The Alpaugh Family Economics Center at UC

10/16/2026

What a way to wrap up the week! Our Susan Sargen Student Enterprise Program (StEP) headed across the river to Covington for Holy Cross School’s first StEP store of the year. This is the kids' first chance to make their own decisions about spending, saving, and donating their StEP earnings for good behavior and classroom performance. Every student in the building, K–8, takes part in StEP, so it’s always a busy, high-energy day!

We were impressed: more than 75% of students earned a $50 StEP dollar bonus by introducing themselves, helping with the math, asking the bonus question, and completing the bonus activity in their books.

A huge thank-you to our amazing volunteers: Bryan, Mark, and Tate from RSM US LLP, who came out right after a big deadline; Jess from the UC College of Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services; and longtime volunteer Paula. We couldn’t do it without you!

Holy Cross students give generously to Ronald McDonald House Southwest Ohio.

10/16/2026

Our Susan Sargen Student Enterprise Program (StEP) headed to the west side to visit Springmyer Elementary on Thursday, where students practiced real-world money decisions. About one in ten saved every penny for a bigger purchase down the road, while stuffed animals were the most popular buy for those shopping that day. Springmyer students also showed exceptional generosity with their donations to Cincinnati Children's.

A huge thank-you to our outstanding Springmyer PTA, Cincinnati Ohio volunteers, Megan, Jane, Erin, Jessica, Kayla, Molly, and Jen, for their great conversations with the students at the checkout tables!

10/15/2026

On Wednesday, our Susan Sargen Student Enterprise Program (StEP) team spent the day with 3rd–6th graders at Covedale Elementary, and we had some great help. A big shout-out to our wonderful volunteers from Johnson Investment Counsel: Nick, Trey, Ashley, Tammy, Sully, Lisa, Lauren, and Donald Ennis!

Students loved interviewing the volunteers about their careers for their bonus question, and for the second day in a row, school supplies were the top seller (must be that time of year!). Covedale students donate to SPCA Cincinnati, and we were thrilled to see more than 90% of them choose to give some of their earnings for good behavior and classroom performance.

And one more thank you to Johnson Investment Counsel for donating three boxes of stuffed animals to the Center. (Swipe to the last photo to meet our new bunny friend!) We’re so grateful.

10/14/2026

Our Susan Sargen Student Enterprise Program (StEP) team spent Tuesday with students in grades 1–5 at Roberts Academy , and as always, it was a fun, busy day full of decisions about spending, saving, and donating StEP earnings for good behavior and classwork.

What we saw:
-School supplies were the top sellers by far, as students restocked what they’d run low on since the start of the year.
-Nearly a third of students saved every dollar for bigger-ticket items like gift cards and soccer balls. Delayed gratification in action!
-Many students also chose to give back, donating to the Roberts Academy Foundation to support programs at their school.

A huge thank-you to our volunteers from FBT Gibbons (Noir, Erin and Bennett) and Clark Schaefer Hackett (Trent, Julia, Jared and Isaac), Center Board of Trustees members Al Riddick and David Okun, and our loyal volunteer Paula. Days like this are possible because of your dedication to StEP and local students!

10/14/2026

Kroger plans to cut about 3,000 corporate jobs over the next three years, including positions at its Cincinnati headquarters, per an internal memo. The company says the restructuring will reduce costs, eliminate duplicated work, and lean more on technology.

Aaron Thomas from WLWT turned to Dr. Ben Brennan, senior research associate at the Alpaugh Family Economics Center at UC, to explain what the cuts could mean beyond Kroger’s bottom line.

Kroger plans to eliminate about 3,000 corporate positions over the next three years as part of a restructuring effort focused on reducing costs and expanding its use of technology, according to an internal memo obtained by WLWT.

10/12/2026

This morning our Susan Sargen Student Enterprise Program (StEP) team kicked off a two-store day at Bond Hill Academy, and the energy was impressive. Students in grades 2–6 couldn’t wait to shop with their StEP earnings for good behavior, attendance, and classwork, and they came ready with this quarter’s bonus question for our volunteers: “Where do you work, and what is your job?”

Huge thanks to Kayla, Tracie, and Megan from Messer Construction Co. for volunteering their time and sharing their career stories!

Over two decades at Bond Hill, we’ve expanded StEP to include second graders, and we’ve watched students build real-world skills: greeting adults with confidence, tackling bonus financial literacy activities, and asking great questions. And they give back, too: Bond Hill students donate generously to Ronald McDonald House Southwest Ohio, the school's chosen charity.

10/09/2026

On Friday, our Susan Sargen Student Enterprise Program (StEP) team visited North Fairmount, where 4th–6th graders at Roll Hill School put their money skills to work, deciding how to spend, save, and donate their StEP dollars earned through hard work and good attendance. The excitement in the room was contagious!

The surprise hit of the quarter? Our retro 1996 inventory. Scratch-and-sniff stickers and shuttle pens are flying off the shelves.

A special moment: we reconnected with Ava Van Praag, one of the keynote panelists at our 2026 Annual Awards, who is now a 5th grade teacher at Roll Hill! (That’s Ms. Van Praag and her class in the first photo.) Back in the spring, Ava was finishing up her teaching degree. It's great to see her in her own classroom now!

Huge thanks to our volunteers from Deloitte (Valerie, Delaney, Hayley, and Harris) for an incredible job with the students.

The Roll Hill students are always very generous to their chosen charity, Shriners Children's.

10/08/2026

Our Susan Sargen Student Enterprise Program (StEP) team visited Kilgour Elementary today to give students a chance to make decisions about spending, saving, and donating their StEP earnings for good behavior and classwork.

We welcomed 100 third graders to the StEP store, and these students came ready! Some saved every dollar for a bigger purchase down the road, others showed up with shopping lists in hand, and every single student completed the first-quarter bonus activity, earning more StEP bucks to spend. Several also chose to donate to the Ronald McDonald House Southwest Ohio, Kilgour's chosen charity.

A big thank-you to our friends at JPMorganChase, Ed, Jessica, and Center Emerging Leaders members Cam Gray and Kate Masson, for doing a wonderful job with the students at the checkout tables! We heard lots of great conversations about the kids' purchases and decision-making.

10/07/2026

Our own Co-Executive Director, Sue Heilmayer, was in Wooster today for a Financial Success Seminar with the Ohio Bankers League and Main Street Bank.

Sue led the session, which covered practical strategies for building a stronger financial future along with an important look at how to recognize and prevent fraud.

Thank you to OBL for the partnership and their work expanding financial literacy across Ohio, and to the Main Street Bank team for hosting and for their commitment to their community.

10/07/2026

StEP Stop #2: Holy Family School in Price Hill!

Second, third, and fourth graders gave a warm welcome to our Susan Sargen Student Enterprise Program team and five fantastic volunteers from the Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland: Shawn, LaToya, Derrick, Tish, and Leslie.

These StEP stores are the students' opportunity to make their own decisions about spending, saving, and donating their StEP earnings for good behavior and hard work in the classroom.

Our volunteers had some great conversations with the kids about saving money (we incentivize by paying interest).

The students were also curious about the volunteers' jobs, and how they ended up at the Fed.

We're only six days into the quarter, and if this first week is any sign, it's going to be a great one!