Calling all Stafford County High School Entrepreneurs

Stafford County Economic Development invites all Stafford County high school students to participate in the 2nd annual Central Kansas Youth Entrepreneurship Competition (CKYEC) that will be held at the King Center in Jetmore.  Hodgeman County Economic Development is hosting this year’s event with the NetWork Kansas E-Community Partnership.

“Although we aren’t hosting this year’s event, we still encourage our local high school students to participate in this event.  Events such as CKYEC give our students real-world experience pitching a business idea that they might not otherwise get the opportunity to do,” said Ashlee Bevan, Program Director for Stafford County Economic Development.

Last year, Stafford County EcoDevo hosted the 1st annual event in the Stafford County Annex with two of the top three business plans coming from Stafford High School students.  $1,900 in cash prizes were awarded.  By sponsoring events such as CKYEC, EcoDevo hopes to instill the possibility in the students’ minds of actually pursuing these business ideas. 

The competition on Monday, March 13th will consist of a three minute pitch to a panel of judges, followed by questions.  The students will be competing against each other for $1,750 in prize money.  The students’ work will be judged by local entrepreneurs, public sector partners, teachers, or other adults.  By Monday, February 27th, each student or team must submit an executive summary through email to hodgeman1@unitedwireless.com.  Prior to this, each student or team must sign up on the Hodgeman County Economic Development website by Friday, February 3rd.

“Students tell us every year how local entrepreneurship competitions open their eyes to new career possibilities, reward innovation and creative problem solving, and give them valuable experience presenting ideas to a panel of judges. It’s a wonderful gift that the community can give their youth,” says Anne Dewvall, Manager of 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 2017 statewide championship will be held on April 24th, 2017 at Fort Hays State University.

This year, students from Edwards, Hodgeman, Ness and Stafford counties are eligible to participate in this event.

For more information, visit http://www.hodgemancountyks.com/2017-yec-registration-page.html email Ashlee at ashlee@staffordecodevo.com or call 620-549-3527.