Garrick McGee, 6, a chip off the entrepreneurial block
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That?s exactly what happened to Pioneer Building Supply vice president/CEO, and School Board member, Gordon R. McGee Jr.
It all started when McGee?s 6-year-old son, Garrick, told his dad he wanted to help out his school with a fund-raising project. But the request wasn?t for his dad to help sell the items. This boy had his own ideas about how to market his wares to generate a little spending money for himself, and raise money for his Hickory Creek Elementary School first-grade class in the process.
?My son said he wanted to open his own business selling snacks and drinks,? McGee said. ?He wanted to sell his Hickory Creek fundraising candy at his booth, along with hot chocolate and hot coffee.?
As part of an entrepreneurial family himself, Gordon Jr. was quick to invest in this veritable ?chip off the old block? endeavor, and even provided his offspring with a ready-made business venue.
?He designed his own booth and we built it over the weekend,? McGee said. ?He has operated the business within our store at Pioneer Building Supply and his sales have been great. He has sold four boxes of candy for the Hickory Creek fundraiser, and several cups of hot cocoa and coffee for his own profit.?
McGee is understandably proud his son seems ready to follow in the family footsteps, especially at such a young age, and decided to pass the story along to the Standard, complete with a shot of Garrick?s Snack Stand, the family?s newest business.
?I wanted to spotlight him, his idea and his extreme effort to help his school,? McGee said. ?He has learned a valuable lesson in selling and operating a business. Our local economy may be depressed, but seeing a scene like this, where a young man has enough faith to open his own business, provides inspiration to me, and I know it will do the same for others in our community.?
It also proves one is never to young to demonstrate the entrepreneurial spirit of the ?land of opportunity,? as well as making for a pretty proud pop.