Junior Achievement is seeking applications for teen entrepreneur scholarship event

Junior Achievement of Wisconsin is accepting video applications from student entrepreneurs who are interested in winning a $10,000 grand prize. The 2022 Wisconsin Young Entrepreneur of The Year live event is sponsored by Ernst & Young, in partnership with the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction.

The event will be available online to the public on Thursday, February 24, 2022 from 3:30-5 p.m. CST and includes a live “shark tank” style competition where student entrepreneurs present their business initiatives. Four finalists will compete in the live pitch to celebrity judges who will critique, ask questions, provide feedback to each contestant, and select the scholarship winner. The 2022 panel of judges includes Craig Culver, founder of Culver’s; Austin Ramirez, CEO of Husco International; Brittany Rosales, Owner of The Rose Mob Grill; and Denise Thomas, President of The Effective Communications Coach. A “Viewer’s Choice” Award will also be chosen during the online competition for an additional cash prize.

Any Wisconsin student in grades 5 through 12 is eligible to submit a video entry if they are a legal resident of the United States and the state of Wisconsin and are currently enrolled in a Wisconsin school (public, private, parochial, virtual, or home school). The student entrepreneur must have been an owner or manager of a seasonal or year-round private or public company in operation since January 2021. If the business has multiple student owners, scholarship prizes will be divided equally. The student applicants must have had continuous ownership or management throughout the existence of their business.

“This event, which personifies our organization’s mission to inspire and prepare young people for success, highlights the brightest young entrepreneurs in Wisconsin,” said Michael Frohna, President of Junior Achievement of Wisconsin. “Each year we see examples of young people with phenomenal business acumen. We can’t wait to see the 2022 contestants,” added Frohna.

Student entrepreneurs can go to https://bit.ly/YELive22 to learn how to submit an application and video about their business. The application deadline is January 3, 2022.