Youth Entrepreneur Showcase Announces Top 25 Finalists
Top 25 Finalists Announced for 2015 Youth Entrepreneur Showcase Fifth- through Eighth-Grade Business Plan Competition
The Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation (AEAF), an affiliate of the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group in Little Rock, announced the finalists of its 10th annual Youth Entrepreneur Showcase (Y.E.S.), a business plan competition for elementary, middle, and junior high school students in grades five through eight. Below are the finalists in alphabetical order by team name:
- All Around the World, Washington Middle School, El Dorado
- Bluff’s Desserted Candles, Scoggins-May-Hall GT Center, Pine Bluff
- Bracelet Inc., Manila Middle School, Manila
- Distressed Designs, Hazen Elementary School, Hazen
- Erase Away the Dirt Soap Co., Cotter Public Schools, Cotter
- Funtime Drumtime, Washington Middle School, El Dorado
- Halo’s Bath Bombs, Manila Middle School, Manila
- Head Drama, Pinkston Middle School, Mountain Home
- Magnetic Imagination, Pinkston Middle School, Mountain Home
- Magnetic Masterpieces, Cotter Public Schools, Cotter
- ParaPeopleProducts, Manila Middle School, Manila
- Phone Sock Products, Manila Middle School, Manila
- The Plug Hug, Prairie Grove Middle School, Prairie Grove
- Portable Pocket, Prairie Grove Middle School, Prairie Grove
- Pucker Pops, Omaha Public Schools, Omaha
- Secrets of Survival – SOS, Omaha Public Schools, Omaha
- Sleevies, Washington Middle School, El Dorado
- Steel Style, Hazen Elementary School, Hazen
- Stick-O-Butter, Pinkston Middle School, Mountain Home
- TABs, Carlisle Elementary School, Carlisle
- Tie-Dye Treats, Forest Heights STEM Academy, Little Rock
- TOWELetry Rolls, Carlisle Elementary School, Carlisle
- Trash 2 Treasure Returns, Cutter Morning Star School, Hot Springs
- Uplifting Cycle, Omaha Public Schools, Omaha
- V.H.S. Item Box, Prairie Grove Middle School, Prairie Grove
The teams will now compete in the 2015 Y.E.S. for Arkansas Business Expo, which will begin at 10 a.m., Friday, Jan. 16, at Park Plaza in Little Rock. Each team and its teacher advisor will have a booth to showcase their business ideas and sell products to Park Plaza patrons. Judges will be on hand during the expo to select first- through fourth-place winners in the following categories: Best Business Plan, Most Innovative Product, Best Marketing Piece, and Best Retail Booth Display. The winners will be announced by representatives of AEAF at Park Plaza at approximately 1:30 p.m. AEAF awards cash prizes of $1,100 to the advisors of the four top teams in each category ($4,400 total). Cash prizes of up to $1,050 are awarded to all students who are members of the top three teams (up to $4,200 total). The four teams in each category also receive a trophy. AEAF received 242 business plans from 35 schools in 14 counties throughout Arkansas. Seventy Arkansans volunteered to judge the plans. Since AEAF created Y.E.S. for Arkansas in 2005, more than 6,400 fifth- through eighth-grade students, plus their teacher advisors, have participated in the business plan competition. AEAF has awarded more than $60,000 in cash prizes. The Arkansas Capital Corporation established AEAF in 1999 as a private, non-profit corporation dedicated to education-based initiatives that promote and foster the development of innovation and entrepreneurship within Arkansas. With broad support from the state’s business community, AEAF’s purpose is to nurture people and ideas to generate future Arkansas entrepreneurs. The Arkansas Capital Corporation Group of companies empower entrepreneurs by providing capital in conjunction with community banks to businesses through its capital availability products and advocating for entrepreneurs through capital, educational, and technological improvements. The Arkansas Capital Corporation Group serves as the platform from which new opportunities are launched. In addition to the flagship company, Arkansas Capital Corporation, there are seven affiliate and partner companies, including, Six Bridges Capital Corporation, Arkansas Capital Relending Corporation, Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation, Heartland Renaissance Fund, Connect Arkansas, Pine State Regional Center, and SouthWind Analytics. To learn more, visit www.arcapital.com.
