Student
“NFTE’s mission is to provide entrepreneurship education programs to young people from low-income communities, and with the help of local business leaders, we’re hoping to build a better path to prosperity for these students,” says Sylvia McKinney, NFTE Philadelphia Executive Director. “This competition allows NFTE’s best to dip their toes in the world of entrepreneurship, which will hopefully foster successful business ventures and careers to come.”
About Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship
The Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship provides entrepreneurship education programs to young people from low-income communities. Our vision is that every young person will find a pathway to prosperity. Since 1987, NFTE has worked with more than 280,000 young people. NFTE currently operates programs in 21 states and 10 other countries, and has more than 1,500 active Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers. For more information, visit www.nfte.com.
s from Philadelphia area public high schools will get a taste of entrepreneurial life at the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE) Philadelphia’s Third Annual Citywide Youth Business Plan Competition, to be held May 26 at Temple University’s Fox School of Business and Management, from noon to 5 p.m. NFTE is designed to help young people from low-income communities learn about starting a business and beginning a career. Over 100 students, teachers, NFTE Philadelphia Advisory Board members, parents, program partners, sponsors and volunteers are expected to be in attendance.
Over the past year, 500 students from 13 NFTE partner schools have learned basic business concepts and developed business plans. With practical experience under their belts, 12 contenders from 10 NFTE partner schools will present their business plan to a panel of 26 judges during the course of the competition. The student with the best business plan will win a laptop, $1,500 of seed capital from NFTE, $1,000 from Ernst & Young along with recognition at the upcoming awards gala in June as “E&Y 2010 Student Entrepreneur of the Year,” and two free tickets to a Southwest Airlines city, courtesy of Southwest Airlines. The second, third and fourth place winners will each receive a laptop along with prize money of $1,000, $500 and $250, respectively, which will go toward helping with college tuition or business expenses. The top two contestants will advance to compete in NFTE’s National Business Plan Competition in New York City this fall.
“Educating our youth about entrepreneurship is vital to the success of the Greater Philadelphia area,” says Peter J. Boni, President and CEO of Safeguard Scientifics, Inc. /quotes/comstock/13*!sfe/quotes/nls/sfe (SFE 11.09, +0.23, +2.12%) and Co-Chair of NFTE Philadelphia’s Advisory Board. “The annual Business Plan Competition gives NFTE students a chance to shine and practice the skills they have honed through the NFTE program. It is our hope that these skills will lay the foundation to help the students academically, personally, and professionally long after they matriculate through NFTE.”
Schools that will be participating in the NFTE Philadelphia competition include Charles Carroll High School, Boys’ Latin Charter School and Germantown High School, all located in Philadelphia.
Four finalists will have eight minutes to present their original business plans to a panel of 10 judges. The judges will then have five minutes to question each student about their plan.
