The first-place team with Visions FCU Financial Wellness Officer Lucy Spena (far left), Greater Binghamton Chamber Talent and Education Director Rose Olsen (second from right), and SUNY Broome Career Specialist and team coach Val Carnegie (far right).
On May 28, local business leaders visited SUNY Broome to serve as mentors to local high school students interested in entrepreneurship.
During the Junior Achievement Entrepreneurial Youth Summit business creation challenge, students spent the morning learning about defining a business problem, creating a solution, building a business, and pitching a business plan.
Serving as two of the competition’s six judges, SUNY Broome Workforce Development Senior Staff Assistant Sarah Armstrong (seated at left) and Small Business Development Center Business Advisor Robin Alpaugh (seated at right) listen to a team’s pitch.
Small groups of students from different schools partnered with an adult mentor for guidance. At pitch time, each group member presented a portion of the team’s idea to a pair of judges. The three teams with the highest scores repeated their pitches to the entire assembly, and all participants voted on the winners. Each winning team member went home with a Dave and Buster’s gift card plus other prizes, and everyone enjoyed lunch before leaving campus.
Students’ ideas ranged from a food truck that would serve high schools, marketing thrift clothing to teens, and other innovative business plans. Participating school districts included Binghamton, Chenango Valley, Johnson City, Maine-Endwell, Susquehanna Valley, and Windsor. Business mentors from ADEC Solutions USA, Dave and Buster’s, Express Employment, Greater Binghamton Chamber, NAACP, Small Business Development Center, Smith Site Development, SUNY Broome, and Visions Federal Credit Union donated their time to coach teams through the event.
The third-place team (from left) Anthony Maione (Maine-Endwell junior), Tristen Durham (Binghamton sophomore), and Tyshawn Rowland (Johnson City senior) giving their presentation to the entire assembly.
Said Jeff Anderson, SUNY Broome Dean of Liberal Arts and Business & Professional Studies, “Allowing students to experience the entire process, from identifying a business problem to formulating a marketable solution is so valuable. Whether or not they go on to be entrepreneurs, understanding how it works brings knowledgeable individuals into the workforce and community.”
Event sponsors included ADEC Solutions USA, Core America, The Agency, SUNY Broome, The Greater Binghamton Chamber of Commerce, Dave and Busters and 7 Brew. Thank you to the Greater Binghamton Chamber and GBEOP for organizing the event.
Submitted by: Workforce Development
Tags: Workforce Development
