Merrill Lynch Assists South Carolina’s Financial Literacy Drive


A winner of the Merrill Lynch Young Entrepreneur Award, Tiffanie Williams, right, with Jeff Adams and her sisters Victoria and Twana.

With help from Merrill Lynch, Tiffanie Williams, a sixth grader in Columbia, South Carolina, is getting an early start in entrepreneurship.

After her aunt encountered rude drivers while learning to drive, Ms. Williams and members of her family started a company that makes driver-safety stickers. "People from all over the United States are ordering the signs," Ms. Williams said.

For demonstrating a keen entrepreneurial spirit, she and five other students have been recognized with the Merrill Lynch Young Entrepreneur Award for 2006.

Merrill Lynch, working with the South Carolina Council on Economic Education, sponsors several other finance-related programs in the state, including the South Carolina Stock Market Game, the Merrill Lynch Distinguished Advisor Award; the Horry County Financial Duel, a financial planning contest; and the Economic Concepts Poster Contest.

On April 28, the company and the council recognized students who won top place in the economic education programs, including Ms. Williams, at a luncheon attended by 300 students, teachers, school administrators and parents. Winners received cash, trophies, T-shirts and certificates.

"Merrill Lynch is committed to helping the next generation of investors reach their full potential," said Eddy Bayardelle, president of the Merrill Lynch Foundation. "Our focus is to equip underserved children and youth with the financial knowledge and skills for making astute investment decisions and becoming independent adults."

In the Stock Market Game™, teams from elementary schools in Mt. Pleasant and Charleston took first place in various divisions and versions of the game.

Director Jeff Adams with Kyle Myres, winner of the Merrill Lynch Distinguished Advisor Award, and Roberta Thoen, principal of the school where Ms. Myres teaches science and mathematics.

Kyle Myres, a mathematics and science teacher at St. Michael Catholic School in Garden City, won the Merrill Lynch Distinguished Advisor Award, which includes a trip to New York to participate in the New York Stock Exchange Summer Teacher Workshop program.

The South Carolina Council on Economic Education is a nonprofit business-education partnership that provides teachers with continuing education in economics and personal finance. Through the council, which is affiliated with the National Council on Economic Education, thousands of elementary, middle and high school students participate in the Merrill Lynch South Carolina Stock Market Game every year.

"Even though Merrill Lynch is a global company, we focus on building relationships and supporting programs that are essential to the prosperity and vitality of the local communities we serve," said Jeff Adams, director of the Global Private Client office in Columbia, and a member of the council's board. "The Stock Market Game and the council's other programs expose South Carolina students to learning experiences that give them the knowledge and know-how essential for financial and career success. I especially want to thank two financial advisors, Frank Braddock here in Columbia and Bob Schlau in the Charleston office, for their exceptional contributions to the programs."

The firm sponsors two versions of the game in South Carolina. In the traditional version, developed by Securities Industry Association's Foundation for Investor Education, students in grades 4 to 12 receive a hypothetical portfolio of $100,000 to invest in companies. In the Hootie & the Blowfish Take Stock in South Carolina Competition, the students choose from 75 companies significant to South Carolina's economy. The competition incorporates lessons from Merrill Lynch's Investing Pays Off® curriculum, which aims to increase the financial savvy of young people.

Helen Meyers, the council's president, credits the programs' success to support by Merrill Lynch. "Your support of our Stock Market Game has brought it to a new level in South Carolina," she said. "We're able to honor our students and teachers in a way that would not have been possible before."

Teachers who advised the Merrill Lynch-sponsored South Carolina Stock Market Game