Top 25 finalists of the Youth Entrepreneur Showcase are named

The Top 25 finalists of the Youth Entrepreneur Showcase for Arkansas Business Plan competition was announced today by Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation (AEAF). The finalist will compete in the 2016 Y.E.S. for Arkansas Business Expo at Park Plaza Mall beginning at 10 a.m., Jan. 22.

Four winning teams and their teacher advisors have a chance to win cash prizes totaling more than $8,000, trophies and medals. The teams and their advisors will display their business at the expo in January. Winners will be announced at a 1:30 pm ceremony at the mall.

According to a press release, “Each team and its teacher advisor will have a booth to showcase their business ideas and sell products to Park Plaza Mall patrons between 10:00 a.m. and 12:00 p.m. Judges will be visiting the teams during this period to select first-through fourth-place winners in the following categories: Best Business Plan, Most Innovative Product, Best Marketing Piece, and Best Retail Booth Display.”

Talk Business & Politics tech reporter Todd Jones served as a judge a the competition. He said he was impressed with the ideas and the maturity of the students’ thought process towards entrepreneurship.

The students learned how to put together a business plan, how to calculate finances for their business costs, how to assess their markets and create a marketing strategy.

“Some of the ideas were very good and had real world application. Several of the ideas were very creative,” Jones said “These were some of the brightest 5th through 8th grade students in the state.”

Students were graded on their presentation, depth of their business plans as well as innovation of the product. The competition was in part managed by Shannon Frazeur, AEAF project Sspecialist.

There were up to 10 business plans to evaluate. The evaluations were a completed online. Judges were able to provide feedback for each team through the online process. Grades were immediately saved and the portal kept track of the evaluated business plans.

Following are the student teams to be named finalists.
A to Z Inc.; Washington Middle School, El Dorado
Bocket; Bradford Elementary School, Bradford
Flash Brush; Southwest Middle School, Searcy
Geeky Grips; Forest Heights STEM Academy, Little Rock
H.A.M.M.A. Headbandz; Southwest Middle School, Searcy
Hook-A-Balm; Washington Middle School, El Dorado
LoveYourMother; Pulaski Heights Middle School, Little Rock
L’s Designs; Christ the King Catholic School, Little Rock
Magnetic Masterpieces; Cotter Public Schools, Cotter
Paperings; Forest Heights STEM Academy, Little Rock
Party in a Box; North Heights Junior High School, Texarkana
Pok It; Forest Heights STEM Academy, Little Rock
Ribbon Wrapz; Carlisle Elementary School, Carlisle
Robot Café; Prairie Grove Middle School, Prairie Grove
Shade-Its; Christ the King Catholic School, Fort Smith
Soapies; Manila Middle School, Manila
Stresslets; Forest Heights STEM Academy, Little Rock
Sugar Sweets Sugar Scrubs; Omaha Public Schools, Omaha
Super Slimers; Sheridan Intermediate School, Sheridan
Tarros Colorido; Omaha Public Schools, Omaha
Tasty Paste; Lonoke Elementary School, Lonoke
The Quizzicals; Prairie Grove Middle School, Prairie Grove
The Repurposed Project; Pulaski Heights Middle School, Little Rock
Trendy T-Shirt Tribe; Cotter Public Schools, Cotter
Triple Chocolate Squares; North Heights Junior High School, Texarkana