Local Girl Scout one of top cookie sellers for Montana and Wyoming

Kiley Huravitch, of Chinook, was recently named a "top Cookie Entrepreneur" for the Girl Scouts bi-state council that includes both Montana and Wyoming (GSMW). As part of this year's celebration of the 100th anniversary of the iconic cookie sales program, GSMW named its 100 top cookie sellers and recognized them with a special patch. Kiley, who will be a third grader at Meadowlark Elementary next year, sold 1006 boxes of cookies.

She's no stranger to cookie sales sharing "this was my third year selling." Girl Scouting includes girls from kindergarten through high school. Kiley sold "more than 500 boxes both as a kindergartner and a first grader." Asked about the 1000 goal she set for herself this year, she explained, "I just wanted to sell a lot more than I had before." For her efforts, in addition to a patch for her Girl Scout vest, she will go to this year's Girl Scout summer camp at no cost thanks to her outstanding cookie sales.

Ashley Picard is Product Sales Manager (top cookie czar) for the Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming (GSMW). From Billings by phone she said, "Cookie sales are not just about fund raising and rewards for individual sellers. Girls are learning financial literacy skills, business planning, recordkeeping and honing their self-presentation and selling skills." She shared that 80% of women business owners were once Girl Scouts. This year's top cookie seller for GSMW, a Scout from Great Falls, sold 3500+ boxes.

The Girl Scout cookie celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2017

Interestingly, Girls Scouts selling cookies is nearly as old as the organization itself.

In 1917, just five years after Girl Scouting began, moms and their Scouts in Muskogee, Oklahoma began baking cookies at home and selling them in their high school cafeteria as a service project. In 1922 the national scouting magazine published a recipe that would make six to seven dozen cookies, at home, for around 25 cents. At that time there were 2000 Girl Scouts in the U.S.

In 1933 the Greater Philadelphia Council baked cookies and sold them in the windows of the city's gas and electric company offices. A year later that council was the first, nationwide, to begin selling commercially baked cookies. By 1936 the national council began licensing commercial bakeries to produce Girl Scout cookies. Over the years the number of licensed bakeries varied to as many as 29. Recognizing the need for consistency and quality control, by 2000 there were only two bakeries producing Girl Scout cookies for the entire country.

The only break in the 100-year tradition of selling Girl Scout cookies occurred in 1944 during World War II. Shortages of sugar, flour and butter forced Scouts to find new fundraisers. In 1944 they sold calendars. After the war, demand came back so strong for the cookies that 29 bakers were licensed to make the cookies.

It wasn't until the late 1970's that all cookies were packaged in uniform boxes. Varieties of cookies have come and gone, some endured. Picard, with GSMW, said the most popular regional cookie in 2017 was Thin Mints, with a 28.9% share. Samoas, at 26.3% market share, were a close second. Kiley Huravitch said locally Thin Mints and Samoas were also her best sellers. Kiley's mom, Heather, said, "A new variety this year, S'mores, was very popular and the local troop sold out of them almost immediately."

Girl Scout cookies, in many ways, reflect changing nutrition and selling trends of the entire country. Back in the 1990's the first 'sugar free, low calorie' cookies became available. This year was the first time gluten free cookies were produced. And Girl Scout cookies are now available online-the digital mode of selling. Heather said of the digital sales, "This method seems more useful in big cities where it might not be safe for girls to sell door-to-door or they can't get access to sell in front of businesses or other public places." With families living far apart, the digital cookie sales allow a grandparent across the country to buy cookies from a granddaughter.

What works best for selling Girl Scout cookies?

Back in March, 15-year old Katie Francis was a guest on "The Tonight Show" as she sought to break the all-time career record for cookie sales. Show host Jimmy Fallon purchased the 101,106th box of cookies from Katie. The Oklahoma City native's major selling technique was to stand in front of stores and sing 'cookie tunes'-popular songs with words she made up to sell cookies. By the way, that 100,000+ record covers Katie's seven years of selling. Still, that's impressive.

For Kiley, there are really no top secret approaches to selling a 1000 boxes of cookies. She said, "I take orders from people I know. I visit businesses and take orders. And sometimes I just go door-to-door and visit people I don't know." Kiley sold 25 boxes through the Scout's new online digital sales program. Mom Heather said, "The digital sales is handy for family and friends that want to buy cookies from a distant Scout." Bonnie Weber, at The Creamery in Chinook, allowed the girls to have a booth sale at the store. That process provided an additional sale of 200 boxes.

I wanted to ask Kiley about her future goals for cookies sales since she has several more years to take a crack at the 100,000 mark. But I could tell she was tiring of the interview, plus she had a softball game to play after we talked. She seems to be a girl who is used to multi-tasking already in the third grade.

Interested in becoming a Girl Scout?

The Girl Scouts of Montana and Wyoming is made up of 8700+ girls and about 2900 adult leaders. It's partly about Girl Scout cookies, but also a lot more, like learning life skills that prepare girls for a changing and challenging world. For more information about Girl Scouts in Montana, go to http://www.gsmw.org or call 800-736-5243. The local Girl Scout sign up happens around the beginning of school each fall with announcements sent through the schools or posted on local media.