By CHRISSY SMITH
Slidell news bureau
SLIDELL – Small business owners.
It is something kids dream about becoming one day when they are older, but now thanks to a handful of local busi ness people in Slidell, that dream is becoming a reality even for young people still in school.
Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) is a national organization that has been brought to the local stage by a Leadership Northshore Group here in Slidell. Slidell Memorial Hospital’s Director of the Physician Network Bruce Anzalone, and the East St. Tammany Chamber of Commerce’s Ann Bowser are forging the way with the program.
“Ann and I were in the 2014 class, and this is a great program for kids, sixth through twelfth grades, that runs for 30 weeks. The kids learn different segments about business and how to succeed,” Anzalone said. “When I was in high school, I was in a program where I was allowed to work for half a day during school hours. It was what helped me get where I am today, and if I can do that for kids, I will never give up that chance.”
The Young Entrepreneurs Academy is a yearlong class that transforms middle and high school students into real, confident entrepreneurs. YEA!’s mission is to develop and deliver exciting, experience-based entrepreneurship programs to young people to enable them to transform their ideas into real enterprises that create economic and social value for a better world, develop the character for tomorrow’s leaders, and enable educational institutions to provide successful entrepreneurship and social innovation training programs for youth between the ages of 11 and 18 around the country.
Bowser said after the 30 weeks of learning, students will go into a “Shark Tank” like situation, which is similar to how the show “Shark Tank” happens.
“We have an investor panel, which is from First Castle Federal Credit Union in Slidell and Slidell Memorial Hospital, as well as others, who will invest anywhere from $1,000 to $5,000 if a student has a good enough idea. Some of these investors will be interested in getting involved, and the YEA! Program will get things rolling,” Bowser said.
Classes start in November, and up to 25 students can attend the academy. The application deadline for the academy is Wednesday, Oct. 15, and Anzalone said spots are filling up fast.
“It’s an after school activity and doesn’t take up any of their school time. Class will be for three hours a week,” Anzalone said.
Throughout the class, students develop business ideas, write business plans, conduct market research, pitch their plans to a panel of investors, and actually launch and run their own real, legal, fully formed companies and social movements. Complete with dynamic guest speakers from the local business community and exciting behind-the-scenes trips to local companies, the fun, projects-based YEA! approach empowers students to take charge of their futures in a profound way.
While the group was brought to St. Tammany Parish just last year, it was founded in 2004 at the University of Rochester with support from the Kauffman Foundation, and today the Young Entrepreneurs Academy serves thousands of students in communities across America. In 2011, the United States Chamber of Commerce and Campaign for Free Enterprise became a national sponsor and partner of the Academy to help celebrate the spirit of enterprise among today’s youth and tomorrow’s future leaders.
The Young Entrepreneurs Academy is not only a great tool to teach students about business, but also a great way to build confident leaders with values. YEA! continues to expand across the country to fulfill our mission of teaching more students how to make a job, not just take a job.
“We hope that the kids who attend this academy will go to college and come back here and run a successful business,” Anzalone said.
For more information or to apply for this year’s academy, call Bowser at 985-643-5678.