Chamber Programs
YEA is here!!
The Greater York Region Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring the Young Entrepreneurs Academy. YEA! teaches students in grades 9 – 12 how to start and run their own REAL businesses. The class meets once a week on Thursdays from 2:45 – 5:45pm at Traip Academy in Kittery, Maine.
Applications are now being taken for the 2013 – 2014 school year. (scroll down for application)
A bit of background…
YEA! was developed at the University of Rochester in 2004 with the support of a grant from the Kauffman Foundation. The Greater York Region Chamber welcomes YEA! students from the communities of Eliot, Kittery, South Berwick and York!
YEA! guides high school students through the process of starting and running a legitimate business or social movement over the course of a full academic year. YEA! has graduated almost 600 students over the past 8 years, who have started almost 450 businesses and social movements! Kids start as students, and graduate as CEOs!
Over the course of the program students:
· Brainstorm business ideas
· Write a business plan
· Interact with business professionals
· Pitch their business plan to potential “investors” (think Shark Tank meets the Apprentice meets American Idol)
· Obtain funding
· Legally register their businesses
· Participate in a Trade Show
· Actually launch their own businesses or social movements
YEA! offers students the chance to:
· Develop the skills necessary to launch their own business or social movement (hands-on entrepreneurial experience!)
· Learn about real businesses – why they succeed or fail.
· Hear from local entrepreneurs.
· Launch their own business or social movement!
· Become more confident in their ideas and their abilities.
How business professionals can get involved…
Through their interactions with business professionals during the year, YEA! students gain some of the most important knowledge and experience they need to succeed. Local professionals volunteer their time and expertise as guest speakers, mentors, investors, graphic designers, field trip hosts, business plan reviewers, and much more. The time YEA! students spend with adults who encourage their futures is invaluable, and participants often report getting even more out of their participation than they put in to it!
For more information, call 207 363-4422 or email
amanda@yorkme.org