Make summer matter.
Interested in business?
Want to start a company or become an entrepreneur?
Getting ready for college?
If you’re a rising high school junior or senior in Chatham County with an interest in business, join us next summer at the Tar Heel Business Academy. This pre-college academy is an outstanding opportunity for you to develop important critical thinking and leadership skills. You’ll work with your classmates on dynamic projects for a real company and apply goal-setting lessons that will help you plan for the college application process.
You’ll learn important business concepts from world-class professors from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. At the end of the week, you’ll finish with a presentation to your “client” – and receive a Recognition of Achievement and a group photo – and leave the Academy prepared to take the business world by storm!
Program details
Business Essentials: Core Skills for Chatham’s Future Leaders Cost: $2,995 includes course fees and lunch/snacks Scholarship funding is available. To apply for scholarships, please answer the funding questions in the program application. You will be notified of any scholarships with your program admission decision. |
The application will open soon.If you’re interested in attending next year (or beyond), complete our contact form.
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We’re here for you!
What you’ll learn
At the Tar Heel Business Academy, you’ll explore the business world – and have a fun time doing so!
Knowledge is power.
You’ll be introduced to key business topics through real-world applications, case studies and group projects. This new knowledge will prepare you for a wide range of careers in business and beyond. In addition, throughout the program, your professors will provide guidance on how to use generative AI to amplify your creativity.
Put it into practice.
You’ll work with in teams with other students from Chatham County to produce and present a project for a business leader from the county. This practical experience will help you succeed in college and later when you enter the professional world. It will also help you learn more about opportunities and challenges in your community.
The soft skills that matter most.
You’ll develop critical teamwork, presentation and networking skills that will make you an impressive leader, further strengthening your resume for college and job applications.
Advice for your future.
You’ll learn more about academic journeys from your teaching assistants, who are students or recent graduates from UNC Kenan-Flagler’s Undergraduate Business Program, and career paths from executive guest speakers and entrepreneurs.
The course
Business Essentials: Core Skills for Chatham’s Future Leaders
July 20-24 in Chapel Hill
Learn about five important areas of business – strategy, finance, marketing, operations and leadership. Then, use what you’ve learned to become a consultant, helping a local company solve a real business challenge. You’ll also learn how to use AI as a thought partner, working with cutting-edge tools like ChatGPT, Copilot and data analytics platforms to make smart decisions, create impressive presentations and prepare for college and beyond!
Program agenda
Each day begins with a look at the day’s agenda.
From Monday to Thursday, you will tackle different business topics with overview discussions, a review of real-world applications and related case studies, team-building exercises, time to work on team projects, coaching sessions with the professors and visits from local entrepreneurs and business leaders.
On Friday, you and your team members will present your projects and receive valuable feedback on your work from your peers, the professors, and your client. Prizes will be awarded for the best ideas and delivery.
Throughout the week, you’ll also explore topics related to collaboration and teamwork and participate in a variety of exercises that will help you put those skills to work!
More about the Academy
The Tar Heel Business Academy is a transformational experience. You’ll spend five days learning the basic principles of business in a challenging, yet fun, environment and you’ll explore how to apply those principles to your studies, your future career, and your life.
A partnership between UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School and Chatham County Schools, the program is a first-of-its-kind program exclusively for students from Chatham County. It is a unique opportunity to learn from professors at a top-ranked business school while you observe — and seize — unique opportunities to support the economy in Chatham County and beyond.
Through this program, you will:
- Learn how to apply business principles to practical applications.
- Hear success stories from business leaders in your community.
- Work as a consultant, tackling a real business problem for a Chatham County company.
- Gain relevant skills and experience for college, scholarship and job applications.
- Work with other students leaders from Chatham County to expand your network and build strong teamwork skills.
“The Academy connected us with sharp, motivated students. Their marketing and strategy ideas were practical and inspiring and their insights are helping shape Eden’s real-world rollout.”
Meet the instructors
Chip Snively (Business Essentials)
Professor Chip Snively teaches various courses in finance, including investments, corporate finance, and a personal finance class for all students at Carolina. He teaches primarily in the undergraduate program, but also the Master’s programs and UNC Executive Development. Prior to teaching, Professor Snively worked for Intel in various senior management roles, including running manufacturing facilities in Malaysia, China and Puerto Rico and at American Airlines. He received his MBA from Indiana’s Kelley School of Business and an undergraduate degree in finance from the University of Kentucky.
> Read Professor Snively’s full bio.
Karin Cochran (Business Essentials)
Professor Karin Cochran teaches courses in consulting and leads the STAR program, where students consult on projects for real companies around the world. She previously served as chief deputy secretary for the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, which oversees agencies that manage the state zoo, state parks and aquariums, as well as many history and art museums and libraries. As a management consultant for Deloitte, Professor Cochran also worked on numerous mergers and acquisitions, healthcare initiatives and significant IT implementation projects. She received her MBA from UNC Kenan-Flagler and her undergraduate degree in Asian studies from Hamilton College.
Frequently asked questions