Sydney Busse, Week 4

Below is another newspaper article I wrote that will be published in The Bird City Times. It is about the entrepreneurship day camp that I talked about in my last blog entry. The camp went very well. I think the kids had a lot of fun, and maybe even learned something in the process. The pictures are from their lemonade stand competition, which was a great learning experience for all involved. Enjoy!

Entrepreneurship is for kids, too
What is entrepreneurship? This is a question many adults may not know the answer to, and most kids wouldn’t even dream about replying. Entrepreneurship is defined as: “The assumption of risk and responsibility in designing and implementing a business strategy or starting a business.” In other words, coming up with a great idea, and using it to start your own business. Cheylin fourth through eight graders got a first-hand look at this concept last Tuesday and Wednesday at the second annual entrepreneurship day camp, hosted by the Bird City Century II Development Foundation.

The two-day camp featured several local entrepreneurs and many entrepreneurial activities. Tuesday, the kids heard from Sydney Busse about Ogallala Commons and her internship with them. They also watched a slide show of some community improvements that have been made in the last 5 years. After looking at the developments that have already been made, the kids were asked what other things they would like to see done in Bird City. While they were thinking, all of the participants took a walking tour around town to help generate ideas. Over lunch, the kids discussed their many ideas for businesses that could be started and improvements that could be made. The day ended with an interview with Robert Brubaker about the creation of the Century II Foundation.

The next day, the group began the morning by visiting with local entrepreneur, Nick Ketzner, owner of High Noon Feeds. He told the kids how he started his successful business, and stressed the value of hard work. After that, the winners of the Cheylin and Regional Entrepreneurship fairs came to tell more about their experience with both fairs. Craig and Stephanie Busse gave their presentation on Busse’s Bountiful Harvest Flour Company, and Joshua Keltz talked about his business that he plans to start: Josh’s Pheasant Farm.

The highlight of the camp was the lemonade stand competition held later that morning, and into the afternoon. The kids were divided up into two teams, and given a few pointers about setting up a lemonade stand. Each team was given $25 start-up cash and equipment to run their stand. They had to purchase their supplies (lemons, cups, etc.) from the grocery store, and set up their stand at a location of their choice. It was a good learning experience for both teams, as they had to think about many aspects of running a business that they might otherwise have overlooked. The camp ended with a tour of Monty’s Smoked Jerky and a discussion about being an entrepreneur in a small town with owner, Wade Carmichael.