EFEB
Potomac’s Economics, Finance, Entrepreneurship, & Business Concentration (EFEB)The Economics, Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Business concentration is designed to provide interested students an opportunity to deepen their knowledge and understanding of economic and business issues through coursework, individual research, and/or hands-on experience. Rising juniors with a demonstrated interest in and a passion for exploring business through the lens of economics and entrepreneurship can enroll using an expression of interest form.
Students enrolled in EFEB take a minimum of three semester electives, at least one of which must be taken junior year.
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In addition to coursework completed during the school year, EFEB students undertake four weeks of summer work following junior year. They have two options:
1) a research project with a designated mentor; or
2) an approved practicum involving (a) a business internship, (b) work experience, or (c) volunteer work.
The culmination of their participation in EFEB is a Senior Capstone Project, which is completed during May of senior year and which relates to the themes explored in EFEB coursework and/or summer experience. Students present their capstone project at a showcase exhibition with invited guests in early June.
IT'S A CROSSOVER!
What do sharks, incubators, seed money, and design thinking have in common? They can all be found on Potomac’s campus in the popular Upper School elective Entrepreneurship and Innovation! The interdisciplinary, inquiry-based class is taught by Director of Public Speaking Harry Strong and Director of Technology and Innovation Sean Developing an Entrepreneurial Spirit Moran, who introduce the students to the fundamentals of design thinking, project management, financial modeling, prototyping, and marketing.
The Economics, Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Business (EFEB) Concentration hosted its third speaker of the school year with a visit by Potomac parent and Trustee Emeritus, Michael Davis. Mr. Davis is the Head of Global Retirement Strategy at T. Rowe Price Inc. In his talk entitled "The business of retirement and why you should start thinking about it now," Mr. Davis engaged the students in building a retirement word cloud. He described retirement as having enough passive income to live without active effort and the group discussed sources of active and passive income. Mr. Davis described the nature of the $170 trillion retirement industry in the United States, the top pension markets internationally, and described various career paths within retirement. Mr. Davis offered three lessons when planning for retirement - start early, save with intention, and make good life choices.
The Economics, Finance, Entrepreneurship, and Business (EFEB) Concentration hosted its second speaker of the school year with a visit by Potomac parent, John Swigart. Mr. Swigart is the co-founder and CEO of Pie Insurance. In his talk entitled "Pie Insurance: A Recipe for Entrepreneurship," Mr. Swigart described the history of the pooling of risk, going back as early as the 1600s, which became the foundation for modern-day insurance. After describing broad categories of insurance, he described Pie's business: providing commercial auto and worker's compensation insurance to small businesses. By leveraging data analytics and technology, Pie is able to provide differentiated pricing for the small business customer with a higher level of service. As a venture capital-funded company, he described the elements that VC firms look for in an investment - a big idea in a big market, a compelling team, and a differentiated strategy that investors believe in. Mr. Swigart closed his presentation discussing the core values of his organization and its employees ("Pie"-oneers). He encouraged students to say yes to opportunities and to leverage the skills developed as a Potomac student articulated in the Portrait of a Potomac Graduate.
![EFEB Welcomes First Guest Speaker]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1732045094/potomac/crjdfalp7axxpqvjk4ll/EFEB_2024_GD_3copy.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1732045094/potomac/crjdfalp7axxpqvjk4ll/EFEB_2024_GD_3copy.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_3/v1732045094/potomac/crjdfalp7axxpqvjk4ll/EFEB_2024_GD_3copy.jpg","width":800},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_4/v1732045094/potomac/crjdfalp7axxpqvjk4ll/EFEB_2024_GD_3copy.jpg","width":1200},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_5/v1732045094/potomac/crjdfalp7axxpqvjk4ll/EFEB_2024_GD_3copy.jpg","width":1600},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_6/v1732045094/potomac/crjdfalp7axxpqvjk4ll/EFEB_2024_GD_3copy.jpg","width":2200}])
The Upper School hosted its first Economics, Finance, Entrepreneurship, & Business Concentration (EFEB) speaker of the 2024-25 school year. Kim Kuryea, CFO at General Dynamics, visited students and shared “A Bird’s Eye View of General Dynamics and the Aerospace and Defense Industry.” Ms. Kuryea discussed the role of the CFO in a public company. General Dynamics is comprised of 10 different business units that operate like separate companies in aerospace, combat systems, marine systems, and technologies. She indicated that their decentralized model allows them to optimize agility, increase competitiveness, and balance risk and opportunities. Ms. Kuryea emphasized that the students can still find this entrepreneurial spirit even within well-established companies. She described the complexities of having 80% of its business serve the U.S. government and non-U.S. government allies. She also focused on the GD Ethos - honesty, transparency, alignment, and trust - the core values by which the company operates.
Ms. Kuryea has sponsored EFEB internships at General Dynamics for the past two years and is slated to generously host two students again in the summer of 2025.