Paige Sharkey Awarded the Ron McNair Leadership Award at the Chamber’s 29th Annual Summit
November 17, 2008
ISLE OF PALMS, SC — November 17, 2008 – The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce honored Paige Sharkey, a senior at Pinewood Preparatory School in Summerville, as the winner of the 2008 Ron McNair Leadership Award, presented at the South Carolina Chamber’s 29th Annual Summit, The Future of Business. The $3,000 scholarship, contributed by SCE&G, may be used at the South Carolina college or university of Sharkey’s choice.
Established in memory of Lake City native and astronaut Ron McNair, the Ron McNair Leadership Award recognizes a Business Week student who consistently demonstrates exceptional leadership abilities.
Sharkey is very active in extra-curricular activities including Model United Nations and SCISA Literary Meet. She is captain of the girls’ varsity tennis team and was the sophomore and junior representative on student government and honor council. During Business Week, Sharkey was selected to be her company CEO as well as their representative for the scholarship.
In her remarks to more than 200 of South Carolina’s most prestigious business leaders, Sharkey said, “While attending Business Week 2008, I developed skills I never knew I had, projecting the financial future of a company, running an effective marketing campaign and supplying a business with the right amount of raw materials to satisfy production demands. I also discovered my passion for business. When I left the classrooms of Business Week, I left with a better insight into my future.”
The annual South Carolina Business Week program teaches principles of the American free enterprise system through collegiate-caliber classes, computer simulation and other engaging activities. Close to 200 high school students from across the state attended the program, which recently celebrated its 25th year.
The 2008 South Carolina Business Week was presented by the South Carolina Cable Television Association and sponsored by the South Carolina Chamber of Commerce in conjunction with the SC Association of School Administrators, SC Department of Education, SC Council on Economic Education, and the SC Manufacturing Extension Partnership.
The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce
The South Carolina Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s first state chamber Accredited with Distinction by the U.S. Chamber, is the state’s largest statewide broad-based business and industry trade association representing more than 6,500 member companies and more than 600,000 member employees, with 90 percent of membership comprised of small businesses. As the unified voice for business and industry, the Chamber is a catalyst for increasing per capita income and enhancing the state’s global competitiveness in order to improve the quality of life for all South Carolinians.
