AUBURN/FULTON – Two local students who just launched their first enterprise were named the top business owners in Cayuga Community College’s inaugural Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!), and will represent the class at a national scholarship competition.
The co-founders of EZ-Carries, Union Springs School District student Alexander Church and Auburn Enlarged City School District (AECSD) student Johntae Smith, are starting merchandise production and preparing for the Saunders Scholars National Conference & Competition. The virtual contest is scheduled for late August and sees the top contestants earn college scholarships.
“We are incredibly proud of Alexander and Johntae, and of all the students in our YEA! class who completed this difficult program and are now business owners in our community,” said Cayuga President Dr. Brian Durant. “We appreciate the support LOCATE Finger Lakes and Board Chair Mike Nozzolio provided these students, and we know they will join us in saying that we’re excited to watch these students succeed in the years ahead.”
Founded in 2004, YEA! helps middle and high school students build entrepreneurial skills by working with instructors and local business leaders. Students design their own proposal, conduct market research, write a business plan and formally launch their own business. The steadfast support from Lyons National Bank, through LOCATE Finger Lakes, provided full $1,000 tuition scholarships for each of the students in the academy.
As part of the program, students pitched their business idea to potential investors. The local investor panel named EZ-Carries as the top business and provided $1,000 in start-up funding. Sports 4 All (www.sports-for-all.org), a non-profit organization founded by AECSD student Madison Chambers, and Solclay (www.solclaychargers.com), founded by Southern Cayuga School District student Silas Warren-MacCormick, each received $250. All other businesses received funding as well.
“We were impressed by the range of product ideas, the founders’ enthusiasm and their ability to incorporate the essential elements of a successful startup in their presentations. It was surprisingly sophisticated, particularly in light of their ages,” said Melanie and Toby Maloney, Cleveland-based entrepreneurs who support the Cayuga YEA! program. “Well-done to the contestants and to their advisors. What a great entry point for these young entrepreneurs.”
“LOCATE Finger Lakes echoes the sentiments expressed by Melanie and Toby, and is very proud to support the program,” said Board Chair and former New York State Senator Mike Nozzolio. “We’re extremely grateful to President Brian Durant and Program Director Pam Heleen for their outstanding leadership, guidance and support of the business leaders of tomorrow. All of the students’ presentations were extremely impressive, and are a tribute to the great mentoring of Director Heleen.”
Designed and developed by Church and Smith, EZ-Carries creates and provides products for people who have temporary or permanent mobility difficulties. Their first product, the EZ-Carrier, is a holder that latches to crutches or other mobility-support equipment to help people carry water bottles or other items.
Church first came-up with the idea for the EZ-Carrier after using crutches himself following a sports injury. Partnering with Smith, they developed the product and a comprehensive plan for production and marketing.
“As soon as I had this idea, I began talking to a few people about it, and I thought ‘this was the one.’ I had a few other ideas, but none as strong as this one, and this was the one I was most passionate about,” said Church. “When Johntae and I started working together, he had a lot of great ideas on how to improve the product and push it online, so we really complement each other.”
Working with mentors Anne Mlod and Richard Denno, Church and Smith visited local businesses to discuss their product. They also received valuable business and production advice from commercial leaders such as Currier Plastics and Bo-Mer Plastics, and BOCES also helped produce early prototypes of the EZ-Carrier.
“We had a lot of support from our advisors and YEA! instructors, but also from local business owners. They volunteered to discuss our product, offer some production and business advice and just generally help us during these early stages,” said Smith. “We can’t thank them enough for all their help.”
This summer Church and Smith purchased equipment and are taking pre-orders for EZ-Carriers. They’re also preparing for the Saunders Competition, which means updating and improving their presentation with recent accomplishments and future plans.
“We’re confident in ourselves, and we’re going to focus on making sure our message is clear and covers everything we’ve done and everything we’re going to do,” said Smith. “Then we’ll keep going over it, practice it with our advisors, and hopefully it will go as well as our first presentation.”
To learn more about EZ-Carries, visit their website at www.ez-carries.com. To learn more about YEA!, visit www.yeausa.org. For students interested in next year’s YEA! at Cayuga, email Director Pam Heleen at [email protected].
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