TSMC Arizona interns mentor Boys & Girls Club kids on how to run a business

TEMPE — TSMC Arizona interns joined kids from the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley at JA BizTown last week to teach them about future career paths and personal finance.

JA BizTown is a simulated town in Tempe created by Junior Achievement of Arizona to teach children how businesses work by allowing them to run companies or stores.

The partnership between TSMC Arizona and JA BizTown brought in around 200 interns to help the participating children complete their goal of paying back their assigned business’ loans.

TSMC Arizona is the Phoenix-based subsidiary of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, the world’s largest microchip manufacturer.

TSMC Arizona interns introduce kids to career options

Marsha Mintz, president and CEO of the Boys & Girls Club of the Valley, said the program allows the interns, who come from colleges around the country, to introduce the kids to career options in fields like engineering and technology.

“I think the important thing they bring is showing our club kids that they too can have a career in this industry, whether it’s manufacturing, engineering or any of the businesses you see at BizTown. And because the interns are only a couple of years older, they serve as mentors,” she said.

Isabella Scalia is a TSMC intern who currently attends college in Mississippi. She says she chose to mentor kids in personal finance, setting them up for future responsibilities.

“I feel like a lot of personal finance slips through the cracks, and then you grow up and you don’t know what it means needs to make a budget or pay bills,” she explained.

Boys & Girls Club members learn about budgeting money

Janiyah is a member of the Boys & Girls Club assigned to the BizTown Town Hall during the simulation. The 10-year-old said she was hoping to learn more about how to manage money.

“I want to learn how to save my money because I’ve been trying to save my money for gifts for my parents because I want to buy them stuff for their birthdays, but I don’t really know how to save my money,” she said.

Throughout the afternoon, children had to figure out how much to charge for items they were selling, as well as keep track of bills they had to charge and pay. By the end of the day, each storefront had to pay back its business loan to the bank.

Scalia said this is preparing the children for when they eventually must take part in a business model.

“When they grow up, these will be our business owners,” she said. “These will be future TSMC employees. These will be our future engineers and doctors. So, by giving them these skills, now we make it a lot easier for them when they get older.”

Mintz added that the partnership benefits TSMC for this reason, as the children potentially could go into the semiconductor industry.

“TSMC is going to be one of the biggest employers in the Valley … so TSMC invests in our youth career development so they will have employees in the future,” she explained.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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