Fountain Lake Middle School Team places in Youth Entrepreneur Showcase

Colorful Crayons of Fountain Lake Middle School in Hot Springs, under the sponsorship of Kathy Darin, is one of 26 finalists in Arkansas’s 7th annual Youth Entrepreneur Showcase (Y.E.S.), a statewide business plan competition for fifth to eighth graders. Y.E.S. began in 2005 as a collaborative project for middle school students and is sponsored by the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation (AEAF), an affiliate of the Arkansas Capital Corporation.

Annually, over 50 Arkansas business leaders serve as volunteer judges to assist in the selection of the qualifying team finalists. This year 275 teams, made up of over 700 Arkansas students, accepted the challenge of creating a business plan for their product or service. Each team strived to have an innovative concept in order to compete for an opportunity to turn their business ideas into reality.

Colorful Crayons’ products are fun, big, cheaper, colorful crayons that anyone can use. Team members include Ethan Westerman, Brock Rigsby, Jessa Goodeaux, Scout Martin, and Stephen Turner. “Our product is made with broken and unwanted crayons,” the team noted. “Each crayon will be about the size of big candies, and some will even be multi-colored because we choose to hand prepare each batch to have a better product. And, each crayon will be bargain priced at only $.50 a piece.”

For the next round of the competition, the finalists are tasked with creating a comprehensive marketing piece and display booth that will showcase their concepts. All 26 products and/or services were on display and available for purchase on Friday, January 20, at Park Plaza Mall in Little Rock.
The top 26 teams compete for prizes in four categories: business plan, innovation, marketing and retail booth display, with the possibility that teams can win in more than one category. Each team member of the winning 1st place teams receives a $100 cash prize. The teachers of the 1st place teams take home an additional $500. Trophies will be awarded for all 1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners in each category.

The Arkansas Capital Corporation (ACC) was established in 1957 as a private, non-profit business development corporation that specializes in secured long-term financing to Arkansas’s small and medium size businesses. As of the state’s largest government lenders, ACC bridges the gap between the level of funding a business needs and what it is able to obtain through traditional financing sources.

AEAF is a 501c3 non-profit, education focused foundation that empowers budding and seasoned entrepreneurs with programs, resources and events, such as the business plan competitions:

• Y.E.S. for grades 5 through 8;

• Y.E.S. 2.0 for students in grades 9 – 12;

• the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup for undergraduate and graduate level college students; and,

• the Tri-State Award for the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup winners from Arkansas, Oklahoma and Nevada.

For more information about the Y.E.S. competition or the 26 finalists, contact Janet Keller at (501) 517-4200. To learn more about the Arkansas Capital Corporation and its programs, contact Clay Mercer of the ACC at (800) 216-7237 or (501) 374-9247 or cmercer@arcapital.com.