El Molino High School has been piloting the Napa-Sonoma Small Business Development Center’s Youth Entrepreneurship Program (YEP) for the first time this Fall. The program has helped students learn small business skills while also teaching them how to develop a business plan. Students attended classes twice a week for four weeks with their business advisor, Evert Fernandez who is a Business Consultant with the Small Business Development Center.
The Youth Entrepreneurship program is being infused in the Career Technical Education (CTE) program and students from the digital media, culinary arts, and the agriculture programs are also participating. Fernandez brought in additional speakers who presented their experience with their businesses while also answering questions from students. Presenters included Herb Liberman the president of TOL Associates, Wayne Ingraham from LINK Creative, as well as John DeGaetano who is a former bank executive.
It is El Molino’s goal to support students in preparing for the basics of business and help them to be successful in any entrepreneurial choices they may enter. The U.S. Department of Labor’s research shows that youth entrepreneurship education promotes a variety of entrepreneurial skills as well as improved academic achievement, job readiness and interest in attending college.
Students recently submitted their business plans to the YEP eighth annual Youth Business Plan Competition and sophomore Ian Karybill’s business plan was selected as a finalist. He was invited to present his plan in Napa along with four other high school student finalists and five college student finalists. His plan was awarded a runner up award and Karybill won $150. Karybill’s business plan was called, “Creative Computers” and presented the idea of leasing and selling computer equipment as well as maintaining the equipments while also developing websites.
Karybill said he was excited to have his business plan selected and give a presentation to a panel of judges at Napa Valley College.
“I learned a lot about starting and running a business. We learned about maintaining finances, hiring and maintaining workers. We also learned a lot about marketing,” Karybill said. “One speaker talked with us about how crucial social media is today for marketing. It was a great experience to work on my business plan that could be used to help start and run a business.”
The Youth Entrepreneurship Program supports classes in Napa, Sonoma, Marin, Contra Costa, Alameda, and Solano counties. Although most of the high schools are in Napa and Sonoma, El Molino hopes to offer this program in the future to help develop students business and entrepreneurial skills.
~Submitted by Jacob Rich
