MASON CITY – The North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (Pappajohn Center) will again be conducting the Youth Entrepreneurial Academy (YEA) on June 13 – 17, 2022. With generous financial support from the John K. and Luise V. Hanson Foundation will once again make this a free event for the students participating. YEA is now entering its 25th year of providing a unique entrepreneurial education to 25-30 individuals. The academy has been designed to help students launch their own businesses with a chance to earn seed money using a curriculum called Lean Canvas.
The NIACC Pappajohn Center has extended invitations to all North Iowa high school students via area high school guidance counselors. Marketing materials and applications have been sent to all area schools. 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. The deadline to apply is May 16 or until full.
The Academy will be held Monday-Friday from 8:30 am-4 pm daily. The objectives of the Youth Entrepreneurial Academy 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.”
Participants are eligible for an automatic $500 Youth Entrepreneurial Academy Scholarship if they choose to attend NIACC following their high school graduation. Students can participate two years if they don’t win seed monies the first year. The students will receive gas cards to pay for the week’s travel from their homes or the NIACC Campus View Student Housing will be available.
Additionally the top business ideas will receive $500 in seed money for their businesses they develop during the week.
For more information, please contact Kelley O’Rourke at the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at 641-422-4234.
