National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge To be Held October 3, 2007 in NYC

NEW YORK – Laura Cote, an 18 year old high school graduate in Westchester County, N.Y., got the inspiration for her business, Happy Cuts, while working at a hair salon on the weekends and watching young children scream while getting haircuts.  Derron Scott, a student at Largo High School in greater Washington, D.C., began his fashion accessory business, Rizon Esthetics, to help his mother pay down a mortgage and two car payments with his father in and out jail his entire life.

Autumn Perez, a 17 year old freshman at SUNY Delhi and graduate of Tilden High School in Brooklyn, took her idea for The Kush! from brainstorm to reality.  Evin Robinson, a 17 year old senior at Science Skills Center High School is a slightly different kind of entrepreneur.  He found a way to blend traditional entrepreneurship with a greater social cause in his business InspiRing.     

On Wednesday, October 3, 2007, Cote, Scott, Perez and Robinson, along with 28 other high school students from around the country will vie for financial awards at the second annual Smith Barney/NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge. The first place winner will walk away with $10,000 in seed capital to fund their business venture or use to further their education goals. The competition will take place at the City University of New York Graduate Center, located at 365 Fifth Avenue.  All of the competing students were first and second place winners in NFTE-sponsored regional high school business plan competitions.

All the business plans include start-up costs, expenditures – down to the cost of paper and pencils – return on investment (ROI) and sales, and projected growth.  Each student also develops a philanthropic component to make their services available to low income customers while highlighting the importance of corporate responsibility.

As a more pleasant alternative to the barber’s chair, Laura Cote came up with the idea of cutting children’s hair in their own room at home, while providing a bagful of toy distractions and candy rewards.  She developed a business plan and has successfully expanded this venture within her own neighborhood.  “It made me realize there is a lot of planning involved in starting a business and making it successful,’ said Cote.

Derron Scott has been successfully running his business out of the trunk of the family car for four years. He is currently building an online boutique.  “My father was and still is a big influence on my life. Even when I saw him doing the wrong things he told me to never be like him; he wants me to be better than him,” said Scott. “My plan for the future is to build my online boutique, have my shirts featured in various retail stores and expand my knowledge of the business as well as the fashion industry.”

When carrying her heavy shoulder bag became too much of a strain, Autumn Perez did more than whine.  She invented a tool to make carrying purses, computer laptop bags, sports bags and book bags easier.  She calls it The Kush!  From hand stitching the first prototype, to meeting with lawyers on patent regulations, to finding a reasonable manufacturer without outsourcing, Autumn has come a long way from that first spark of an idea!  After nearly a year of hard work and expert mentoring, she is poised to move into the big time. 

When Evin Robinson  realized that many of his female classmates faced added social pressures trying to fit in, he found a problem he wanted to help solve.  Most young men might thank their lucky stars that it was none-of-their-concern and move on, but not Evin.  Evin is a new breed of young entrepreneur who sees business opportunity in addressing issues of social concern.  His business, InspiRing, sells “right hand rings, symbolic of female empowerment.”
 
“Pretty much every young person has owned a business – usually a lemonade stand,” said Steve Mariotti, NFTE’s president and founder.  “This rite of passage ignites the powerful feelings that go hand in hand with being your own boss and reaping the financial rewards. But for kids from low income and/or minority families, selling lemonade is often the first and last business they may ever run.  Not the case for these inspiring teens,” said Mr. Mariotti.

From online fashion magazines, to a landscaping service, to computer restorations and math tutoring services, these inner city students work all year long to develop revenue-generating businesses.  They will have the opportunity to showcase their business savvy at this year’s annual competition before a prestigious panel of judges from business, philanthropy and sports.

Our distinguished panel of judges includes:

Hal Biagis, Deputy Counsel, National Basketball Players Association
Ben Casnocha, Author, My Start-Up Life
Cheryl L. Dorsey, President, Echoing Green
Peter Kellner, Founder & Managing Director, Richmond Management LLC
Andrea Miller, Founder & CEO, Tango Media
Justin Rockefeller, Co-Founder & National Program Director, GenerationEngage
Blanca I. Rodriguez, JD, Former Partner, Kreindler & Kreindler LLP

The master of ceremonies for the evening competition will be Marshall Kaplan, a Smith Barney Managing Director in the Private Client Investment Strategy Group.  The program will also feature guest speaker and successful entrepreneur, Scott Griffith, President & CEO of Zipcar.

NFTE’s entrepreneurship education program teaches students in low-income communities the business skills to start their own small business, while reinforcing academic, life and financial literacy skills. NFTE’s goal is to give young people the skills and confidence to unlock their true potential, so they can improve their lives and their communities.

According to research conducted by the Harvard Graduate School of Education on students participating in NFTE programs, entrepreneurship education may be powerful in helping students stay on the academic track and aspire to attend college.

The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship:
The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship (www.nfte.com) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, whose mission is to provide entrepreneurship programs to young people from low-income communities.  Since 1987, NFTE has reached over 180,000 youth. NFTE currently has active programs in 21 states and 13 countries.