Five Huntington High School Virtual Enterprise business student-executives were tapped to participate in last week’s HIA-Long Island (formerly the Hauppauge Industrial Association) trade show and networking event that brought together hundreds of companies and thousands of corporate leaders.
Huntington business teacher Paige Furman said it was a “fantastic networking event” and the participating students wholeheartedly agree. “They spent hours networking and meeting thousands of Long Island business executives and were even offered multiple summer internships,” Mrs. Furman said.
Five Huntington Virtual Enterprise student executives participated in the HIA-LI trade show
Huntington juniors Sophie Bradford, Angie Hernandez-Ramos, McKenna Buffa, Vincent Grassi and Markella Markotsis participated in the event. All five are executives with the Artemis Virtual Enterprise firm.
“There were so many interesting companies for us to network with,” Ms. Bradford said. “We had a great time talking to real business people and creating opportunities for future internships.”
A full-year, one credit business course, “Virtual Enterprise is a simulated business that is set-up and run by students to prepare them for working in a real business environment,” according to the high school’s course bulletin.
“It was so great to be able to attend this trade show,” Ms. Buffa said. “We got to speak and network with many local business representatives and received helpful advice for life after high school and college.”
Ellen Palazzo, the LI regional director of Virtual Enterprises International reached out to Mrs. Furman to invite Huntington VE executives to participate in the highly regarded and sprawling HIA-LI event, which attracted about 350 exhibitors to Suffolk-West in Brentwood.
“It was such a great networking experience and McKenna and I got to meet some really cool people and learn more about real life business applications,” Ms. Markotsis said.
Ms. Palazzo created a schedule assigning participating students to host the VE booth; assist HIA-LI with the trade show and to circulate throughout the show networking with business owners. The Huntington teenagers met and networked with the LI business community, promoting Virtual Enterprise and themselves. Students distributed their business cards to the corporate executives.
“Participation in this HIA-LI business trade show is a new LI VE initiative linking authentically to real world opportunities,” Ms. Palazzo said.
For more than 40 years, HIA-LI has been one of the recognized voices for business on Long Island and a powerful force and economic engine for regional development, providing a forum for business leaders to network, problem solve, and obtain advice on critical issues facing their businesses. HIA-LI offers programs and events that promote strategic partnerships, targeted networking, information sharing and business advocacy.
Long Island Innovation Park at Hauppauge (formerly Hauppauge Industrial Park) is home to hundreds of companies and 55,000 employees.