Open For Business: Santa Maria Valley Chamber Invites Community to Junior CEO Business Launch Day

The Santa Maria Valley Chamber invites you to support some of our community’s youngest CEOs as they open for business at the Fall 2023 Junior CEO Business Launch Day. The event will be held at the Santa Maria Town Center Mall this Saturday, November 18th from 11AM to 2PM. Junior CEOs will have their business booths set up on the first floor of the mall near the movie theater.

This year, approximately 25 local youth participated in the Santa Maria Valley Chamber’s Fall 2023 Junior CEO Session. Each Junior CEO cohort attends six weeks of virtual workshops that prepare them to launch and operate their own business. Educational sessions included topics such as: business fundamentals, marketing, customer service, money management, and safe food handling procedures.

“We are excited to host our next Business Launch Day on Saturday in celebration of our fifth Junior CEO cohort,” said Yuliana Nelson, Strategic Initiatives Manager at the Chamber. “This group of creative and hard-working students have prepared to open their business to the public for the last six weeks and I encourage the community to join us in supporting these amazing kids.”

Junior CEO is made possible by the support of our presenting sponsors, the California Strawberry Commission and Community Bank of Santa Maria, as well as our session sponsors: Better Produce, CoastHills Credit Union, Marian Medical Center, CalPortland, and Your People Professionals. We would also like to thank our investor fund sponsors: California Giant Berry Farms, Santa Barbara County Education Office, Santa Maria Country Club, Sunlife Farm, Inc., and Toyota of Santa Maria. Finally, the Santa Maria Valley Chamber would like to thank Santa Maria Town Center and all of our guest speakers for their continued support of this program.

For more questions about Junior CEO, please reach out to Yuliana Nelson, Strategic Intiatives Manager at yuliana@santamaria.com or visit our webpage here.