Currently, a graduated, student-run business program is being introduced during the 2007-2008 school year at Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical High School (BAVTS).  Known as MT6 (Many Trades 6),  the plan is to create a student-run business within each of the school’s respective “shops”, including Construction (cabinetmaking, carpentry, electrical construction, HVAC, masonry and plumbing), Creative Arts (commercial art, fashion, graphic communications, web design and animation, video and media arts), Mechanical (auto collision, auto technician, precision machining, and welding), and Technical (CAD / Kitchen and Bath Design, engineering, electro-mechanical technologies, and manufacturing processes. 

Illustrating the program’s flexibility, students at BAVTS representing each shop are meeting regularly during the school day with community mentors to determine what businesses to create, how to manage them, how to distribute profits and how much start-up capital they will need.  By spring of 2008, they will determine how the individual businesses will function together as one enterprise within the school.  The goal is to have a sophisticated business plan, written by MT6 student leaders and submitted by June 2008.  The rough draft of the plan has been completed as of March 2008. Throughout this process, Charter Partners Institute has been offering program administration, community resources and student information. Visiting mentors from the Small Business Council of the Greater LV Chamber of Commerce have been delivering the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Entrepreneur-in-the-Classroom curriculum to expose the students to issues they will need to become familiar with in order to run their businesses.