Junior Achievement is the world's largest organization dedicated to giving young people the knowledge and skills they need to own their economic success, plan for the future, and make smart academic and economic choices. November of 2001, the Boards of Directors of Junior Achievement of Dayton & Miami Valley, Greater Butler County and Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky voted unanimously to migrate toward consolidation of all three organizations, with the guiding principle of reaching more students in more effective ways. A special Task Force on Consolidation, with representatives from each area, worked to make recommendations to complete the process by April of 2002, with final approval from the Members of the Corporations of each organization occurring on May 30, 2002. While local service and autonomy will be maintained, the reduction in expenses through the blending of backroom operations coupled with the increased effectiveness through the realignment of staff, will result in a conservatively estimated annual positive financial impact of $468,158 by the fourth year of operation – that equates to more than 22,000 kids! The increased size and scope of the new organization will also provide for staff professional development and leadership succession planning. At the same time the overall staff efficiencies gained will enable us to reach approximately 5,000 students per full time equivalent staff member, compared to a national average of 2,883 per FTE. Before our consolidation, Junior Achievement of Greater Cincinnati & Northern Kentucky had a 51 year history of "showing students how business works." Hays and Irvin F. Westheimer signed the Articles of Incorporation on November 29, 1951. Since then, over 500,000 students have been enrolled in this area's programs, evolving from a few evening high school programs to thousands of in-school classes being taught in grades K-12 throughout eighteen counties in Southwestern Ohio, Northern Kentucky, and Southeastern Indiana. At the time of consolidation the chapter involved 42,000 students annually.
