On Saturday, May 14, a group of the youngest entrepreneurs in southeastern Virginia and northeastern North Carolina gathered in the boardroom at TowneBank near the Virginia Beach Oceanfront to be recognized as CEOs, or Cookie Entrepreneur Officers, for each selling at least 1,000 boxes of Girl Scout Cookies this year.

During the 2016 Girl Scout Cookie Program, 65 local Girl Scouts achieved this milestone.

At the luncheon, the girls enjoyed a three-course meal with Girl Scouts of the Colonial Coast CEO Tracy Keller and TowneBank executives, including Dawn Glynn, president of TowneBank Chesapeake-Portsmouth-Suffolk, and Jerry Kent, senior vice president and private banker at TowneBank Harbour View.

The girls were individually recognized and received the rewards they earned through the cookie program, as well as a briefcase and business cards to use for next year. Keller also asked each girl to share a selling strategy with their fellow cookie entrepreneurs.

“I keep track of my customers from the year before and call them up each cookie season for them to place their orders,” Suffolk Girl Scout Junior Claire Askew said.

During the luncheon, Keller took the time to specially recognize Ashleigh Peterson, a Newport News high school senior who has been the top cookie seller locally for the past seven years in a row. Since this was Peterson’s last year selling cookies, Keller presented her with a ceremonial key to the local Girl Scout headquarters and invited her to take over as CEO for the day on June 25. Peterson was also presented with a Junior Chairman’s Club Award by TowneBank. This year, Peterson sold 3,000 boxes of cookies, taking her lifetime cookie sales to 28,711.

The Girl Scout Cookie Program is the nation’s leading financial literacy and entrepreneurial program for girls. Through the program, girls learn skills that will last them a lifetime, such as goal setting, decision making, money management, people skills and business ethics.