High School Students Learn Valuable Lessons On Digital Business Skills At WCBS Small Business Breakfast

STAMFORD, Conn. (WCBS 880) — Amid the sea of attendees in the Stamford Hilton ballroom Wednesday at the WCBS Small Business Breakfast was a table filled with high school students furiously taking down notes.

The students from the Academy of Information Technology and Engineering from the Stamford School District gathered to hear Google Small Business Marketing Expert Wendy Gonzalez talk about how to grow their business online and sharpen social media strategy.

Business and technology teacher Brenda Zanga has brought students to these breakfasts in the past and calls it “an amazing learning experience.”

Student Jena Lombardo spoke to WCBS 880 after the breakfast and said she was walking away not only with broad and overall points, but with “actual specifics” to help her understand the needs of a small business and how to make brands stand out.

“I do like how Wendy was talking about how your business, they like if it’s personalized; if it kind of has that wholesome feel, and also not everything you put out there has to be some big bang – it’s all about like a gradual growth,” Lombardo said.

The morning was especially helpful to high school senior Marco Lima, who created his own business brand – Triple M – an apparel line that sells clothing in several states.

“I do produce clothing – it’s retail – and I don’t know, anything that you can think of, basically, and I also do custom designs for people, and so if somebody has a huge order they want to do, in terms of wholesale, I also do that as well,” he said.

Lima loved the networking at the event and even met a potential business partner who does embroidery.

Student Bryant Kozial is also working on his own business, and told us he learned about some helpful tools for the first time.

“It really was interesting, because a lot of the sources that, you know, you could use from – like Google Analytics and Express – I didn’t even know those existed prior to today,” Kozial said. “And now that I walk into this room and got such a meaningful presentation of what Google could help you with in your business, I think that it’s going to help out my business a lot more.”

Student Linsey Loraditch said she was especially intrigued with the Google My Business aspect of the presentation. She said the tools she learned about would be useful when it comes to artistic applications for promoting a business.

“I would say to be able to develop their style through art; to be able to draw traditionally and digitally, especially with this growing media presentation that we have with art in the world,” she said.

The group, including members of the school’s faculty got to talk with WCBS Business Anchor Joe Connolly following the breakfast and took some photographs with him. They’re already talking about a trip to the WCBS Newsradio 880 studios for a follow up conversation.

Neil A. Carousso produced WCBS Newsradio 880’s multi-media coverage of the Small Business Breakfast and assisted in organizing the event in Stamford, CT on March 28, 2018. All WCBS 880 videos and social media posts were written, edited and published by Neil A. Carousso.