DECATUR - A takeover is planned at Decatur's 300 Below Inc. this summer.

Not a hostile move by an outside corporation, but five students who are part of a reality television show to film from June to July at the local business.

"CEO Intern" will feature students from Babson College of Wellesley, Mass., and Olin College of Engineering in Needham, Mass., acting as "group CEO" for the Decatur cryogenics company for eight weeks.

Prescott Paulin, a former Decatur resident and student at Babson, said his idea for the show was to give it a business focus, encouraging the students to work together for the sake of running a business.

"Our goal is to create a positive reality television series that shows America's 5.2 million small businesses ¦ how they can improve themselves through creativity, innovation and teamwork," said Paulin, associate producer of the show. "At the same time, we would like to educate our audience on how they can solve organizational conflict through examples of the younger students working together with the sales force at the company."

Babson is the top entrepreneurial business school in the nation, and Olin is known as "one of the new Ivies" by 2007 Kaplan, an educational company.

The five students of the two adjacent colleges, one being a Babson MBA candidate, will endure the test of carrying out day-to-day decisions of 300 Below Inc., the world's largest and oldest commercial cryogenic processing company.

The students will be housed at a cabin in Central Illinois, but on weekends, they will travel around the na ;tion to meet with business executives and entrepreneurial visionaries in Boston, New York City, Aspen, Colo., and Chicago, according to a news release.

Paulin said the students will be schooled on cryogenics as a science and 300 Below Inc., including work examples of NASCAR and Indy racing engines, weapons and optics used by the U.S. military, musical instruments and metal tools.

"The students are not being brought in to disrupt employees," he said, "but rather to help them improve the business through new products, services and techniques that we can feature on the show."

Prescott Paulin's father, Pete Paulin, who is CEO of 300 Below Inc., said some young faces will add "a fresh set of eyes and ears and minds" to the company.

"In today's world, it's constantly crucial to re-invent yourself to be a better company for your customers," Pete Paulin said. "We're excited about the enthusiasm of the youth coming into this mature company ¦ We're ready to shake up the operation."

With his employees averaging age 55 and the students averaging 20, Pete Paulin said it will be a learning experience for all.

He added he understands that the students "won't be right 100 percent" of the time.

"It'll be interesting to see what these students, who'll come together for eight weeks, can bring to the table," he said.

Prescott Paulin said a few things still are in the works with the show - for example, whether to include challenges for the students. "We're playing around with the idea right now," he said.

They are presenting the idea of the show to "entertainment venture capitalists and production companies" in hopes they will pick it up for television, Prescott Paulin said. He added they are seeking an investment of $100,000 toward the show.

Also, the program is offering the opportunity for local high school students to assist the production crew during the summer. Applications and more information can be found at www.CEOintern.com, under "Jobs."

Alicia Spates can be reached at aspates@herald-review.com or 421-6986.