A year ago, Amanda Arvizo was a senior at Banning High within the International Trade Education Program Global Safety and Security Academy. Her grades were slipping, college was about the furthest thing from her mind, and it seemed she had nowhere to turn for help. Forced to leave her home, she has lived in five places in the past 12 months, but thanks to a support network pulled together from Banning, ITEP, the College of Business Administration and Public Policy at California State University, Dominguez Hills, and the Port of Los Angeles, she is now into her second semester at the university with a very clear goal in front of her: become the first in her family to graduate from college.

The first Business Plan Competition was held by the College of Business and Public Policy at California State University, Dominguez Hills, with student proposals ranging from an executive catering firm to a transitional home for foster and probation youth. Conceived by CBAPP’s Advisory Board and the Institute for Entrepreneurship, Small Business Development and Global Logistics,
the competition was open to all CSU Dominguez Hills students regardless of major. The five winners presented outstanding projects that they are currently involved in or are planning to launch after graduation.