OLAB at Wabash 2019
Students from the OLAB (Opportunities to Learn About Business) program come to Wabash for a week-long intensive crash-course in business, including a simulation game run with fictional companies. This is the program's 47th consecutive year.
The students meet with Wabash alumni who volunteer their legal expertise and serve as negotiators for the fictional companies' workers, who must come to an agreement with the students.
Tyler Hardcastle ’15 and Bill Niemier ’87 grill an OLAB labor negotiator. 'You can tell that each of the teams put a lot of work into it,' says Niemier, who is volunteering for the first time this year. 'And they certainly understand the topics. I'm very happy I agreed to help.'
Jon Pactor ’71, Trent Scott ’88, and Rick Cavanaugh ’76 play hardball with a student negotiator.
Bert Barreto: 'We give the students an opportunity to meet with outside legal experts, with the intent that they'll hammer out a labor agreement for their companies that feeds back into the game and drives their outcomes.'
Pactor and Cavanaugh listen as a camper outlines his company's position.
Scott explains a finer point of labor law.
Some meetings are almost over before they start, and campers must learn to negotiate fiercely.
Hardcastle and Ken Siepman ’87 make a stern counter-offer.
Greg Shaheen ’88, Jim Amidon ’87, and Bert Barreto run the OLAB program. Shaheen was an OLAB participant in ’85 and has been back as a staff member every year since.
Niemier and Siepman participate in negotiations. Suzanne Small of the Goodrich Trust, which provides much of the funding for OLAB, was back this year to watch the negotiations. 'At this age, to be this strong at negotiation skills--all of these students have big futures ahead of them. This is tough stuff, and OLAB is a great head start for so many students before college.'
Pactor and Scott listen intently.
Hardcastle, Siepman, and Niemier consult before delivering the latest counter-offer to a student team.
OLAB participants crunch the numbers before time runs out.
Wabash student Merritt Lamm ’22 was an OLAB participant two years ago, and he's back this year as a counselor. He says he's 'excited to be on the other side of the table this year, watching these students go through a similar process.'