MASON CITY – This summer, area high school students have an opportunity to learn the ins and outs of starting a business and becoming their own boss. And it won’t cost them a cent.
By participating in the Youth Entrepreneurial Academy at North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC), students will transform ideas and passions into a viable business plan. Participants are eligible for an automatic $500 scholarship if they choose to attend NIACC following their high school graduation.
The Youth Entrepreneurial Academy (YEA) will be held June 16-20 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. The objectives are to expose students to entrepreneurship, provide students with an opportunity to apply their skills and creativity, help students understand critical thinking skills and give students another career option of being a “job creator” instead of a “job taker.” The students will receive gas cards to pay for the week’s travel from their homes. Additionally the four top business ideas will receive $500 in “seed money” for the businesses they develop during the week.
With generous financial support from the John K. and Luise V. Hanson Foundation will once again make this a free event for the students. YEA is now entering its 17th year of providing a unique entrepreneurial education to 25-30 individuals. The academy has been re-designed to help students launch their own businesses with a chance to earn seed money using a new curriculum called Lean Canvas.
By sharing marketing materials and application forms with high school counselors, the NIACC Pappajohn Center extended invitations to all North Iowa high school students. Applicants are asked to complete an application packet including a personal and parent recommendation followed by a student essay and interview with Pappajohn Center staff by a priority date of April 18, 2014.
For more information, please contact Tim Putnam at the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at 641-422-4192 or putnatim@niacc.edu.
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