High school students Jack Allgeyer, Della Coleman and Talia James each have a business dream taking shape. Allgeyer loves drone photography. Coleman envisions opening a dance school. James is an artist already selling her digital creations.
These three are among 10 students in the 2025-26 Knox County CEO program, a collaboration between local schools and entrepreneurs that began in 2018 through the Knox County Area Partnership. This is the program’s eighth class, according to Ken Springer, president of KCAP.
On a recent Friday morning, before most of their classmates were in homeroom, the CEO students gathered at Orange Cup Side Hustle for a community meet and greet — coffee in hand, ready to introduce themselves, shake hands and share their ideas with local business leaders.
“For these students, the CEO program offers a chance to turn curiosity into experience,” Springer said. “Communities live and die by their leadership. If we can deliberately work to create another generation of leaders, that is going to benefit everybody in the long run.”
The CEO application process is selective, and students work toward building their own individual business by the end of the academic year. The program replaces the first hour of class each day and is a dual-credit offering through Carl Sandburg College.
“The program is fully immersive,” Springer said. “Very rarely will the class ever actually be in a classroom-type setting.”
This year the program expanded beyond Knox County to include Warren County as well. It is also open to home-school and private school students.
Allgeyer, a student at United High School in Monmouth, says aviation is his passion. “I’ve always loved aviation, flying. It doesn’t have to be in a plane, but I just love being in the air with some sort of vehicle, even if it’s unmanned. It’s just always interested me.”
But Allgeyer knows that aviation isn’t only about flying. “There’s rules you have to follow with the FAA.”
His interest runs in the family. Both of his grandparents, Harrel and Judy Timmons, are longtime aviation entrepreneurs. The recently renamed Harrel W. Timmons Galesburg Regional Airport honors his grandfather’s decades of contributions to the regional aviation community. Jack said his grandfather has taught him “a lot about flying and all the rules and regulations,” which helped spark his love of flight and guide his business ambitions.
Coleman, a junior at Galesburg High School, has spent the past eight years as a dancer and has been a teacher-in-training for four of those. “I think something I want to do when I grow up is own a dance studio,” she said. “But that is not my plan straight out of high school. That’s something like a later goal, later in life. So, you know, I got to learn more about running a business and the financial aspect and so many aspects, if that’s my plan.”
James, also a junior at Galesburg High School, has already started a business. She joined the program to expand her knowledge. “I’ve already been doing my customer commission business for a couple of years now, and I want to use this class to gain more experience to help run that better,” she said.
Allgeyer, Coleman and James each have personal goals for the year.
“One big goal for myself would be just being comfortable speaking in front of a crowd of people and not being able to stutter — just speaking fluently and just kind of have that confidence around a whole bunch of people in a group of people,” Allgeyer said.
Coleman hopes to see how much she changes and grows throughout the year. “I’d probably say just to be able to see a big difference in myself than when I started the program. Abby took a video of us, like, the first week of the program, just saying, like, our name and, ‘Oh, this is my first week of CEO.’ And I want to be able to look back at that video and be like, Wow, I cannot remember myself like that because I am so different and evolved from then.”
James said the packed meet-and-greet was “a lot,” but she saw it as a good challenge. “I want to get out of my comfort zone, learn how to talk to people better.”
Throughout the year, students interact with 50 to 60 businesses, Springer said. Each is assigned a one-to-one mentor from the professional community who assists them in developing and launching an individual business by year’s end. The projects are presented to the community in a culminating showcase.
The CEO is a national program created by the Midland Institute for Entrepreneurship, based in Effingham, Illinois. Springer estimates there are about 60 programs nationwide, many of which are in Illinois.
The Knox County CEO program is supported entirely by local investors, allowing students to participate at no cost. Annual contributions from area businesses and individuals cover the cost of operations, including a paid facilitator. Community partners such as Abby Colvin and Ken Springer with the Knox County Area Partnership help coordinate the program. More details are available at www.knoxcountyilceo.com.
