Morris Black and Sons, Inc. has challenged a team of high school seniors from The Pennsylvania Governor’s School for Global Entrepreneurship, held at Lehigh University, with discovering ways in which Morris Black can “go green”.

This summer marks the 7th year of the annual Pennsylvania Governor’s School for Global Entrepreneurship for outstanding high school students from throughout Pennsylvania and around the world. The Governor’s School is one of eight schools in Pennsylvania, each specializing in a different area of academic study.

The orientation meeting between the students and representatives of Morris Black was held on Tuesday, June 26th, and included introductions, an explanation of the Morris Black’s products, services and customers, a tour of the facilities and an overview of the project. Bob Black, Vice President of Morris Black, presented the project to the six students on the Governor’s School team.

The students’ challenge is to discover ways in which Morris Black can offer sustainable, renewable or recycled projects to their customers. The project has three parts:

1. Research ‘green” products for the Insulation, Commercial Casework, Kitchen and Commercial Door Departments that Morris Black can offer their customers, particularly those interested in qualifying for LEED or EQ credits.  In addition, the team will research products available for the Kitchen and Bath Department to offer environmentally-concerned aware homeowners and home builders.

2.  Develop a marketing plan to promote and encourage use of these products.

3.  Look within the Morris Black organization for ways that the company can save resources, energy and use renewable or recycled products.

 The students will research products, brainstorm ideas, assemble a plan and make a final presentation to Morris Black at the end of the five week program. All Morris Black staffers are available to the students as resources. Key Morris Black facilitators include Steve Blumberg, V. P. and head of the Insulation Department; Jon Black, manager of the Commercial Door and Hardware Department; Chuck Buchsbaum, General Manager of the Kitchen Department, Charles Fowler, product development specialist for the Commercial Casework Department; and Cindy Miller, Director of Marketing.

The purpose of the Governor’s School for Global Entrepreneurship is to expose Pennsylvania high school and international high school students to the topic of global entrepreneurship, leadership and effective business practices and to ignite the students’ spirit of creativity, innovation, and learning. The applied curriculum includes core and elective courses, entrepreneurial exchanges and excursions, team projects with business partners, and a variety of other interactive experiences and activities.