Junior Achievement USA has recognized the staff and board of directors of Junior Achievement of Central Iowa with the 5-Star award for the first time in more than 20 years. The recognition is for meeting or exceeding JA USA’s operational standards for compliance, student impact, operational efficiency, financial stability and sustainability. Criteria for the 5-Star honor include student impact growth, ending the year with a surplus and meeting standards for debt ratio, current ratio and cash-on-hand. “Several years ago, Junior Achievement of Central Iowa set forth a vision to ‘transform the organization from 0 to 5 Stars,’ said Ryan Osborn, president of Junior Achievement of Central Iowa. “I’m grateful to the benefactors, volunteers and education partners who joined and invested in our mission; we’re excited about the path we’re on and the role we can play to better empower Central Iowa students to create a bright future.” During the 2021-2022 school year, Junior Achievement of Central Iowa served 21,718 students with 297,469 instructional hours.