Student Assistance Foundation and Montana Chamber Foundation partner to offer $18,000 in annual scholarships to High School Business Challenge students

Student Assistance Foundation and the Montana Chamber Foundation will award up to $18,000 in scholarships to the top three winning Montana high schools for both the fall and spring semesters of the High School Business Challenge (HSBC) during the 2007-08 school year. High School Business Challenge is a computer simulated business education program sponsored by businesses, foundations and individuals in schools across the state. The eight- week competition has replaced the popular “Business Week” held previously during summer months. HSBC is now the leading extracurricular Montana high school business learning tool with over 65 schools and 1,500 students participating annually.

Kelly Chapman, executive vice president of Student Assistance Foundation said: “We have been a major sponsor of HSBC in recent years and continue to believe this program is an excellent tool for entry level business education. It is flexible and allows instructors to teach business skills inside or outside a classroom setting.”

Webb Brown, Montana Chamber Foundation executive vice president of the Montana Chamber Foundation, adds: “Through revenues generated from the annual Governors Cup Golf Tournament held each year in the Flathead Valley, the Foundation Board of Directors has decided to enhance the HSBC experience for high school students. Not only does HSBC expose students to business and life investment skills that they can ‘put to work’ in the future, we know how important postsecondary education is and we want to encourage graduates to take that next step. This scholarship offering is a method of doing that and one that we hope to expand as HSBC enrollment continues to grow.”

More information about HSBC can be found at http://www.montanachamber.com or interested schools and sponsors can contact Kerry Schaefer, High School Business Challenge coordinator, at (406) 463-2370, [email protected]

Contact: Kelly Chapman, Student Assistance Foundation, (406) 495-7390 or Webb Brown, Montana Chamber Foundation, (406) 442-2405 ext. 101