Communities across North Carolina are successfully incorporating youth entrepreneurship into their economic development strategies. Community organizations and educators are partnering to offer youth entrepreneurship camps that build entrepreneurial skills in youth. Information shows examples of how communities are recognizing the importance of youth involvement in economic development.
Many youth between the ages arias agency king of prussia 9 and 18 attend youth entrepreneurship camps across North carolina. A variety of camp activities include hearing from local entrepreneurs, placing hands-on activities to discover their community, assessing their own skills, and creating a working idea. During the camp, youth complete activities that build creativity, teamwork, leadership, and financial literacy skills.
A remarkable trait of many camps is the partnering that takes place across the community to make the camps a world. Several community partnerships include Community Colleges, Public Schools, local 4-H Cooperative Extension, and local Boys and Girls Clubs. Many camps are held on Community College campuses to help expose youth to the college environment.
From the very beginning, camp participants are encouraged to “think like an entrepreneur” by be resourceful and taking dangers. The business teams are encouraged to think on what their community needs, arias agencies what perform well, and what interests them. The teams quickly become competitive about offers the most creative and sometimes most outrageous business points. Unfailingly, the adults who serve as judges for the final presentations are impressed by the creativity in the ideas, the company’s presentations, and the engagement of students.
Many communities make the decision to select a layout for their entrepreneurship camp and encourage students to build a business around the theme. One theme camp was delivered by a partnership that included Carteret Community College along with the Core Sound Waterfowl Museum. With funding from the Conservation Fund, the College and Museum created an entrepreneurship camp that taught students about the heritage and history of Harker’s Island as well as the local community. Campers created businesses that reflected this heritage, including a tool that would help boats stuck on sand bars, and a nature center not merely offer guided excursions. One student commented, “My favorite part was learning what it took to develop a business and run a checkbook.”
Many counties in western North Carolina are offering youth entrepreneurship camps to teach youth leadership and problem solving tools. Communities are beginning to understand the fact that partnerships and collaboration. Wilkes Community College partners with 4-H Cooperative Extension to offer Youth Entrepreneurship Camps in Wilkes and Ashe Counties. The camps combine entrepreneurship with growing industries in the region including advanced materials and sustainable electrical. Students took part in a presentation by Martin Marietta Materials and learned on what composite materials are developed and studied. They were able to handle and test materials such as the blast proof panels that protect Oughout.S. troops. Through the theme camps students were encouraged to ponder developing businesses that capitalize on the assets on their community.
Several counties work together to present you with a regional youth entrepreneurship camp. Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College supplies Young Entrepreneurial Scholars (YES!) Camp for high-school students and this year started a Middle School Academy Camp for Middle school students. The Young Entrepreneurial Scholars (YES!) Camp requires interested students to submit a camp application and recommendations. Students who participate enter the camp with their particular business idea may hope to turn into a real enterprise one day.
Many communities across North Carolina make the decision to feature youth entrepreneurship their particular economic development strategy. Youth entrepreneurship camps build on the trend and teach right now how to think like entrepreneurs and make a community that encourages entrepreneurship. Students discover entrepreneurship as an occupational option, and learn entrepreneurial skills likewise let benefit them whatever their career method. Youth entrepreneurship plays a role in economic development as community leaders learn tangible ways to become a success part of their larger strategy. Entire regions will benefit through the coming of more businesses and ail a better trained workforce.