The Elevate Entrepreneurship System provides a host of resources dedicated to expanding entrepreneurial ecosystems within communities.
The Elevate System can be delivered through: Community economic development efforts Educational institutions Correctional facilities Workforce development centers and Faith-based organizations expanding mission work
The fundamental element of this system is the creation of youthowned small businesses that can be supported through a community and local assets.
The Elevate Entrepreneurship System is a turn-key solution to many challenges: Economic Development Youth Employment Workforce Development Job Creation/Unemployment and Community Development The Elevate System engages youth in practical activities that help them start businesses. This encourages the youth to develop an entrepreneurial mind-set. They are then engaged in activities that demonstrate how value is added to products and profits are generated. Once youth begin operating their business core educational activities and higher education can be promoted. They ultimately become active self-directed learners due to their interest and desire to develop their entrepreneurial skills. Through this system we are linking economic development, entrepreneurship, and education together to develop our next generation of economically viable communities and leaders.
Building Lives Through Business
EMPOWERING ENTREPRENEURSHIP workshop
Empowering Entrepreneurship Workshop
Experiential The Elevate Empowering Entrepreneurship Workshop is the first phase of the Elevate System. This workshop is conducted over 1-2 days. The workshop engages community stakeholders in the following activities:
Understanding the Elevate System
Reviewing the stories of the country’s top youth entrepreneurs and benchmarking existing entrepreneurship programs nationally
Demonstrating experiential learning activities
Identifying the resources within existing institutions that can be used to develop the communities entrepreneurship support system
Developing an action plan customized for the targeted community/institution
Entrepreneurship
Training
Competitions / Micro-Lending Kinetic
Youth Businesses Launched
Youth Business Incubation + Mentoring N.E.S.T.
Youth Businesses Created + Supported
Promotion of Youth Entrepreneurs
During this phase of the system the Elevate Entrepreneurship Team provides youth with an intensive, experiential entrepreneurship training program. Typically we seek to work with students who are in grades 9-11 to insure that the youth have an opportunity to complete the system. The training programs also can be modified to work with other age groups. During the entrepreneurship training the participants are provided with 8 to 12 weeks of entrepreneurship that is based in practical activities that show youth how to develop the entrepreneurial mind-set. Various curricular models are used to implement the training: Kauffman Who Owns The Ice House System Get Money EDTEC / New Youth Entrepreneur
ENTREPRENEURSHIP training
Competitions + Micro-Lending Upon completing the training activities the youth in the program have an opportunity to participate in a series of business plan competitions that help to identify the top young entrepreneurs in the community. These competitions engage parents, educators, local entrepreneurs, and government leaders in activities that help to expose the community members to the youth business concepts and ideas. Through this activity the youth have opportunities to qualify for micro-loans and receive awards and prizes for the quality of their business plans. Through the Kinetic Micro-Loan Program communities have the ability to establish a micro-loan. Loans are made to youth in amounts of up to $5,000. Community leaders establish a 20% loan loss reserve and the youth are required to receive financial literacy training, managed funds distribution, and regular mentor meetings.
Youth Businesses launched During this phase of the system the youth participants in the program will launch businesses that can be supported within their communities and/or through online e-commerce activities. Youth will also obtain municipal licensing, a federal employer identification number, state articles of incorporation, establish bank accounts, set up accounting systems, establish payroll management systems, and launch a small business that is properly legalized based on local requirements.
Youth Business incubation + Mentoring During this phase of the system the Elevate Team’s N.E.S.T. Division works to identify physical locations that can be used to house youth owned enterprises. This can be achieved through partnerships with local churches, identifying empty buildings, manufacturing plants with excess capacity, partnering with educational institutions, and by building new facilities. A group of youth entrepreneurs establish their businesses and operate those businesses in an environment where mentors, advisors, legal professionals, marketing professionals, and accountants can help to launch their business into a successful operation that can provide jobs. The N.E.S.T. Centers are sustained through the operation of youth enterprises. These enterprises are operated by youth as a part of entrepreneurship training. These enterprises help the center provide training and become self-sufficient.
Promotion of YOUTH Entrepreneurs During this phase of the system the Elevate Team promotes and highlights the achievements of the youth entrepreneurs within the community. The youth also expand their network with local entrepreneurs, participate in community economic development activities, develop mentor relationships with community leaders, and continue their entrepreneurial pursuits. The goal of this effort is to encourage student entrepreneurs to seek out regional higher educational resources such as Arkansas-based universities, Arkansas-based two year colleges, and vocational education opportunities- that complement their entrepreneurial desires. Upon entering these institutions of higher learning the presence of entrepreneurial thinking and an existing business help to encourage the youth to excel within their educational activities.