Business Savvy Teens

Promoting environmental responsibility and social action…Preserving memories on film for generations to come…Publishing an online style guide to keep the world looking good… These accomplishments are being tackled by teenagers, graduates of a very special program: Forward Thinking Initiative’s summer Entrepreneur Camp for Teens, held at Tampa’s Museum of Science and Industry (MOSI).

Forward Thinking Initiatives (FTI), led by Debra Campbell, strives to provide young people with the opportunity to develop into “a more competitive emerging workforce by providing programs with a focus on youth entrepreneurship. Innovation through entrepreneurship is an essential component of maintaining a competitive U.S. workforce,” its website explains. In addition to learning entrepreneurship principles and how to start their own companies, the participants (of the camp) engage in creative problem solving and team building through a variety of exercises. The week ends with the grand finale: PowerPoint presentations of the students’ business plans.

Forward Thinking Initiative’s

Campbell is an education innovator with over twenty years experience in economic development. She worked for the Philadelphia Industrial Development Corporation and the Philadelphia Commerce Department before starting her own economic development consulting company, and she is a member of the National Consortium for Entrepreneurship Education and serves on Creative Tampa Bay’s advisory board. FTI’s talented team also includes Shane Scott, entrepreneurship instructor and co-founder of the Teen Wealth Group, and Brian Collins, curriculum consultant and president of the Brainstorm Institute. Collins used his experience as a Disney “imagineer” to help FTI create its innovation/product development curriculum.

A typical six-day session at Entrepreneur Camp starts with orientation and by the end of the first day, the kids have been introduced to the week’s intense schedule. Then they’re given their first hands-on assignment for the week: redesign MOSI’s souvenir pencils and consult with the museum’s retail staff. Next, the class is immersed in the particulars of developing a business plan. Despite the wide age range—the camp is for kids in sixth through twelfth grades—Campbell explains that the “playing field is level” at this point because they’re all meeting these new concepts for the first time. “Financial literacy and entrepreneurship—this is stuff that’s not taught in schools,” Campbell said. “But the critical and innovative thinking that go along with it are germane to our new economy.”

For Maddey Xu, learning the business terms came easily, but she admitted that creating the business plan was a challenge. She discovered the “tedious” necessity of recalculating the numbers every time the plan went through revisions. Maddey learned two important lessons at camp: “The first is how crucial organization skills are in business,” she said. “The other is the importance of sticking to your goals and your gut.”

Maddey’s mom, Su Wang, said that FTI’s camp “is an inspiration for kids who have the interest in becoming entrepreneurs…(but) only have some of the pieces,” as Maddey and Jenn did. Maddey and her partner, Jenn Hobbs, used Entrepreneur Camp to chart a viable course for an idea they’ve been playing with for over a year, an online fashion magazine for teens called Eclaire.

“Maddey learned basic business concepts in a systematic way and ended up with a real and practical business plan,” said her mom. “And she realized that making a plan, targeting advertisers and collaborating with a partner are not as easy as she thought.” Jenn seconded that fact by acknowledging that the partners’ opinions differed enough to cause a roadblock in their progress. “Fortunately, we worked out a compromise and learned to work together better as a team,” Jenn said.

Campbell points out the long term benefits of the camp: “The kids learn skill sets they can use in a corporate setting, even if they don’t go into business for themselves. They’ll be able to see the bigger picture and they’ll understand how and why that momentum is important.” She sees a world of potential in the Entrepreneur Camp participants. She takes great pleasure in watching them develop their budding talents and in the wealth of ideas and enthusiasm they bring to the program. Forward Thinking Initiative’s

Campbell also plans to add an intermediate summer entrepreneur camp so the kids can build on what they learned during their first year. Needs-based scholarships are available through contributions from various local companies, but Campbell is hoping to attract one dedicated company that can take over this area and run with it.

Forward Thinking Initiatives isn’t just about camps, either. The team is developing an international trade curriculum. A pilot program is being tested in two Tampa schools due to many requests for a curriculum that could be used during the school year.

All of these programs don’t just amount to an education initiative, according to Campbell, who stresses that “it’s actually an economic development initiative to help advance the emerging workforce in the Tampa Bay region.”

And that’s a very good thing for all of us.

For more information, visit the website www.forwardthinkinginitiatives.com; call Debra Campbell at (813) 813 760-7860 or e-mail Campbell@forwardthinkinginitiatives.com.

We think you’ll be impressed…Check out these web sites for student businesses inspired by attending Forward Thinking Initiative’s Entrepreneur Camp!