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Under-represented High School Students Hit the Books at CU-Boulder Leeds School of Business
BOULDER, Colo. – June 18, 2004 – While many high school students are just starting summer jobs, 30 of their peers from throughout the state are packing their bags to become college students for a week, June 20-26, 2004.
Through the Business Leadership Program at the University of Colorado Leeds School of Business, the students will see firsthand the rigors of college life while learning key business and leadership skills. While staying in student housing for the week, participants will meet with local business leaders, tour various corporations, attend lectures, meet current CU-Boulder student leaders and attend several business courses.
As the week progresses, the students are grouped in teams of five and asked to develop a marketing plan for a local business. Plans will include a print ad, video campaign, and a PowerPoint presentation.
This year, one of the student groups will focus their marketing plans on Key Equipment Finance, the program’s top sponsor. Each member of the winning team, as determined by CU faculty, will receive a $1,000 scholarship from Key Equipment Finance, to be used for future education at CU’s Leeds School of Business. Scholarship recipients will be designated as “KeyScholars” and will have access to mentors from Key Equipment Finance throughout their college career.
Students selected for the program have demonstrated leadership potential, possess an interest in business-related fields, and maintain excellent academic standards. The students are also prospective first-generation college students whose parents did not attend college, are economically disadvantaged or are members of groups typically underrepresented in the college environment.
“We are committed to further diversifying our student population, and programs like the Business Leadership Program offer unique learning experiences to some of the state’s best and brightest,” said Steven Manaster, dean of the Leeds School of Business. “Our corporate sponsors are instrumental to the success of this program and we give special thanks for all of their support.”
The Business Leadership Program covers the cost of room and board. Joining Key Equipment Finance as sponsors are Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Target, Sun Microsystems and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
“We are proud to align ourselves with such a powerful program that, year after year, provides future business leaders with invaluable hands-on experience in the classroom and in a business environment,” said Paul A. Larkins, president and CEO of Key Equipment Finance and member of the Business Advisory Council for the CU-Boulder Leeds School of Business. “We are impressed by the caliber of students selected for the Business Leadership Program and we look forward to working with them throughout the week.”
About Key Equipment Finance
Key Equipment Finance is an affiliate of KeyCorp (NYSE: KEY) and provides business-to-business equipment financing solutions to businesses of many types and sizes. They focus on four distinct markets:
- businesses of all sizes in the U.S. and Canada (from small business to large corporate);
- equipment manufacturers, distributors and value-added resellers worldwide;
- federal, provincial, state and local governments as well as other public sector organizations; and
- lease advisory services for manufacturers' captive leasing and finance companies.
Headquartered outside Boulder, Colorado, Key Equipment Finance oversees a $9 billion equipment portfolio with annual originations of approximately $3.9 billion. The company has major management and operations bases in Toronto, Ontario; Albany, New York; London, England; and Sydney, Australia. The company, which operates in 24 countries and employs more than 600 people worldwide, has been in the equipment financing business for over 30 years. Additional information regarding Key Equipment Finance, its products and services can be obtained online at KEFonline.com.
Cleveland-based KeyCorp is one of the nation's largest bank-based financial services companies, with assets of approximately $84 billion. Key companies provide investment management, retail and commercial banking, consumer finance, and investment banking products and services to individuals and companies throughout the United States and, for certain businesses, internationally. The company's businesses deliver their products and services through KeyCenters and offices; a network of nearly 2,200 ATMs; telephone banking centers (1.800.KEY2YOU); and a Web site, Key.com,® that provides account access and financial products 24 hours a day.
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