The North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center (Pappajohn Center) will again be conducting the Youth Entrepreneurial Academy (YEA) beginning July 21. Generous financial support from the John K. and Luise V. Hanson Foundation will once again make this a free event for the students participating. YEA is now entering its 23^nd year of providing a unique entrepreneurial education to 25-30 individuals. The academy has been designed to help students launch their own businesses with a chance to earn seed money using a curriculum from the Business Canvas.

The NIACC Pappajohn Center extends invitations to all North Iowa high school students as well as recent graduates.  Students are asked to complete an application packet including a personal and parent recommendation followed by a student essay and interview with Pappajohn Center staff. Applications can be obtained through the NIACC Pappajohn Center website: https://www.niacc.edu/pappajohn/entrepreneurial-education/youth-entrepreneurial-academy/yea-apply-online/ .  Deadline to apply, July 10 or until full. Sign up soon, space is limited! 

This year’s camp, unlike in the past, will be a hybrid academy and conducted over three weeks allowing for flexibility and safety. Students will have the opportunity to work from their homes using zoom and other online platforms to receive instruction from mentors and guest speakers. There will be some face to face interaction (social distancing implemented and in small groups) where students will visit businesses, participate in team building activities and learn from expert speakers. The objectives of the Youth Entrepreneurial Academy are to expose students to entrepreneurship, provide students with an opportunity to apply their skills and creativity, help students understand critical thinking skills and give students another career option of being a “job creator” instead of a “job taker.”  

Participants are eligible for an automatic $500 Youth Entrepreneurial Academy Scholarship for NIACC following their high school graduation.  Students can participate two years if they don’t win seed monies the first year.  Additionally the top business ideas will receive $500 in seed money for their businesses they develop during the week.  For more information, please contact Kelley O’Rourke at the John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center at 641-430-8052 or kelley.o’rourke@niacc.edu. The national NACCE Innovation Award-winning NIACC John Pappajohn Entrepreneurial Center provides comprehensive consulting services for business start-ups, existing industries and owner transitions in the North Iowa region.  The NIACC Business Division offers 25 degrees, diplomas and certificates, including a degree and certificate in Entrepreneurship.  For more information, contact the NIACC Pappajohn Center at 641-422-4111 or NIACC Business Division at 641-422-4290.