A group of 10- to 12-year olds will prove that they have what it takes to run the world — or at least a small town filled with Pittsburgh’s top businesses.

Inside Junior Achievement of Western Pennsylvania’s new BizTown, a true-to-life simulation that mirrors a thriving Pittsburgh-area community, students will have the chance to become community leaders, corporate CEOs and workforce members for a day.

While inside the 10,000-square-foot town, students will serve in roles ranging from town mayor to a salesperson at #1 Cochran to a radio DJ at Star 100.7 — and everything in between.

The town is nestled in Abele Business Park in South Fayette and features a community center and some of the region’s most prominent businesses, from Sheetz to Giant Eagle, that look just like the real deal.

“It’s going to showcase the jobs of the future to our young people,” said Dennis Gilfoyle, president and CEO of JA of Western Pennsylvania.

JA BizTown will open to students Jan. 28.

JA BizTown is a “capstone program” that allows students to put into practice everything that they’ve learned through 12 lessons taught to them in class, said Maura Teti, director of capstone programs. In class, students will learn about financial literacy, business management and workforce readiness. They will practice writing checks and even elect one of their peers to serve as their mayor. They will apply for jobs and be interviewed by their teacher.

Then, they have the chance to put all of it into practice with a 4½ hour visit to JA BizTown.

“There’s a lot involved in it,” Teti said.

Junior Achievement has BizTowns all across the country.

For Gilfoyle, it’s been a 20-year dream to build one in Pittsburgh. In the past few years, after a trip to Junior Achievement in New Jersey, he was determined to make BizTown come to life here.

After finding the right location, thanks to the help of Burns & Scalo in South Fayette, Pittsburgh-area businesses started stepping up and donating their services. Numerous businesses helped make the project come to life, and some even became sponsors. There are 19 Pittsburgh-area businesses that built storefronts with operational interiors inside Pittsburgh’s BizTown. From UPMC to Highmark, students will have the chance to run each business.

Gilfoyle said it is important to have businesses that are “reflective of this region’s economy, not only now, but in the future.”

Students will have the chance to work in trades, financial services and the food industry.

Each business will have a volunteer working inside to help students learn about the industry where they’re employed during their field trip.

BizTown can hold between 80 and 125 students at one time. The goal is for 3,000 students to use BizTown between the end of January and end of May.

Within three years, Teti said, they hope to reach capacity, with 12,000 students learning at BizTown each year.

The hope is that the students will begin getting ideas for careers and possibly find the job of their dreams that day.

“These are Pittsburgh-based companies, some have been around well over 100 years, that are hoping to stay but again need a good workforce to maintain their business,” Gilfoyle said. “What an opportunity this is to let them get immersed in this kind of learning and work in a Giant Eagle or work in a Sheetz (at a young age).”

Unlike other JA programs, schools will be asked to pay $25 per student who participate in BizTown’s program. Junior Achievement is working with local organizations in various communities hoping they will help fund student participation in their own communities, Gilfoyle said.

Across the nation, BizTown has proved to be successful. Gilfoyle tells the story of a boy who decided on his career just from that one day. It helps students understand the value of staying in school, learn the value of math and make career decisions early on, he said.

“You see their faces light up,” he said of students when they enter BizTown.

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