E Newsletter December 2007
Young Entrepreneurs Academy Launched at SUNY Geneseo
The Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!) made its State University of New York at Geneseo debut in October and is teaching 24 middle and high schools students from eight school districts how to start and run their own businesses.
YEA! is a nine-month program that teaches students how to develop a business plan, pitch to investors, obtain funding, launch their venture, and to manage media campaigns, e-commerce, web development, sales events and trade shows.
"Ultimately students carry out their functioning business after graduation,"says Gayle Jagel, Director and Founder of YEA! and Director of the Office of Special Programs & Part-Time Studies at the University of Rochester.
In the fall YEA! Geneseo students decided which of their businesses were viable and if they wanted to be sole proprietors or team up with business partners, explains Jagel.
Entrepreneur guest speakers, business mentors, and visits to local companies anchor the instruction around real-world applications, Jagel adds.
In November the class also took its first field trip to American Rock Salt Co. LLC hosted by CEO Joseph Bucci, who started the first successful salt mine to be built in the United States since 1960.
Since YEA!’s initial launch at the University of Rochester in 2004, 63 students have created more than 29 businesses in the nine-county area.
Additionally 82 local entrepreneurs and company executives have participated to date, including PAETEC, QED Technologies, JPMorgan Chase Bank NA, Time Warner Cable, and Greater Rochester Enterprise.
December 2007
