Youth entrepreneurs (from left) Lane Cox, Jayden Hutchison, Christianne Crunkleton and Kaylee Middleton, all from Cotter, display their products at the 2015 YES Expo Day at Park Plaza in Little Rock.
A team of youth entrepreneurs who appear ready to sell their wares through online marketplaces like Little Rock’s Bourbon & Boots were among the top winners at Friday’s Youth Entrepreneur Showcase Expo Day at Park Plaza.
Distressed Designs, made up of two 11-year-old sixth-grade students from Hazen, won three of a possible five first-place awards at the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation event, which brought together the top 25 teams in the Youth Entrepreneur Showcase for students in grades 5-8.
More than 700 students from 35 schools from across the state took part in the competition, which annually recognizes student entrepreneurs in the following categories: best business plan, best marketing, best retail booth display, most innovative, and new this year, best sales pitch.
Distressed Designs from Gracen Scroggins and Gracie Brown and adviser Lisa Martin took home top prizes in best marketing, best booth and best pitch. The girls are marketing picture frames made to look like antiques and designed to complement “distressed” furniture. Each frame costs $15.
Each of the 25 teams that displayed at Park Plaza are winners, selected from a pool of 242 submitted business plans, and each of them worked in small groups led by teacher advisers to develop and market their business concept.
Video: Watch THV 11 News’ coverage of the showcase here.
The remaining two categories not won by Distressed Designs — Best Business Plan and Most Innovative — were won by Magnetic Imagination of Pinkston Middle School in Mountain Home. Sixth-grader Ethan Johnson created his own Lego-style building blocks equipped with magnets on the end.
Each set is sold for $10 and comes in a metal box to which the pieces can be stuck. Johnson’s adviser is Kristi Nelson, who advised another Pinkston team that placed in two categories.
For a full list of Friday’s winners (the top four placed in each category except sales pitch, where one winner was named), click here.
Friday’s results capped an impressive two-year run for Martin’s Gifted and Talented students at Hazen. Last year, the Wonderful Wireworks team (of which Brown was a member) took home wins in the business plan and marketing categories.
“These kids came up with the idea on their own after seeing some distressed furniture in another teacher’s classroom,” she said. “It was so trendy, and that got them interested in making the frames to go with it. They’ve worked really hard and shown a lot of dedication.”
The Distressed Designs frames currently are being sold in three businesses in Hazen and Carlisle, and Martin the girls plan to sell them at school once they build up their inventory. The process the girls use to make the frames, cut from wood by Martin’s husband and dad, entails painting, sanding and applying an antique glaze before adding burlap with hot glue.
Martin said the girls work on the frames in her class, and it two to three class periods to complete one frame.
“We liked doing it and figured it was a good idea to keep doing it,” Scroggins said.
Other business ideas presented on Friday included Stick-o-Butter from Mountain Home, flavored rolls of butter that can be maneuvered through a tube like a push-pop; Pucker Pops from Omaha, a healthy, frozen pickle juice treat; and Trash 2 Treasure Returns from Cutter Morning Star in Hot Springs, toilet paper rolls recycled into decorative wall decor.
Winning team members in each category received a $100 cash prize and a medal for first place, while the advisers won $500 and a trophy. Second, third and fourth place winners and teachers in each category also received prizes.
AEAF, an affiliate of the Arkansas Capital Corporation Group, also sponsors the YES 2.0 for high school students (grades 9-12) and the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup business-plan competition for college students.
AEAF created the YES competition in 2005 and roughly 2,000 students in grades 5-8 have competed with more than $22,000 in cash prizes awarded.
Arkansas Capital Corporation CEO Rush Deacon presented the prizes, and said the number of intents-to-compete represented a record number this year while the number of plans submitted was the second highest for the competition.
“We had several new schools competing this year,” he said. “Entrepreneurship can start at an early age. The lemonade stand is a perfect example, and this is a further push from that.”
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