gave me the idea that I can make some money after high school. I'm definitely going to visit the website tonight when I get home," said Ashley Kirtz, 17. " I enjoyed the presentation. It would really be a good idea to bring it into the Muncie schools' curriculum," said Lukau Matuka,
if Hi \klfA Muncie Central senior, Ashley Kirtz
17. Matuka also vowed to visit the website for further
information.
Membership to the WBE.Net program is also open to non-students at a one time fee of $499. This entitles the member to all course materials and 12 months' access to tutoring and guidance from qualified instructors. The fee also covers 1 month's access to the WBE.Net database of buyers and sellers. After the first month, access to the database is granted at a fee of $25 per month. "Through our research, we discovered how to tap into a vast global marketplace of over 5.5 billion consumers who are eager to buy anything that comes from America. All we need to know is what they want to buy, then we find the suppliers," said Roby. The program could not have come at a more opportune time given the current massive layoffs and the economic downturn. One of its objectives is to assist welfare to work programs by providing a potentially lucrative alternative
to welfare.
International Trade at the U.S. Department of Commerce, Indiana's export sales of merchandise in 2000 totaled $14.8 billion and the state ranked 14th among the 50 states in the total value of exports. Indiana exports to 177 foreign destinations. Leading trading partners and growth markets are Canada and Mexico. Other top markets are Brazil, Japan, United Kingdom, France, Germany, the Netherlands, South Korea, Italy and China. Important growth markets also include Israel, Belgium, the Philippines, Switzerland and Honduras. In 1998, 80% of the state's exporters were small and medium sized firms of fewer than 500 employees. Of these, 64% were small firms with fewer than 100 workers. To learn more about starting a business in international trade, contact the World Business Exchange Network at 1-800-537-7347 or visit the website at WWW.WBE.NET.
Muncie Central senior Lukau Matuka
According to the office of