Mount Pleasant Magazine Sept/Oct 2016

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T he business leaders and
inventors of tomorrow are getting a
head start today, thanks to YEScaro-
lina’s Business Plan Competition. In a
Shark Tank-like event, students across
South Carolina present their business
plans in the hopes of winning recogni-
tion and seed money.
Eight middle school students competed at Laing Middle
School of Science and Technology on
June 14, vying for the top spots and
the money to make their business plans a reality. The top
two winners of the middle school competition joined 14
high school students at the College of Charleston School of
Business the following day in an even fiercer competition.
Participants gave a PowerPoint presentation outlining their
vision for their new enterprise in front of a panel of judges
after having submitted a complete business plan. The pro-
gram is now five years old in South Carolina, but this marks
the first year that middle school students were eligible to
compete.
“The middle school kids are the best idea generators be-
cause they’re still so young,” said Molly Crete of YEScarolina.
As vice president of programming, Crete oversees the
Business Plan competition as well as the organization’s
other programs. Its mission is to teach entrepreneurship to
young South Carolinians of all socioeconomic backgrounds
and improve their business, academic, communication and
life skills.
YEScarolina, which was founded by Jimmy Bailey in
2004, trains teachers to educate budding entrepreneurs.
Over the past 12 years, the organization has trained about
students present their ideas at laing
SayYes to
Entreneurship
By Erin Danly
167 | |
Photo courtesy of YESCarolina.
left to right: yEScarolina Founder Jimmy Bailey; Tindall Grace Hutchinson of
Florence Career Center with Shutter Up Photography; Karl Jacobs and Kevin
Pascal of Fort Dorchester High School with Schoolanyard; Christian Wade of Fort
Dorchester High School with Squeaky Sneaks; and Molly Crete, yEScarolina vice
president of programs.