Entrepreneurship competition slated for Jewell County

Jewell County, in association with the Network Kansas E-Community Partnership, said the Jewell County YEC (formerly known as the E-Fair) will take place this March, as part of the 2022-2023 Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (YEC) series. The competition will be held on March 6, at Rock Hills Junior-Senior High School. The goal of the competition is to expose Kansas middle school and high school students to entrepreneurship.

Kyra Lampe, Jewell County Community Development Coordinator commented, “I’m excited for Rock Hills students to have this new opportunity. Under its prior format as the E-Fair, students were unable to participate beyond the local level. Thanks to this partnership with Network Kansas, we’re opening the door for students’ businesses to have more publicity and the ability for the winner to compete on a statewide level.”

Jewell County is one of many communities across Kansas to host a locally organized event designed to give students a hands-on entrepreneurship experience. The competition will consist of students preparing a written business plan or executive summary, a “tradeshow” booth, and an oral presentation. The students will be competing against each other for $1,500 in prize money. The students’ work will be judged by local entrepreneurs, public sector partners, teachers, or other adults. This is the first time Jewell County has brought this competition to the community as a sanctioned event.

“The YEC Series allows students to gain hands-on entrepreneurial experience. Students are empowered to solve everyday problems in their own community, which helps them to see that entrepreneurship is a viable career option. The exponential growth of the YEC Series has reiterated that there is a hunger for youth entrepreneurship in Kansas,” said Bailee Henry, senior product manager, E-Community Programs.

During the 2021-2022 season, more than 1,000 students from 61 Kansas schools participated in 51 locally hosted entrepreneurship competitions as part of the YEC series. The 2022-2023 academic year marks the tenth annual YEC Series coordinated by NetWork Kansas and the E-Community Partnership.

The annual YEC series culminates in a statewide championship, where the top students from each local competition face off against each other for prize money and other honors. The 2023 statewide championship will be held April 20 at Kansas State University.

For more information, contact Kyra Lampe, Jewell County Community Development, Coordinator at (785) 378-7036 or [email protected].