Greenbrier High School participates in statewide Y.E.S. competition

The third annual Youth Entrepreneur Showcase (Y.E.S.) student business plan competition's recent first-round deadline rendered a record-setting 229 plans for Arkansas children in grades 5-8, including plans from Greenbrier High School. In 2006, 141 business plans were submitted and in the first Y.E.S. competition 84 teams participated.

"It is evident that Arkansas's pool of young entrepreneurs is growing," Arkansas Capital Corporation Chief Executive Officer, Sam Walls, said. "With this type of substantial program growth, we anticipate many innovative entrepreneurs to emerge in Arkansas."

Arkansas's Youth Entrepreneur Showcase is a statewide business plan competition initiated in 2005 as a collaborative project for middle school students. It is sponsored by the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation, an affiliate of the Arkansas Capital Corporation, with support from the Arkansas Council on Economic Education; the Wilbur D. Mills Education Service Cooperative; and Regions Bank. Many Arkansas business executives served as volunteer judges to assist in selecting the qualifying team finalists.

Teams compete for prizes in four categories: business plan, innovation, marketing and retail booth display. Winning team members on the 1st place team in each category receive a $100 cash prize. The teachers of the winning 1st place teams take home an additional $500. Trophies are awarded for all first, second, and third place winners in each category, and teams can win in more than one category. All team finalists also received a T-shirts for participating.

Y.E.S. encourages Arkansas's middle school students to act on their ideas and talents in order to produce tomorrow's businesses. By requiring students to create a business plan for the competition, students apply what they have learned in the classroom to a real world setting. In short, Y.E.S. provides Arkansas's students with a forum from which they can experience entrepreneurship.

Each of the 229 business plan submissions were researched and written by a team of two to five students. Each group was responsible for presenting their unique entrepreneurial plan with a company overview, product/service description, marketing plan and financial plan. These remarkable, young and quite advanced for fifth through eighth graders, are proving that their innovation, creativity and impressive organizational skills are paving the way for a bright economic future for Arkansas.

The business plan submission is only the first stage in the Y.E.S. program. Twenty-five finalists will be selected in November who will then be tasked with creating a marketing piece and eventual display booth for their product or service.

For more information about the Y.E.S. competition contact Piper Knutson of the Arkansas Capital Corporation at 1-800-216-7237 or (501) 374-9247 or pknutson@arcapital.com