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January 2009 News

E Newsletter January 2009

Young Entrepreneurs Academy Helps Students Recognize the Power of their Ideas, and Turn Them into Meaningful Enterprises

The Program
The Young Entrepreneurs Academy, or YEA!, is a groundbreaking educational program that takes students in grades six through twelve through the process of starting and running real businesses over the course of a full academic year.

YEA! teaches middle and high school students the process by which one establishes a business enterprise or social movement. YEA! students develop their business or social movement ideas and objectives, consider the underlying opportunities and value proposition, write a business plan, make a pitch to potential investors, obtain funding, open bank accounts, register with governmental agencies, develop and manage media campaigns, establish e-commerce, a web presence, run sales events, trade shows, and file tax returns with the help of community volunteers. Community support strengthens YEA!, and YEA! strengthens the community.

Students are taught to recognize the power of their ideas, and to turn those ideas into meaningful enterprises. Unlike a simulation model, at the end of the YEA! program, students own and operate fully formed and functioning businesses, which may be carried on by students after graduation. Gayle Jagel, Founder and CEO, and former Director of the University of Rochester’s Office of Special Programs (OSP) created the Young Entrepreneurs Academy in 2004, with financial support from the Kauffman Foundation. The Kauffman Foundation made a university-wide grant to the University of Rochester to embed entrepreneurial components into educational curricula at each of the student levels addressed at the University, including, in the case of OSP, the target demographic of middle and high school students.

Successful Implementation of YEA!
Over the past four years, more than 100 students have participated in YEA! and 50 student enterprises have been launched at YEA! YEA! has graduated four classes of students at the University of Rochester, and students were able to attend YEA!’s second location at the State University of New York – Geneseo in the fall of 2007 with student scholarship support from WIRED. This fall, three additional new locations were started – one at Niagara University, and two new modules for delivery in high schools were commenced, one in Greece, New York, and one in Lake Zurich, Illinois.

With a proven track record and nearly five years of operating experience at the University of Rochester, the successful replication and launch of four additional YEA! locations, YEA! is poised to present this dynamic program to post-secondary educational institutions nationwide for program adoption so that its benefits can be realized by young people across the United States.

“I truly believe that the entrepreneurial background I developed through YEA! is one of the underlying reasons behind my acceptance to the Harvard Business School MBA program. In my Harvard interview and in one of the essays, I spoke about my experience with YEA! and with starting my business, Bubble Tea Mania. Not only do you gain personally from the program, but when people hear that you actually participated in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy and you started your own business at a really early age, they’re genuinely impressed.” - Habibe Hakiqi, age19, Co-Founder of Bubble Tea Mania, YEA! Graduate Class of 2005, senior, University of Rochester

Success Stories
Ani Patel, YEA! Graduate Class of 2008, CEO, Intel4India Pittsford-Mendon Freshman's Big Idea Now a Business-- Reported by: WROC-TV, Wednesday, Oct 8, 2008 @03:25pm ESTThere's something that bothers Ani Patel every time he visits India. "I always noticed beggars on the floor, on the street," Patel said.

"I really wanted to help them, so I thought of this idea to help them." It's more than just an idea. Now, it's a business.

It's an English class that kids in rural India can take online via webcam. Why English? Ani says it's their ticket out of poverty.

"Nowadays, without English, in India, you can not get a good job or go to a good college," he said.

Any business needs backing. Ani is a member of the Young Entrepreneur's Academy. After their investor panel heard about his idea, they liked it so much, they backed him with $2,000. "Since they gave me that amount of money, I think that they believe in my company, that it will grow," said Patel.

Here's how it works: Ani has hired an English teacher who logs onto a webcam and teaches a group of students who are paying twenty five cents a month. Schools there do have internet access, and the school pays Ani's company, Intel 4 India, another $11. 140 kids have signed up so far. Still, the 14 year-old Pittsford-Mendon student has big dreams.

"I want to stick with this. Make this into a really successful company," Patel said.

The best part? Ani says his success hinges on the success of the people who are taking the intercontinental English lessons for a way out of poverty.

Ani and his social movement Intel4India--teaching kids in rural India English as a Second Language were featured in Success Magazine, November 2008 Issue, and will be mentioned in Newsweek.

Veronica Gauer, YEA! Graduate Class of 2008, CEO, Suite Dream Designs Veronica was one of five finalists in the USA in the Mind Your Own Business Innovator Contest, offered by Cosmo Girl and By Kids For Kids! The 15 year old entered Suite Dream Designs, her web-based business that allows users to design rooms online and then order the accessories from participating vendors. Veronica developed the project while participating in the Young Entrepreneurs Academy at SUNY Geneseo.

Eric Meyer, YEA! Graduate Class of 2006, CEO Spotlight Video Productions, CEO, Young Scholar Adventures In the fall of 2008, Eric became a freshman at the University of Rochester. He is the recipient of the University’s Frederick Douglass and Susan B. Anthony Award as well as one of 100 young entrepreneurs nationwide to receive an entrepreneurial scholarship from the McKelvey Foundation, in recognition of the two small businesses he created and currently operates. His first enterprise, Spotlight Video Productions, was founded in 2004. His second endeavor, Young Scholar Adventures, is a company that organizes academic enrichment programs for elementary and middle level students

Trevor Burns, YEA! Graduate Class of 2006 Trevor was a major player in the "Don't Txt N Drive" campaign, which urged students not to text and drive at the same time. Trevor’s motivation was the tragic loss of five students from a neighboring school district in an auto accident where texting may have played a role. In March Trevor presented the project at the NYState DECA Competition and placed 1st in the entire state. Trevor credits YEA! with his success.

Joe Eckert, YEA! Graduate Class of 2007, CEO Teen Work Connections Joe Eckert joined the University of Rochester community as a freshman in the fall of 2008. He was a finalist in the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation, which aims at educating young people interested in starting their own small businesses. He was a recipient of the WROC/HSBC Student Leadership Scholarship, the Wegmans Scholarship and a Paychex Scholarship. He is the co-founder and CEO of Teen Work Connections, a website where teens can search for job and internship opportunities and businesses can find and contact teen applicants.

Kerry Huang, YEA! Graduate Class of 2008, CEO, Scentsations Kerry is currently in the midst of launching Scentsations, a retail company that creates and sells pendants you can fill with perfume. With the help and support of YEA! Instructor and CEO of NextStep Magazine, David Mammano, 14-year-old Kerry and her two partners learned how to approach and maintain a relationship with the overseas manufacturer who creates the product. He also helped them set up a company website, www.scentsationsjewelry.com.

Kristina Chartrand, YEA! Graduate Class of 2008, CEO, Teen Night Out Kristina Chartrand is a senior at Honeoye Falls-Lima High school and graduate of the YEA! Geneseo class of 2008 on a WIRED scholarship. She is an athlete participating in soccer, cheerleading and snowboarding. In July 2008, Kristina earned the Rotary Youth Leadership Award and a scholarship to attend a Youth Rotary Conference. She is the CEO of Teen Night Out, a website for Rochester teens to find fun and safe things to do.

Sheel Tyle, YEA! Graduate Class of 2005, Founder & CEO, Holiday Helpers Sheel began his freshman year at Stanford University in the fall of 2008, after graduating a year early from Pittsford-Mendon HS. He is one of 25 students nationwide to receive the SAMMY award, and has the opportunity to appear in a “Got Milk?” advertisement > , to run in USA Today and ESPN Magazine . He has also won academic-based awards from Coca-Cola and Toyota. He plays tennis and was a member of Pittsford Mendon’s Section V Class AA-winning team in 2008. He is the co-founder of Holiday Helpers, a retail business that sells gutter clips for holiday lighting, allowing easy access to lights in tough places.

Neil Allen, YEA! Graduate Class of 2005, CEO, Toy Time Neil Allen is a 10th grader at Pittsford Sutherland who participated in YEA! Rochester from 2004-2005. He helps run the company Toy Time which has brought the marshmallow projectile shooter to upstate New York. Neil, along with four Toy Time employees worked with a Florida manufacturer of the shooter to successfully buy and market the parent safety award winning toy. Neil is also a member of the Sutherland Varsity Soccer team. In his spare time Neil loves to golf.

John Johnson, YEA! Graduate Class of 2008, CEO, Running Wild Paintball John Johnson started Running Wild Paintball while in the YEA! Geneseo class of 2008 on a WIRED scholarship. As part of the class, he started a website, www.runningwildpaintball.com, that sells paintball supplies, and offers paintball equipment repair and information. In May, 2008, John opened his own paintball field in Nunda, NY. He recently has been filmed for an episode of WXXI's syndicated show, "Biz Kids", which is set to air in Spring 2009.

For more information contact:

Young Entrepreneurs Academy, Inc.
Gayle Jagel, Founder & CEO
gjagel@yeausa.org
585.272.3535