By Kylie Rowe

A group of passionate young entrepreneurs arrived on the Georgia College & State University campus earlier this month to learn how to start their own businesses. Six central Georgia high school students pitched their "big ideas" at the end of a weeklong business boot camp sponsored by the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship at GCSU.

The Rural Youth in Business program introduced students to the basics of starting a business. 

“They had classes on what a business plan looks like and how to write one, how to pitch that business plan, how to develop a financial plan, and how to use social media to market their business,” said Dr. Nicholas Creel, associate professor of business law and director of the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship, who planned this year’s camp.

The program encouraged high schoolers to broaden their entrepreneurial knowledge and prepare for their futures, in part by immersing themselves into college life. Participants attended the program at no charge, including living in a GCSU residence hall for the week and eating meals in The MAX dining hall.

Creel combined daily business classes with sessions led by local business owners and professionals, including Kara Lassiter, president and CEO of the Milledgeville-Baldwin County Chamber of Commerce; Carlee Shulte, executive director of Milledgeville Main Street; and retired businessman Steve Chambers, a Milledgeville City Council member who owned Chambers Cleaners downtown.

The students also spent a day at the Georgia College Maker Space lab learning to use 3-D printers and other advanced manufacturing equipment. This field trip aimed to teach the students how to better utilize available resources when starting and maintaining their business.

The program culminated in a pitch competition, where students presented of their business plans. The final plans included competitive research, strategic rationale and the costs and profits of their business proposal.

Big Ideas for Business

Kingston Jenkins – a student from Baldwin County High School – proposed Fresh Cycle Mobile Laundry. Jenkins’ business is a mobile laundromat that comes to communities most in need and provides affordable packages for families.

Jenkins’ pitch focused on the emotional appeal making the consumer feel better about themselves while providing a needed service. “I’m here to have your clothes cleaned and to make you feel confident,” Jenkins said.

Alaysia Cobb from Burke County High School in Waynesboro, Georgia, researched how art improves mental health. Her dream is to start a company that uses a benefit corporation model not focused on profits, but on improving mental health by selling her own art to fund art classes for others.

Baldwin County student Sariah Hill pitched Smart Snacks: Vending for the Future focused on improving community health. Hill’s business plan envisioned smart vending machines to provide healthy alternatives in places where the community needs them.

“What sets me apart is my community-first mindset,” said Hill.

Other students who attended RYIB include Kyler Fryer, a student at Lake Oconee Academy, and Nakayla Lundy, from Baldwin County High School. Fryer pitched an automobile detailing company for the Greensboro area and Lundy presented her homemade cookie business in Milledgeville, Kayla’s Treats & Co.

Community leaders like Lassiter and Shulte are eager to support the area’s promising young business leaders. Both the Chamber of Commerce and Milledgeville Main Street offer an array of grants and matching funds to start and grow local businesses.

"I truly enjoyed talking with the students and hearing their creative business ideas. From the Chamber’s perspective, we are proud to support initiatives like this that nurture the next generation of local entrepreneurs and strengthen our community’s economic future," Lassiter said.

Lassiter encouraged the RYIB students to enter the Chamber’s Youth Entrepreneur Program competition this fall. YEP is “designed to inspire and empower high school juniors and seniors with an interest in business, leadership and innovation” and the Chamber provides the top 10 competitors with seed funding to start their business.