Young Vermont teen entrepreneurs honored

On Monday afternoon, June 17th at a special awards’ reception at the VTC Williston Campus eight high school/technical center students from around the state were honored and received cash awards for their outstanding entrepreneurial business plan submissions in the 5th Annual VT REAL High School/Tech Center Entrepreneurship Business Plan Competition. Teachers, family and friends, school administrators, VtSBDC Advisors, judges, sponsors and other business representatives were present at the event. Those in attendance had a chance to hear from Linda Rossi, State Director of VtSBDC and some great words of advice from SBA’s newest Young Vermont Entrepreneur Award Winner – Ben Werlin, co-owner of Music Store Live.com.
As students prepared their plans over the 2013 spring semester they learned many new skills needed to address the components of a well-constructed business plan as well as enhanced their 21st Century Skills: communication; critical thinking; problem-solving; time management; collaboration; financial literacy; creativity and innovation; customer service/relations; social responsibility and civic and community engagement, plus more. These eight students’ plans were judged against 40 other student plans that were submitted in the competition.
Top Winners:
1st Place - Uyen Bui - For her overall business plan to serve the school/community – Winooski Thrift “Little Prices Big Support” – a thrift shop w/ cloths, kitchenware, small appliances, accessories and more to provide goods for the local community; to be owned and operated by the school and its Business Education Department/and students (Winooski High School)
2nd Place - David Riesner - For his wellness initiatives – and overall plan - Health Initiative - various health initiatives with one of its elements – a removable shoe sole that has a mileage tracker (Champlain Valley Union High School)
3rd Place – Leo Wrighton - For his overall plan – Obstacle - a small already existing start-up service business with charitable contributions – dedicated to providing mid-level obstacle races for less competitive runners (Green Mountain Career/Tech Center)

Honorable Mentions for:
• Green Environmental/Sustainability – Cade Knudson – Earth Turn Architects – a collaborative movement to create underground passive house designs that are energy efficient and environmentally sustainable (Champlain Valley Union High School)
• Financial Presentations – Lauren Blanchard - Little Bumble Bees Day Care – a caring, trusting, healthy and educational day care for children (Randolph Career/Tech Center)
• Identifying a Trend – Dan Faris – Faris Studios – a recording studio for young musicians interested in “making music” (Champlain Valley Union High School)
• Original Concept/Business Idea – Leif Mitchinson – Mitchinson Enterprises - a unique microchip that disables texting ability for the driver while the car is in motion “building a safer tomorrow”(Missisquoi Union Valley High School)
• Overall Business Plan Presentation – Shelby Jenkins – Top Paw Resort – a boarding facility and day care for cats and dogs “keeping your pets safe while you’re away” (Randolph Career/Technical Center)
VT REAL’s annual Business Plan Competition, co-sponsored this year by Opportunities Credit Union, New England Federal Credit Union, VT REAL and the Vermont Business Education Corp (VBEC) has given students a chance to shine; to explore their “be my own boss” dreams and practice the skills they honed through their entrepreneurial experiences while in school. The contest is always a great teaching tool for business, marketing, financial literacy, problem solving, creativity and citizenship topics, plus it’s designed to give students a real life experience within an educational setting.
“We want to encourage young people to adopt an entrepreneurial mindset, to explore the creative process of new venture creation, and to consider self-employment as a career choice. It is our hope that these skills will lay the foundation to help the students academically, personally, and professionally long after they matriculate from secondary education” said Laurel Butler, VtSBDC Start up Business Advisor – who helps to coordinate the competition and event.