April 2, 2021
Sponsored by the Manhattan Beach Chamber of Commerce, the Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA) is a year-long program that teaches students in grades 6 through 12 how to start and run their own businesses. The Investor Panel took place last week
Twelve students pitched their business ideas to a group of 5 investors for real money to start their business. Each student gave a 4-minute pitch outlining their business idea, the competition, marketing plans, and their financing strategy.
Some students have products, some have services. Many will keep their business local while others will take their business online and make it available well beyond the beach cities. Overall, the last six months of brainstorming and researching an idea, writing the business plan with a mentor, learning about various aspects of business, and hearing from other successful entrepreneurs paid off-they did an AMAZING job!
The class was 100% Zoom based but despite the lack of human connection these students rallied and made the best of an unfortunate situation. A few students applied to the class with the intention of starting a business with a friend but for the most part the students did not know each other when the class started in October of 2020 and have never met face-to-face. Can you believe it?.
The students came from a variety of schools this year including Mira Costa, MBMS, Chadwick, Adams Middle School, Torrance West High, Bishop Montgomery, and PV Intermediate School.
One student is selected to represent the MB Chambers chapter at the national Saunders competition to be held in June. The student selected at the event last week was Hunter Williams, CEO of Brushed. Runner-up was Katherine Jester of Kat’s Cookie Kit. Hunter will compete against students from all over the country for college scholarships to the Rochester Institute of Technology.
