Edgewood Bakeshop, an artisanal bakery located in downtown Chetek, recently collaborated with University of Wisconsin-Stout business administration students to improve its operations and sales. Owner Bekah Stamps partnered with students from Lecturer Kayla Stajkovic’s Cost Accounting course, who analyzed the bakeshop’s real cost, sales, and operations data. Their project included studying break-even points, product decisions, and seasonal sales patterns before presenting their findings to Stamps.
“I was impressed with the level of professionalism I witnessed from the students in this class,” said Stamps. “There were multiple moments where I felt that I was sitting with an accounting firm I’d hired to deep dive into my business. These students have a bright future, and I’m honored to have been able to collaborate with them in this way.”
Stajkovic highlighted the value of small businesses as learning partners for students: “When students work with small businesses, they see firsthand how interconnected decisions are. Small businesses — especially newer ones — are often operating with limited resources while the owner wears every hat: operations, marketing, finance, HR,” she said.
Initially believing that bread was her main profit driver, Stamps shared her background and vision for Edgewood Bakeshop at the start of the project. However, student analysis showed that croissants could outperform bread depending on resource constraints such as oven time or labor hours.
“That shift from ‘Which product makes more money?’ to ‘Which product makes the best use of our limited resource?’ was transformational for the students. It moved cost accounting from a formula-based approach to a strategic decision-making tool. Several students commented that this was the moment when accounting stopped feeling procedural and started feeling managerial,” said Stajkovic.
Stamps acknowledged that her assumptions about bread were incorrect after reviewing the analysis: “My assumption about the bread was actually incorrect, and it caused me to think about ways to drive more sales with certain products that I wasn’t previously considering.”
The Office of Corporate Relations & Economic Engagement connects organizations and entrepreneurs with UW-Stout’s talent and resources for consultation and collaboration.
For many involved in the project, including business administration senior Emanuel Sanchez of St. Paul and junior Allison Lindner of Stratford, working directly with real-world data changed their perspective on business problem-solving. Sanchez noted increased confidence in making informed decisions despite incomplete information: “This project changed how I approach business problems by shifting my focus away from finding a single ‘correct’ answer to making informed decisions with incomplete information. I strengthened my analytical skills, particularly in applying accounting tools to real-world situations and clearly explaining financial results.” Lindner added that communication and open-mindedness were as important as calculations: “Overall, it has furthered my collaborative skills, ability to ask open-ended questions and assumptions, and understanding of the numbers in real operational challenges.”
Stajkovic observed growth among her students during this process: “Many began the semester unsure about cost accounting. By the end, they were defending recommendations to a real business owner using data they had analyzed themselves. That growth — from uncertainty to ownership — is exactly what experiential learning is meant to do,” she said.
Stamps described the experience as fun and informative for both sides: “It would be interesting to revisit some of these calculations in two or three years when Edgewood Bakeshop is further established to see what’s shifted and how the business has grown,” she said.
UW-Stout’s School of Management offers 20 undergraduate and graduate degrees focused on leadership development across several fields including business management.
UW-Stout is part of Universities of Wisconsin system as Wisconsin’s Polytechnic University; it emphasizes applied learning through collaborations like these between students and local businesses.
