A T&G FRESH START, LLC
Marketing Education Retail Alliance (MERA) is offering grant opportunities to support school-based enterprises (SBE’s)
in public high schools. CTE supervisors may apply for funding on behalf of schools in their district. Only one grant will
be awarded at each high school. The maximum amount of funding that may be awarded is up to $3,000 per school. All
grant proposals may not be funded at the maximum amount. Grant funding may be used to assist with start-up costs for a
new business or to enhance an existing business through purchases of inventory, technology, infrastructure upgrades, etc.
The grant may be used to establish or support virtual businesses, assign e-commerce websites, etc. MERA will prioritize
grant proposals that are innovative and bring the most value to the student experience. For example, grant proposals for
inventory purchases only will not receive the maximum grant amount of $3,000. The SBE must be operated by students
and be an ongoing endeavor in which students learn about business principles and strategies. MERA requires a business
plan and a list of the students working in the SBE to be provided in the final report.
The Simplified Business Plan gives you an outline of what you must include in your business plan for the MERA Grant Final Report. If you complete the DECA Programs bronze, silver or gold certification business plan, you can submit that instead.
Marketing Education Retail Alliance (MERA) is offering grant opportunities to support the creation or enhancement of
Work-Based Learning programs in your district. Grant requests should support the development of Internships;
Cooperative Education opportunities and/or Fast Forward Registered Apprenticeship On the Job Training opportunities.
MERA grants may be used for a variety of expenses applicable to Work-Based Learning programs including
transportation; uniforms; sponsorship of internships; student wages, marketing expenses associated with attracting
employers, etc. Grants will be awarded based on the merit and cost reasonableness of the request. MERA may approve the
full grant amount requested, approve a portion of the grant amount requested, request the grant application be modified, or
deny the grant award.
Marketing Education Retail Alliance (MERA) is offering grant opportunities to support school districts that wish to offer
the Certified Logistics Associate (CLA) Industry Based Certification to public high school students. The certifying agency
for the CLA is the Manufacturing Skill Standards Council (MSSC). The CLA IBC would apply to the following
pathways: Business Management; Manufacturing; and Transportation, Distribution, and Logistics. CTE supervisors may
apply for funding on behalf of schools in their district. Grant funding may be used for expenses associated with the CLA
IBC, including assessment fees, instructor training, curriculum, and site licenses.
The confidentiality agreement which you can download has been signed and dated by MERA.
These instructions will be uploaded to this site later in the school year.
Use this map to determine what State Region your parish is in. Use this on all MERA Grant materials.
DECA Sports Marketing Conference Activity/Competition
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Description of Sports Marketing Conference Project-have your students complete the following project and turn in a copy of your best one or two on the due date. The winning team and their advisor win $50 each.
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Sports & Entertainment Marketing Minute Competition
Here’s an activity that can probably be turned into a DECA CDC competitive written event and will be held at the Pelicans Sports Conference. In teams of 1-3 people, develop an in-game sporting entertainment event for an NBA game. Imagine that the event will be conducted during a Pelicans games sometime during this season. You might want to tie it to a particular holiday during the year or a particular game, but this is not mandatory. The event should last only 1 ½ minutes and will be run during either pre-game, a time-out break, a quarter break, a commercial break, or at half-time break. It will be conducted either on the basketball court or in the seating area. Think of a competition or an activity that uses a person, a group, the audience, some outside entertainment person/group and they would be involved on the Arena floor or in the seating area. Using PowerPoint, explain the activity, how long it will last (only 1 ½ minutes will be allowed…keep it quick-paced), who is the sponsor, who will be involved, when will it be presented during the game or pre-game. In addition to these questions, answer the questions in the guidelines below, and develop a budget for the activity. Discuss these in your presentation. Each member of the 1-3 member team must record part of the presentation and insert their voices with the slides. PowerPoint presentation should be no more than 10 minutes and all team members MUST verbally participate.
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Evaluation: Each teacher/advisor can submit their best one or two "Marketing Minute" PowerPoints to the state advisor. The entries will be evaluated by a team of business people who will come up with the best 1-5 teams. These 5 teams will then be invited to demonstrate their "Marketing Minute" at the Sports Conference. All team members (1-3 people) must take part in the presentation; however, they can use additional students as participants (participants are not part of their team). A team of N.O. Pelicans marketing personnel will choose a 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place winner. Prizes will be awarded.
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Click Here to Download Step-by-Step Guidelines & Awards for the Marketing Minute.
Here are 2 samples of Marketing Minutes:
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