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ALTON - The Riverbend CEO program is preparing for the conclusion of their year, and Director Katie Sabolo couldn’t be prouder of her students.
The Riverbend CEO program allows high school seniors from Alton High School, Marquette Catholic High School, Civic Memorial High School and East Alton-Wood River High School to learn more about local businesses and create their own business plans. The goal is to foster entrepreneurship, practical life skills and community involvement among these students.
“That’s one of the tenets of CEO, real life experience,” Sabolo said. “You’re not just taking notes off a PowerPoint on how to network. You’re actually doing it. So it’s great for them to get that experience, but also another important thing is having the ability, if you need it, to fail in a safe space. Everybody around here understands who CEO is, what we’re doing.”
Riverbend CEO collaborates with the North Alton-Godfrey Business Council (NAGBC) to highlight local businesses. Students attend the NAGBC meetings to share more about the CEO program and learn about the Riverbend’s business community.
“The North Alton-Godfrey Business Council [has] provided us a lot of support,” Sabolo said.
Through the CEO program, local business owners come to the CEO class to talk about their experiences, and students also tour behind-the-scenes at local businesses. Sabolo stressed the importance of students hearing firsthand from entrepreneurs.
She commended the local business community for their work in the Alton/Godfrey region and their willingness to help the next generation of entrepreneurs.
“We do have some really great, really unique businesses in our community, but really, what makes the Riverbend business community so unique and so valuable are the people who are behind those businesses,” she explained. “When the students get to interact with those people and see, you could have had a business here, but instead you chose to put it right here in our community, and finding out their why — that’s huge.”
Students recently hosted a trivia night and raised $7,000, some of which will be distributed among them in the coming weeks to fund their individual business plans. Sabolo said this year’s class has a wide variety of business plans, from a bakery business to a lawncare business to a freelance writing service.
She encourages the community to come out to the students’ trade show from 5–7 p.m. on April 30, 2025, at Great Rivers Ascend Hotel in Alton. Students will be presenting their businesses and selling their services.
“The students will all have either their product or their service to market to the community,” she explained. “A way that you can support the program is to attend the trade show and give the kids a chance to pitch their business and just let them get that practice. That’s a huge help. We’re looking to obviously grow those businesses, but we want to get them in front of as many people as we can.”
After the Riverbend CEO program ends for the year, some students will go on to start and grow their businesses, while others will likely move on to different projects and opportunities. Sabolo emphasized that students still learn a lot whether they decide to keep their businesses or not.
“We have a lot of students that really just develop their soft skills and their networking through the program,” she added. “No matter what you do in life, you’re marketing yourself. So the marketing skills, the networking skills that you learn in CEO are going to help you wherever you end up, whatever you end up doing.”
Applications will open soon for next year’s class of Riverbend CEO students. They are looking for responsible self-starters who want to learn more about business and entrepreneurship. Sabolo also encourages the community to come out for the trade show on April 30 to support this year’s class of CEO students.
Incoming seniors at participating high schools can apply for the program at RiverbendCEO.com. Visit the official website to learn more about Riverbend CEO. Check out NAGBC.com to learn more about the North Alton-Godfrey Business Council.
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