Applications are now being accepted for the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce’s 2013-2014 Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) that empowers South Florida students entering grades 7-12 to start their own small business from the ground up, with instruction, inspiration and mentorship from local business leaders.
YEA! is a groundbreaking educational program – held in collaboration with the Florida Atlantic University College of Business’ Adams Center for Entrepreneurship and The Golden Bell Scholarship Fund – that takes students through the process of starting and running real businesses over the course of a full academic year. Students work in close cooperation with local leaders of industry, community members, and educators to develop ideas and objectives, write business plans, pitch potential investors, obtain funding, register with governmental agencies, develop their brand identity and more. By the end of the class, students own and operate fully functioning businesses that can be carried on after graduation.
“YEA! helps students embrace their passion, energy, creativity and talents, launch a venture, and view entrepreneurship as synonymous with success and freedom,” noted Beth Johnston, Executive Vice President of the Greater Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce who has served as Director of the YEA! Program. “What is most exciting about this program is that young people begin the YEA! class as students and end as CEOs of their own businesses. They learn and feel the exhilaration of making a job—not just taking a job…long before they even enter college.”
Students must be creative, energetic and interested in entrepreneurship. Weekly classes are located at the Florida Atlantic University College of Business’ Adams Center for Entrepreneurship from 4:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays. The 2013-2014 class kicks off in September and ends in early May.
Applications are now available online at www.bocaratonchamber.com/yea, and must be postmarked on or before June 15th. The selection process, which requires an interview, is competitive; with admission limited to 24 students and granted on a rolling basis, applicants are urged to apply early. Applications will be accepted until such time as the class cap is achieved. Tuition is $395; scholarships are available based on need and merit.
Johnston noted that this year’s YEA! student enterprises ranged from a teen photography business, an air-conditioning filters company, an environmentally conscious school fundraising program, a UV cutlery kit that sanitizes utensils in between usages, to websites that sell lacrosse and soccer gear, a soon-to-be patented product for baseball players and a blended aerobics/yoga/meditation fitness program to science fair kit company, an online yearbook ad creation program, hair bow company, an educational game and an online nonprofit teacher/public portal assist in raising funds for music instruments in schools. Boca Raton resident and sophomore at Pine Crest School Bronsen Bloom, who founded the nonprofit Musical Cares(www.musicalcares.net) to offset the costs of providing music in education, was chosen as Boca’s “Saunders Scholar Semi-Finalist” by a panel of judges for an all-expense paid trip to Rochester, NY becoming a finalist representing the Boca Chamber and competing with the other YEA! locations around the country (41 of them).
Students hailed from several local area schools, including Boca Raton Middle School, Eagles Landing Middle School, A.D. Henderson University School, Spanish River High School, Boca Raton Community High School, Coral Springs Charter School, Atlantic High School, Pine Crest School, Saint Andrew’s School, Boca Raton Christian School, St. Joan of Arc and Pope John Paul II High School.
Two students from the inaugural class are continuing to grow their businesses:
The inaugural Boca Raton Chamber’s YEA! class winner – 13-year-old Rebecca Zerbo from Eagles Landing Middle School –won the national competition (competing against 24 other YEA! businesses) with her Positive Pocket nonprofit (www.positivepocket.org) and received a $30,000 college scholarship. This month, Zerbo went from “pocket cards” to launching a Positive Pocket fashion jeans line on KickStarter following its debut at the recent TEDX event.
16-year-old Sam Steiner submitted his SeniorLink Consulting business to the 2013 Miami Herald Business Plan Challenge and won first prize this month in the competition’s High School Track. This Saint Andrew’s School sophomore’s affordable service helps senior citizens to stay connected with teens teaching seniors how to use and master the computer.
“YEA! is an amazing experience that allowed me to bring my business to the next level,” said Bronson Bloom, CEO of Musical Cares, who participating at the national competition made his nonprofit’s first out-of-state donation of musical instruments toYoung Women’s College Prep Charter School (YWCP), Rochester’s first and only all-girls, public school, and offers students the opportunity to learn in a single-gender environment where a strong focus is placed on leadership and literacy to achieve its goal of 100% graduation and college enrollment.
Justin Bentayou, an 8th grade Eagles Landing Middle School student who is CEO of Pitch Perfect Products, reports that YEA! is “perfect for any creative student ready to make their ideas come to life.”
“I would not have been able to start my business without the valuable resources and mentorship provided by the YEA! Program and the Boca Raton Chamber of Commerce,” adds Danny Nelson, a senior at Saint Andrew’s School who is CEO of Limelight Illuminations.
Seventh grader Rachel Zietz from Pine Crest School, who serves as CEO of lacrosse and soccer gear retailer MyLaxGirl.com, confirms “this program allows students to develop their entrepreneurial skills and get help from successful entrepreneurs.”
“The Young Entrepreneurs Academy has been an amazing experience and is a great stepping stone toward my future,” said Carly Manzella, Spiritually Fit creator and junior at Boca Raton Community High School.
For more information, students and parents should contact Beth Johnston, Boca Chamber Executive Vice President and YEA! Program Director, 561.395.4433 ext. 236 or bjohnston@bocaratonchamber.com