YEA! kicks off the next generation of entrepreneurs

Twenty students on Maryland’s Eastern Shore  are gearing up to be the next generation of entrepreneurs. Students  ranging from 6th through the 12th grade have been getting a crash course on how to launch their very own product and build customers.  YEA! which stands for Young Entrepreneurs Academy is a year long entrepreneurial curriculum that originally developed in Rochester, NY and has recently been brought to the Maryland’s Eastern Shore through the Salisbury Area Chamber of Commerce.

Sophia Smecker, the Program Manager of YEA! tells us , “This isn’t like a fake business that they’re all pretending to work on this is their real business and their real passion.”

Smecker  and local mentors has been guiding the students as they create their products that will be leading up to them launching their business. The students are currently prepping for the investor panel. The investor panel is where the students will be pitching their business plans to a group of local investors, Shark Tank-style.  Each group can ask for a total of maximum of $1,000 from the investors. One of the groups pitching will be Parkside High School juniors Benyam Ephrem and Adit Abraham who have developed a smartphone app called “Rootine.” The app is designed to help the user set goals and stay on track to achieve them.

Benyam Ephrem tells us that presenting can be a little nerve-racking ,”Initially my hands kinds of shake but once you’re up there it is much easier when you’re out there.”

Ephrem and Abraham tell us they still have some things to tweak, but overall they’re happy with the progress they’ve made since the program started.  

“The growth I’ve see is just incredible, they are confident in their business idea and they are excited and that’s really great to see,” says Smecker.

The investor panel will take place on March 30th at 6PM at Salisbury University and the event is open to the public.

For more information on YEA! click here.