Junior Achievement and U.S. Bank partnered this week to give local high school students the opportunity to show off their entrepreneurial skills, and the chance to win college scholarships for doing so. On Tuesday, 80 high school students from across Minnesota competed in the 2014 JA Titan Regional Competition at Best Buy Headquarters.

JA Titan is a simulated competition in which high school students work in teams to create and run a fictitious company, demonstrating math and analytical skills to maximize profits and most effectively run the business in an interactive computer simulation. Students make decisions on price, production, marketing, capital investment, and research and development.

U.S. Bank employees volunteered at the event and the bank provided a $1,000 post-secondary scholarship to each member of the winning team, which hailed from Mounds View High School.

“U.S. Bank is proud to support and participate in the 2014 JA Titan Regional Competition,” said Phillip Trier, Twin Cities market president for U.S. Bank. “This competition is a unique way to introduce young people to business concepts and spark entrepreneurial thinking.”

U.S. Bank is a long-time supporter of Junior Achievement, both locally and on the national level. In addition to financial support, bank employees donate their time and expertise teaching the JA curriculum to students in the classroom. In recognition of its commitment, U.S. Bank received the 2012-2013 President’s Silver Volunteer Service Award for donating more than 10,000 volunteer service hours to Junior Achievement.

Photos from the event are available online.

About Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest
Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest has been serving students in Minnesota, Western Wisconsin and North Dakota since 1949. This school year we will reach more than 152,000 students in grades K-12 with financial literacy, college and career readiness and entrepreneurship education. Our programs are implemented by more than 7,000 volunteers, mostly business professionals, who share their skills and experience to motivate and inspire students to succeed. Learn more at www.jaum.org.

About U.S. Bank
U.S. Bancorp (NYSE: USB), with $371 billion in assets as of March 31, 2014, is the parent company of U.S. Bank National Association, the 5th largest commercial bank in the United States. The Company operates 3,083 banking offices in 25 states and 4,878 ATMs and provides a comprehensive line of banking, brokerage, insurance, investment, mortgage, trust and payment services products to consumers, businesses and institutions. Visit U.S. Bancorp on the web at usbank.com.