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The shops in Young AmeriTowne are selected to best represent a real-life, functioning economy. The shops include a grocery store, TV station, a bank, local government, hospital center, and a student favorite – the Container Shop. Representing the manufacturing sector, the Container Shop has been perennial favorite in helping students understand the many rich roles available to them in today’s economy. Sponsored by the Rollie R. Kelley Family Foundation, the shop supplies all the cardboard briefcases which students can decorate and use to hold their goods purchased in Towne.
With rich activities designed to help student gain an understanding of the complete supply chain cycle from order, to manufacture, to sales and finally to fulfillment, the Container Shop contributes to hands-on, real-life learning experiences offered through Young AmeriTowne.
Rollie Kelley started Colorado Container Corporation in 1963, and the company quickly grew to be a leading Denver-based business for nearly 50 years. Honored in 1996 with the Colorado Ethics in Business Award (sponsored by the DU Daniels College of Business – as in Bill Daniels, the Center’s founder), Colorado Container Corporation was a shining example of business done right. As quoted in the Mile High City: An Illustrated History of Denver, author Thomas J. Noel states, “Colorado Container Corporation, recognized by the Denver business community for the way it conducts business, produces a quality product, emphasizes customer satisfaction and provides a positive work environment for its employees.”
Container Shop employees build cardboard briefcases for fellow AmeriTowne students, learning quickly about the importance of customer satisfaction. This lesson is possible because of support from the Rollie R. Kelley Family Foundation.
These same values transfer to the students at Young AmeriTowne, who quickly learn poor customer satisfaction and product quality (boxes not put together correctly or damaged) immediately translate to lower sales with the possibility of defaulting on their business loan.
It is only through the support of the Rollie R. Kelley Family Foundation that these experiences are possible for the students of Colorado. Exposure to all sectors of the economy are key to allowing youth to gain the real-world knowledge the Center’s programs aim to provide. Thank you, Kelley Family Foundation for your years of commitment to helping Colorado gain homegrown, hardworking, self-sufficient individuals who will help build the next generation of business.
