High schoolers from across the region gained a greater knowledge of entrepreneurship by hearing from an entrepreneur panel and got the opportunity to create and pitch their own product idea at Spark, the first event in a 6-week program designed to help high school students create and pitch business ideas.
Students learned about what it takes to start a business from a panel of innovators, which consisted of Jay and Gwynne Marks owners of The Marks Trading Company, and Gary Clemetson, Lenawee Now’s Director of Entrepreneurial services. The panelists shared their experiences and offered advice on getting started.
Jay and Gwynne Marks described how their entrepreneurial journey began when they realized there was nowhere to locally buy natural food products, which inspired them to start the Marks Trading Company. Originally, they intended to sell their products at local venues, such as farmers’ markets and craft shows. Because they started in the winter, they had difficulty finding such places to sell their wares. This setback made them wonder if the venture would last more than six months. Currently, Jay and Gwynne are five years into the business and have a wide spread of products, including spices, oils, and baking mixes. Their successes allowed them to open a storefront in 2022.
After hearing from the panel of entrepreneurs, participants had the opportunity to try the start-up process on a small scale. Teams comprised of the school districts had one hour to make a product to solve a problem, create a memorable pitch, and mock up a prototype. The idea was left to learners’ ingenuity and the roll of the dice. To define the scope of their project students rolled a die 3 times, each number corresponding to a different product type, the situation where the product was used, and the audience. After several very innovative pitches and much deliberation, the judges chose three winners:
The third-place winners, from Blissfield High School, were on a mission to help individuals use their sunscreen appropriately to keep from getting burned or slathering on excessive amounts. This product was created to give a reading of the UV rays in the air, letting individuals know how much sunscreen is appropriate.
The second-place winner, from Jonesville High School, started by sharing the story of a fictitious worker named Bob, who due to his busy schedule did not have time to work out, and had become severely overweight, to the extent that his wife had started making commentary, calling him names like her big boy Bob. To combat the problem, Jonesville created Quick Works, a workout app customized to one’s goals and schedule.
At first place, another team from Blissfield High School developed an app to help college students combat depression and anxiety, often brought on by the stressors of living away from home for the first time. The Eco-Therapy app allowed students to set daily reminders for tasks they wanted to complete and gave a visual of success through the growth and watering of a digital plant on the app. By the completion of daily, weekly, and yearly tasks coeds would be able to level up their plants, add additional foliage to their collection and buy greenhouses, making their routine tasks more game-like.
Teams have a bigger opportunity to create and pitch entrepreneurial ideas in the upcoming weeks. After the CEO Challenge, participants were encouraged to assemble a team for Ignite, where students will create a product and prototype and present this at Launch, on March 18 the Jackson Area Career Center. We are pleased to have sponsored this event to give students an introduction to entrepreneurship and excited to see what students will create in through this process.