A tough economy hasn't stopped the Edison Tommie Co. The business exceeded its sales goal by 100 percent, made a tidy profit and paid a dividend to its shareholders, all in just 12 weeks' time.

The company, made up of students from Edison High School in northeast Minneapolis, competed last week against 23 others in the North American Junior Achievement Company of the Year competition. And while the team didn't take home the trophy, the experience was a win.

The JA Company program, where teens take a business idea from start to finish with the help of local business mentors, was Junior Achievement's signature program for decades. But with strong demand for classroom-based curriculum that teaches kids about entrepreneurship, the Upper Midwest chapter chose to shift its resources and ended the company program in 1990.

Today, with mounting concern about whether Minnesota is educating a new generation of business leaders that can compete globally, and to honor the Maplewood-based chapter's 60th birthday, the program is back. The JA Company program "really gives insight into corporate America," said Gina Glayney, president of Junior Achivement of the Upper Midwest. The nonprofit is hoping to introduce the program in up to eight Twin Cities area schools this year.

Enter Andy Chow, Junior Achievement volunteer and enterprise director for sales at Best Buy, the Edison team's corporate mentor. He said Best Buy supports the program "for selfish purposes -- to make sure we continue to seed our talent with this type of experience." But he's personally been a fan of the program since the early 1980s, when his California JA team created executive desk sets using old glass insulators from Pacific Bell telephone poles. For Chow, who was never a fan of hitting the books, the hands-on, high-touch program really resonated. "I don't think a day goes by that I don't pull back on something from my JA experience, whether it be public speaking, interviewing, networking, simple things like household finance."

At the competition, hosted in Minneapolis, teams from around the United States and Canada presented their businesses to a panel of judges and set up shop in booths lining Nicollet Mall. Teams sold passersby everything from pipe-cleaner decorations to a company repairing XO laptops, which are mini-laptops given to elementary students in the Birmingham, Ala., school district. By midday the Minneapolis team had sold 79 out of 100 cookbooks, bringing the total sold to more than 500.

Junior Achievement picked Edison to pilot the program because it wanted to direct the opportunity to at-risk students. The Minneapolis school district overhauled Edison in 2008 after years of underperformance. Wanting to show Edison in a new light, the team settled on an international cookbook that highlights the school's diversity. Students at Edison are from 40 cultures and speak 20 languages.

"We wanted to go for unique, to help Edison remarket itself and to make money, a real profit," said company president Mohamed Ahmed, 17. The team solicited family recipes from students and staff, Ahmed explained, while pointing out his family's recipe for Sambusa, a Samosa-like stuffed pastry that his Somali family makes. They also sold $2 shares of stock in the company to capitalize the business. Investors were rewarded with $25 checks. But it was a team from Calgary, Alberta, that came out on top for their kit of products for keeping hands healthy, although the Edison team received an honorable mention and was recognized for having one of the best trade fair booths.

Copyright hiccup

Every Friday throughout the spring, the Edison team bused to Best Buy headquarters to learn about everything from writing a business plan to reading a financial statement. It was at Best Buy one Friday when the business nearly fell apart. The team plunked a few recipes into Google to make sure the recipes were original, only to find that many had been pulled from copyrighted cookbooks. The discovery forced the team to contact restaurants and individuals for the rights to use the recipes.

But what initially seemed like a disaster was an amazing learning experience. Team members spent time with Best Buy's lawyers, learning how the company protected its intellectual property. It also helped them expand their network of contacts and improve their communication skills.

Ahmed, an incoming senior, said the program has him considering a career in business. "When you think about creating your own business, it seems far-fetched, like a vision so far away that you'll never ever realize it. And then all of a sudden, doing this, going through the 12-week process, sitting down, learning about finance, public relations, all those things, it makes it so real. The dream you have of owning your own business ... it comes to life," he said.

Briseida Gomez and her family moved to the United States from Mexico 10 years ago. Gomez, the company's vice president of marketing, said the experience taught her to persevere: "Never give up and just keep working, because one day a door will be open where you don't expect it."

Kara McGuire • 612-673-7293 • kmcguire@startribune.com