Teens from throughout West Virginia experienced the week of their lifetime at Horseshoe Leadership Center, June 9-15 during the 36th annual Entrepreneurship Summit. Students focused on creating, sustaining and leading successful businesses.
Susan Rice, instructor, Academy Careers and Technologies led the students in an exciting and driven REAL (Rural Entrepreneurship through Action Learning) Mall simulation. The teens formed companies located in the Mall. They prepared budgets, business cards, marketing campaigns and planned employee training as part of the simulation. Wes Davis, teen entrepreneur of Turkey Hill Farms, shared his story of How to Grow Your Own Successful Business and helped students develop their own vision statement. Throughout the week, teens engaged in leadership and civic engagement workshops.
As the week closed, students were hosted by Dominion Resources and Sirianni’s Pizza Café and toured Canaan Valley Institute, met representatives from the NedPower wind farm and visited small businesses in both Thomas and Davis. Entrepreneurs and community not-for-profit groups shared stories of their successes and challenges.
The Summit is a partnership effort of the West Virginia Chamber of Commerce, Ohio-West Virginia YLA, WV Department of Education, local schools, and Dominion Resources. Additionally, business, industry, local Chambers of Commerce, civic groups and others sponsor students to the Summit.
When asked about the top things learned at the Summit, one teen responded, “You’ll learn about what running a business takes and if you find a job you love you’ll never work a day in your life!”
Information is available on our web page at http://www.yla-youthleadership.org/Horseshoe.html or by calling Horseshoe at 304-478-2481.