Ten Fentress County students will pitch their business ideas to local judges this weekend for a chance to win a $1,000 cash prize.
Biz Foundry Youth Coordinator Jessica Hinton has taught over 150 students in the area how to start their own businesses. The upcoming event features participants ranging from 11 to 16 years old who have developed concepts varying from service industries to app creation.
“We have a vast variety of different ideas, and the kids have been working relentlessly to put this together,” Hinton said. “And it’s going to be pretty amazing to watch them go up in front. We have three judges that are all local business owners in town that will be judging them. The winner wins a thousand dollars.”
The competition begins Saturday at 1:00 p.m. upstairs at the Jamestown courthouse. The event is free for the public to attend and support the young entrepreneurs.
“Whatever their heart desires,” Hinton said. “So we have one gentleman, he is a mobile mechanic currently, and so he’s pushing his mobile mechanic business. We’ve got a few other children that are thinking of different app creations. We have a couple children that are thinking about a location like, there’s not much entertainment in our county, and so they’re thinking about how they can bring an entertainment factor into Fentress County, indoor-type of activities.”
Participants are learning to identify issues in their community and develop actionable solutions rather than just wishing for change. The process focuses on building confidence, public speaking abilities, and the determination required to see a project through.
“They’re learning the value of themselves, you know, and what they can accomplish with their ideas,” Hinton said. “And ultimately they’re looking at problems that they’ve seen and how they can solve it, not just saying, ‘Oh, I wish this was built,’ or ‘I wish this happened.’ You guys can make that happen. So they’re giving confidence, public speaking, determination, a sense of competition, hard work, you know, stamina.”
Hinton noted that Fentress County is one of the lower-income areas in the state, but she emphasized that economic status does not determine a child’s potential. She draws from her own experience of taking an entrepreneurship class in seventh grade, which eventually led her to start a successful business later in life.
“To do it,” Hinton said. “Don’t wait, just do it. You know, it might seem overwhelming and might seem, ‘How do I start?’ We have this lovely thing called the internet, YouTube, and that if they just make the first steps and they do a little bit each day, that they will see a huge growth within a year.”