Inspiring a new generation of entrepreneurs
On Friday, MSU’s Ostrander auditorium was filled with entrepreneurs ready to pitch their newest ideas to a panel of judges in the hopes of winning top honors. One by one, each team came forward to show their product video. Afterwards, they fielded questions from the three judges about market competition, markup prices and more. Standing in their sleek business suits, answering questions with quick knowledge, these entrepreneurs exuded confidence and reliability.
That’s pretty impressive considering they were a bunch of high school students.
“I am beyond proud of this camp,” said Dr. Brenda Flannery, dean of MSU’s College of Business. “Kids don’t want to wait until they’re in college to start some of these things.”
Friday’s event was the culmination of a weeklong entrepreneur camp, “Start It Up!” organized through a partnership between Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest, Inc. and MSU’s College of Business. It’s been in the works since last November, when the folks at Junior Achievement managed to snag a substantial grant from the Otto Bremer Foundation. From there, they approached Flannery about creating a curriculum and hosting a summer camp.
According to Flannery, faculty at MSU worked with local businesses and entrepreneurs to offer the best possible curriculum in a one-week time frame. The camp was a mix of classroom lectures by MSU faculty members, teambuilding activities, networking and field trips to area businesses. Lectures focused on everything from perfecting “elevator pitches” to recognizing market competition. Some activities included kayaking down the Minnesota River, attending a Mankato MoonDogs game and visiting the Taylor Corporation’s Innovation Center.
Shane Bowyer, a professor of business at MSU, acted as the camp leader throughout the week, herding kids to activities and upholding the basic structure of the itinerary. He said it’s important to start inspiring kids to pursue their entrepreneurial dreams before they headed off to college.
“You need to get that spirit in them and establish that knowledge, so that when they go to college, they’ll be able to see more opportunities and jump into business experiences a bit quicker,” he said. “High school students can start businesses too. The whole point of the camp was building that entrepreneurial spirit in students and building those business skills.”
Throughout the week, the 33 campers also had to come up with an idea for a product and create a short video pitching it to a panel of judges on the last day. And some of the ideas these high school students came up with were pretty exciting. One team pitched an app called “Remember the Date,” which not only reminded users of important upcoming dates but also would sift through people’s social networks to find their interests and suggest gifts (these campers earned the judges’ “Future Entrepreneur Award”). Another team designed an app called “My Oven,” which would sync up to a device in a person’s oven and turn it off before the food cook burn by regulating the food’s temperature.
“I can’t wait to see these products on the market,” said Brian Lipschultz, a trustee of the Otto Bremer Foundation. “I would buy them all.”
LaChelle Williams, vice president of operations for Junior Achievement of the Upper Midwest, was just as pleased.
“It was an awe-inspiring week,” she said. “Watching the campers’ transition… they are a better version of themselves. We need to plant seeds young.”
The campers also were quick to share how much they had enjoyed their time at camp and how much they had learned.
“It was amazing,” said Matu Kelly, one of the creators of the “My Oven” app. “I learned a lot, especially about being open to opportunities that come your way.”
Fellow student Natalie Konopka added, “I really liked how it gave us a real world view on entrepreneurship and helped me on my path to starting my own business.”
The hope is to make the “Start It Up!” camp an annual event.
