 Feature
Story
Business
Savvy Teens
By Carol Cortright
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.
 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.
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!
•
www.earthkindhumankind.org
•
www.goodstuffvideoproductions.com
•
www.eclairemagazine.com [note: they plan to have it up
by July 31]
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