Golden Apple: Students Run and Operate Cass Lake-Bena’s “Great Northern Industries”

Since 2020, Cass Lake-Bena High School has been the home for Great Northern Industries, a company that manufactures a wide array of products. The twist? Every aspect of the business is run by students.

Students in the program are given a hands-on experience, where they have to design, manufacture, and sell their own products.

“When we started we had to come up with everything,” explained Great Northern Industries Designer and Student Caraira Jensen. “We had to come up with the name, the logo, the email, and we had to do all these things, that we didn’t really think [when] starting a business, we needed.”

“We try to provide realistic opportunities or realistic exposure to what business might encounter out in the real world, outside of schools,” said Cass Lake-Bena High School instructor Matt Wendland.

Great Northern Industries manufactures a number of different products utilizing Cass Lake-Bena High School’s workshops and the tools those facilities offer, such as laser cutters and sandblasters.

“We have a variety of different products from cups to great giant plasma signs. Kinda depends on what people order,” said Jensen.

At its roots, this program is meant to show students what their future may have in store for them, whether it be a career in welding, finances, or, of course, running their own business.

“There’s not many places in a workforce where you get the opportunity to go in such a diverse manufacturing realm,” stated Cass Lake-Bena High School Instructor Jesse Frost. “So I think the students get some joy out of that as well and you never know where they’re going to end up.”

While Great Northern Industries products are normally sold locally, their products have been seen in some businesses in Minneapolis and even in North Carolina’s Duke University.