The computer-based simulation software program, which is at the core of the LAB Week® experience, made its debut during the first LAB Week®, and like the mission statement, has undergone a number of significant evolutions over time to keep up with technological advances. The program has evolved from an IBM-style punch card system to a highly sophisticated simulation program, allowing students to learn the impact of their business decisions in real time.
In 1987, the LAB program received the Freedom Foundation's Valley Forge Honor Certificate for excellence in the category of economic education. In July, 1992, LAB went international, when a staff of 12 traveled to a language-specialization high school in Krakow, Poland. Three subsequent similar programs were developed at the Marie Curie University in Lublin and a private high school in Nowy Sacz. Ultimately, the lack of consistent funding and difficulty in developing staff and locations marked the end of the international outreach, but not before students in Poland, Latvia and Lithuania received a head start in the world of Western-style entrepreneurism.
From the very beginning, LAB has depended on businesses and leaders in the business community for financial support as well as leadership on its Advisory Board of Directors. During the early years, the program was funded almost exclusively through the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation, joined shortly thereafter by Lubrizol and other Northeast Ohio companies.
Since LAB's inception, the program has continually revised its curriculum to ensure it stays current with changing business practices as national and global economies evolve. While LAB's founder Pauline Krug passed away on April 2, 2003, her legacy and spirited leadership lives on in a program that has touched the lives of thousands of students and business community members.
