Youth Entrepreneurship Camps Expand
Posted: August 1, 2019 12:00:00 AM CDT
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Rural Development (CERD) at UNK had an active summer hosting youth programs and teaching students about starting and operating a business. The Lemonade Stand program kicked off the summer camps in the first week of June. This was offered to students entering the 4th and 5th grade who take part in the Kearney Community Learning Center (KCLC) program. An evening workshop was also offered to all students in the community who are not already involved in KCLC. Participating students learned business concepts including marketing, calculating profit and loss, food safety, and customer service. After learning about starting a business, the students were given the opportunity to set up their own lemonade stand and sell at the Kearney Night Market.
After the Lemonade Stand, Biz Kidz took place on the UNK campus. At his entrepreneurship camp, middle-school aged students learned how to start a business of their own with marketing, pricing their products, pitching their business, customer service, and more. This year’s guest speaker lineup included Isaac Mertens from Brandon Built, Michole Yaw from American Family Insurance, Lizzie Wheatley from USA Communications, and April Myers from Nebraska Enterprise Fund. The camp concluded with a public expo at the Kearney Hy-Vee where students set up their businesses and sold their products. They also had additional opportunities to sell at the Kearney Night Market.
For the first time, CERD took the Biz Kidz camp on the road. The camp was taught in Red Cloud, Nebraska in a retail bay at the National Willa Cather Center. In addition to the business lessons, the students took a business tour of Red Cloud businesses each day. These tours included Hometown Market, Jared's Auto Expert, a visit from R Family Farms of Lebanon, KS, and Shades West. The students finished the camp with an expo held along main street in Red Cloud where they sold their products. There was great support from the local businesses and community of the camp and the young entrepreneurs who took part in it!
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Rural Development is excited to continue to teach and grow these camps!
After the Lemonade Stand, Biz Kidz took place on the UNK campus. At his entrepreneurship camp, middle-school aged students learned how to start a business of their own with marketing, pricing their products, pitching their business, customer service, and more. This year’s guest speaker lineup included Isaac Mertens from Brandon Built, Michole Yaw from American Family Insurance, Lizzie Wheatley from USA Communications, and April Myers from Nebraska Enterprise Fund. The camp concluded with a public expo at the Kearney Hy-Vee where students set up their businesses and sold their products. They also had additional opportunities to sell at the Kearney Night Market.
For the first time, CERD took the Biz Kidz camp on the road. The camp was taught in Red Cloud, Nebraska in a retail bay at the National Willa Cather Center. In addition to the business lessons, the students took a business tour of Red Cloud businesses each day. These tours included Hometown Market, Jared's Auto Expert, a visit from R Family Farms of Lebanon, KS, and Shades West. The students finished the camp with an expo held along main street in Red Cloud where they sold their products. There was great support from the local businesses and community of the camp and the young entrepreneurs who took part in it!
The Center for Entrepreneurship and Rural Development is excited to continue to teach and grow these camps!
