Thrilling and rewarding. The words that best describe the event of the year… or at least to a group of teenagers in Kokomo, Indiana. The end of the school year can be many things, such as summer finally arriving, new jobs beginning, and college preparation at an all-time high. But for the students of the Kokomo CEO class, it means it is time for a year’s worth of hard work to finally take center stage. May 5, 2026 marks the date of this year’s 2026 Kokomo CEO Trade Show. An event filled with entrepreneurship, networking opportunities, and community outreach.
Rome was not built in a day, and neither was this Trade Show. An event like this takes months of dedication and hard work for students enrolled into the CEO Class. Throughout the course of the year, students learned several important lessons and accumulated business skills to aid them in the creation of this show. Students began by applying their new found business dexterity to create their own business. James Myers, of the Kokomo CEO class and senior at Lewis Cass, was quoted, “For this, we have multiple opportunities to utilize our mentors, and present our business plan to real bankers in the community. From there, we can launch our business and start preparing to present it at the trade show.” transforming their acquired skills into hands-on, real-world experience.
Once the businesses have been created, the real challenges begin to unfold. The difficulties of finances, creating business plans, products, and advertising are some of the obstacles students have had to overcome. Anna Hedrick, another student member of the CEO class and senior at Lewis Cass said her largest challenge was deciding how to price her products in order to ensure she is still profiting from her business. Michael Myers was also quoted saying the most difficult task for him was, “making sure you are constantly remembering and checking all of the necessary boxes to put my business in the best position possible.”
Just like businesses in the real world, Kokomo CEO provides the opportunity for students to fail. But,with the help of mentors and business professionals, students are able to learn from their mistakes, make better decisions, and accomplish their goals.
Myers, along with several other students have found the skills they have learned throughout the year to be very useful and rewarding. James said, “Luckily enough, I gained a lot of experience from our class business process to translate over to JimBows Outdoor Decor.” This year’s Trade Show will be nothing short of a success. Based on the leadership event, Taste of Kokomo, that the students put on this past February, I am sure they will execute their plans for the Trade Show flawlessly. As a community member and a future CEO student myself, I am highly anticipating this event. I find it fascinating to watch young entrepreneurs learn, grow, and achieve their goals. Students from the CEO are filled with the same excitement. Hedrick said she was most looking forward to seeing how successful other students of the class’s businesses are as well.
All in all, May 5, 2026, could not get here sooner. The Trade Show is a lovely opportunity for the business community of Kokomo and surrounding areas to create new connections and relationships. It is also a doorway to success for students of the class and a platform to display their hard work. Though the event is centered around business, it is also important to remember the passion behind it. The hard work, adversity students faced, lessons learned, and months of preparations are the true take away.
