Mobile students win startup cash in Young Entrepreneurs Academy competition
From left Jon Ross Sanders, Eric Lee, Genevieve Tillman, Messiah Williams, Dominique Williams and Isabella Frank were among those who took part in presentations Monday night as part of the Young Entrepreneurs Academy program. (Robert DeWitt/Alabama NewsCenter)
Could Shoe Boo revolutionize over-the-counter orthotics and make the company’s owners millionaires? If it does, part of the credit goes to the Young Entrepreneurs Academy sponsored by the Mobile Area Chamber of Commerce in collaboration with the Alabama School of Mathematics and Science (ASMS) and the University of South Alabama.
Dominique Williams and Isabella Frank won $1,000 in startup money and a chance to compete nationally against other student entrepreneurs later this year at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s America’s Small Business Summit. A panel of judges selected their business from a pool of seven student businesses launched as part of the program.
Williams and Frank were among 13 ASMS students who took part in Mobile’s first Young Entrepreneurs class. The students gave five-minute presentations to help judges decide how much of a $6,000 pot each business would receive.
Emily McGrath on Mobile’s Young Entrepreneurs Academy from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
The money was donated by Alabama Power, Chalkable, Sam’s Club, Warren Averett, Workshops Etc! and the Ben May Charitable Trust. Students also invested their money into their businesses and, in some cases, got investments from relatives and friends.
“I thought the business plans were extremely well-thought out,” said Andy Newton, president and CEO of Southern Light and one of the judges. “It was structured. You could tell they had been well-coached.
Catherine Minor talks about her business idea for Fruity Beauty from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Panelist Mel Washington, regional manager and lead counselor for the Alabama Small Business Development Center at the University of South Alabama, deals with entrepreneurs and sees business plans every day. The student presentations compared favorably, he said.
“What impressed me was the quality, the confidence that these students exhibited and the knowledge they possessed,” Washington said.
Eric Lee talks about Odyssey, his idea for a virtual reality dating service from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
Young Entrepreneurs Academy is an after-school program with about 3,000 graduates who have launched 1,700 businesses. It was founded at the University of Rochester in 2004. The U.S. Chamber of Commerce became the national sponsor in 2011. Mobile is one of 168 programs nationally.
The presentations were the culmination of a 30-week program that began with a selection process that included essay questions and interviews, said Emily McGrath, director of workforce development for the Mobile chamber. The students received extensive training and mentoring from teachers at ASMS and from instructors and professors at the University of South Alabama.
“I thought it was fantastic,” McGrath said. “It exceeded my expectations, which were pretty high.”
McGrath said she was pleased to see how far students progressed in a short time. They started with little knowledge of how a business works but by the end of the program were able to present a business plan and speak confidently and knowledgeably about topics like financial statements.
“It shows how much hard work the students put into the program,” McGrath said.
The winner, Shoe Boo, was pitched as a moldable shoe insert.
“No one should sacrifice comfort for fashion,” Williams told the judges. The insert could be moved from shoe to shoe, and Franks and Williams believe they can price it competitively with products in the market. It has the advantage of being customizable.
Student products ranged from a tutoring service for poor children in rural communities to custom T-shirts tied to events for college fraternity and sorority members.
Genevieve Tillman talks about her business idea for Perk Packs from Alabama NewsCenter on Vimeo.
“I decided that this was a nice test run to see if I can do this and even make some extra money for college,” said Genevieve Tillman, a junior from Mobile.
Tillman pitched a business she will call Perk Packs. Judges rewarded her presentation to the tune of $720. It is a business that assembles “care packages” that parents send students when they are away from home at school. Other businesses sell care packages but her business would allow parents to personalize their packages to a greater degree.
“The idea is to put more love and care into care packages,” she said.
Eric Lee’s business dealt in a different kind of love. Odyssey would be a virtual reality dating site in which people meet and get to know each other through avatars. The advantages include allowing people from anywhere to meet each other, and women don’t have to be alone with someone they’ve never met.
“It’s going to save time and money and it’s safe,” said Lee, a senior from Dothan. “With other dating sites, you have to meet the person. You have to spend time and money, and what if the date doesn’t work out? It gets rid of the travel time and spending money on actual dates.”
Lee’s business got the largest block of funding at $1,200.
Catherine Minor, a senior from Aliceville, believes others share her concern about chemicals in cosmetics. Her company, Fruity Beauty, would start out with a lipstick pigmented by organic fruits.
“A lot of cosmetic products have carcinogens and chemicals in them,” said Minor, who received $600 for her business. “A lot of lipsticks contain lead. If you’re a daily user, lead can build up in your body over time. This doesn’t have those carcinogens and chemicals.”
For her, it was a natural blending of two things she enjoys.
“I like cosmetics and I like organic products,” she said with a smile.
Other student businesses and the funding they received were: Anasofia Guajardo, Wesley Oliver Sung-Hoon Park and Ambria Walker for Diddo Case, $500; Messiah Williams for Rural Rebuilders of America, $880; and Jon Ross Sanders for Southern Scenes, $600.
Washington said he was impressed with the progress students made. He believes entrepreneurship should be a part of education. He hopes the program spreads to other schools.
“If we’re really going to build our economy, we need students who come out of school knowing how to run a business,” he said.
