Mountainside High School offers a vast amount of Business and Management courses that allow students to learn and engage themselves with the economy, marketing, and accounting. Entrepreneurship offers students the ability to dive into the business world by creating and running a company themselves. 

Mr. Fobert, one of our business teachers, is teaching this class for the first time and thinks that “the cool thing about this class is that it gives everyone a free trial to see what it is like and if they want to continue.” In this course, students create a group to start a business with and learn an important lesson that “sometimes you start projects with friends and sometimes it doesn’t work out” stated Fobert. It is important for young students interested in this career to recognize that to be successful you have to step outside of your comfort zone. 

            Mountainside Clothing and Merchandise was founded by Cooper Reynolds (senior), Logan Battles (senior), Sidney O’Billovich (senior), and Bennett Giebels (senior) and all started in this year’s Entrepreneurship class. The group had to find a business mentor so Reynolds reached out to an old contact, Marcus Harvey. Reynolds explained that they “met with him to ask questions regarding our business, where he mentioned a proposal to work together on a clothing line.” As of right now, they have released a white longsleeve for $35 and a dark blue hoodie for $60 on their instagram @mountainsideclothing.

   Specifically asking Fobert about the Mountainside Clothing and Merchandise group, he expressed that they have done a “good job of knowing what they want to do,” and demonstrate “a lot of excitement towards their product and what they can do.”

These qualities allow these seniors to truly dive into what they are doing rather than dread this task.

In working with Portland Gear, both parties are benefiting and hopefully creating a relationship that will last for a long time. Marcus Harvey, Founder of Portland Gear, shared “designing a tee that clearly communicates a school’s story and values provides a fun challenge that both parties can learn from.” Working with a company built around a community “who share a passion for the city,” according to Harvey, is beneficial to Mountainside Clothing and Merchandise because it helps redirect portions of that passion onto Mountainside High School. When asked, Harvey stated that Portland Gear definitely sees this work relationship continuing in the future and that they are all about “helping people express their love and excitement for something.”

Fobert had mentioned that groups are often formed based on friendships, and this group wasn’t any different. Reynolds expressed that it was “nice to have multiple views on different points of selling and designing our merchandise,” and that knowing his group members “helps make tasks and decisions easier.” The Mountainside Clothing and Merchandise business has put quite a few hours in with Portland Gear, not only working on their collaboration but learning how to use software and eventually do this on their own. Jay Fast, a designer at Portland Gear, helped teach the seniors “different techniques to use on applications such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop for future designs.” This experience has not only been enjoyable but an enlightening process for this upcoming business group.

What does the future hold for Mountainside Clothing and Merchandise? Well, Portland Gear has expressed the urge to work with these kids and Mountainside to spread the love for this school. Mr. Fobert shared that if his students choose to continue this opportunity that he will provide them with guidance and support. From the business itself, according to Reynolds, there has been discussion about whether or not the group wants to “continue into next year with some members potentially staying behind and going to PCC to stay close by.” However, a final decision has not been made. Overall, Mountainside Clothing and Merchandise are looking to “keep the business growing” and to finish off the year with success.