1,136 KANSAS STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN 10th ANNUAL YOUTH ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGE SERIES

Contact: Bailee Henry, Senior Product Manager, E-Community Programs, NetWork Kansas

Phone: 785-844-1706

Email: [email protected]

Wichita, Kan. – NetWork Kansas’ Entrepreneurship (E-) Community Partnership announces the conclusion of the 2022-2023 Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (YEC) Series. Each winning team earned the chance to participate at the 2023 Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge (KEC) State Championship, held today, at the Kansas State University Student Union. Students win a berth to the Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge by winning a sanctioned YEC Series competition or by being selected as a wildcard. An additional seventeen Wildcard applicants were also selected to attend KEC in early April. Wildcards entries had their executive summary and pre-recorded elevator pitches judged for a chance to attend.

The YEC Series consists of local-level youth entrepreneurship competitions hosted by volunteers. Local YEC Series events require students to prepare an executive summary and a 4-minute presentation, and often feature interactive tradeshows or elevator pitches. Students work in teams or individually to represent a business concept and compete for awards and prizes. Students’ work is judged by local entrepreneurs, public sector partners, teachers, and other community members.

The 2022-2023 academic year marks the tenth annual YEC Series coordinated by NetWork Kansas and the E-Community Partnership. The YEC Series was created in 2013 to expose Kansas middle school and high school students to entrepreneurship and help them to begin thinking entrepreneurially. The 69-community E-Community Partnership is dedicated to increasing entrepreneurial activity and developing self-sustaining ecosystems favorable to long-term entrepreneurial growth.

“NetWork Kansas is thrilled with the growth of the YEC Series over the past decade! Our goal is to foster an entrepreneurial mindset in young Kansans, and to empower our youth to know that their future is in their hands,” says Amara Kniep, Director E-Community Partnership.

The businesses that advanced to the KEC State Championship were judged on their executive summaries and mock boardroom presentations. Overall, $65,000 in total prizes will be awarded to aspiring entrepreneurs. The Kansas Masonic Foundation is the presenting sponsor of the Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge and the event is put on in coordination with the Kansas State University Center for the Advancement of Entrepreneurship and NetWork Kansas.

The Kansas communities that hosted a local YEC series event include: Anderson County, Barton County, Bourbon County, Butler County, Chase County, Chautauqua County, Cherokee County, Cheyenne County, Clay County, Cloud County, Cowley County, Crawford County, Douglas County, Edwards County, Ellsworth County, Finney County, Ford County, Greeley County, Hodgeman County, Jewell County, Kiowa County, Labette County, Leavenworth County, Lincoln County, Linn County, Logan County, McPherson County, Mitchell County, Montgomery County, Morris County, Morton County, Neosho County, Norton County, Osborne County, Pawnee County, Phillips County, Pottawatomie County, Rawlins County, Reno County, Republic County, Rice County, Riley County, Rooks County, Saline County, Scott County, Sedgwick County, Seward County, Shawnee County, Sherman County, Smith County, Stafford County, Sumner County, Thomas County, Wabaunsee County, Wichita County, and Wyandotte County. Additional communities were invited to participate.

Congratulations to the 2023 KEC State Championship qualifiers, who competed in a local YEC Series event:

A&D Tracking (Ashley Kunath), Chautauqua County; (Not attending)

Aaron’s Lawn Care (Aaron Collins), Leavenworth County;

Affordable Outlet (Cooper Schroer), Chase County;

Beachbound Creations (Maci Morgan), Sedgwick County;

Beauty Babe Boutique (Alyssa Hunt), Bourbon County;

Bee There Lawn Care (Gabrielle Pochop), Cheyenne County;

Bike Rack (Joshua Popp), Rawlins County;

Brieze Butchereze (Kansas Lange), Pawnee County;

Bug Bites (Sadie Berry), Wichita County;

CakeWalk (Lily Garcia and Reese Taylor), Rooks County;

CK Leather (Corbin Russell), Wabaunsee County;

Coal Creek Outfitters (Lily Havel, Macy Homeier, and Trey Melton), Republic County;

D.B. Skulls (Daniel Eilert), Mitchell County;

D&P Baling (Weston Peterson and Ian Dunn), Stafford County;

Delectable Donuts (Temperance Reynolds), Cowley County;

Divine Brin (Brinley McGhee), Anderson County;

Doglicious Treats (Bruin Mayo, Ashton Mason, Jesse Cooper, Jagger Turek), Sumner County;

Dominguez Western Boutique (Gina Dominguez), Seward County;

Donley Business Ventures, LLC. (Owen Donley, Cruz Donley, Thaddeus Donley), Ellsworth County:

Door to Door Décor (MaKinna Benavibez), Morton County;

Double Estate (Brylie Warden and Hadley Idacavage), Reno County;

Extrent Woodworks (Manas Madanambedu), Sedgewick County;

Faithful Designs (Karly Neufeld), Douglas County;

Frack Sweet Scents (Cooper Frack), Norton County;

Garcia’s Detailing (Gabriel Garcia and Nicholas Alfredo Avalos), Wyandotte County;

Gurney Grafix (Addy Gurney), Clay County;

Hitched Videography (Brooklyn Mlekus), Crawford County;

Homestead Honey (Andrew Calvert, Ian Effland, and Mattieu Chapin), Morris County;

Hometown Hellos (Claire Mick), Osborne County;

iTable Menu (Maylin Sanders, Jorja Blakeslee), Stafford County;

J Spray (Joshua Fulton), Scott County;

Josephine Designs (Josie Hill), Sherman County;

Kiley’s Creations (Kiley Stevenson), Barton County;

Kline Vending (Mackenzie Kline), Hodgeman County;

Lakeside Cleanings (Brooks Richardson), Saline County;

Leiker Lures (Layton Leiker), Ellsworth County;

LH Designs (Layla Harbin), Neosho County;

Limestone Egg Co. (Lainey Kendig), Osborne County;

Littles Learning Center (Hannah Behrens, Jenna Ferris) Lincoln County;

Logan Lawncare (Blake Logan), Butler County;

LR Western Jewelry (Lainey Umphenour and Rees Chapman), Linn County;

MCW (Christian Garcia, Payton Schlicht), McPherson County;

Mexicano (Iliany Yanez and Ana Trejo), Greeley County;

Midwest Marketing (Addison Green Russell), Smith County;

Moyer-N-Sons Bucking Bulls (John Moyer), Cherokee County;

My Vinyl Designs (Shanlee Beougher), Logan County;

NetWork Athletic Training (Keeli Knobbe), Lincoln County;

Oh, Snap! (Bristol Britton), Kiowa County;

paint4fun (Oleksandra Lapshva), Riley County;

Prochaska Pressure Wash (Marcus Prochaska), Shawnee County;

Raising Regenerative (Ruby Gomel-Osthoff), Smith County;

RW Pressure Washing (Boston Woofter and Jayton Rush), Thomas County;

Schmovios To Go (Ansley Moellering, Madelyn Schiltz), Logan County;

Streetside Caffeine (Kate Rowland), Rice County;

Sundown Golf Mat (Oakley Ritter), Edwards County;

Sweet Salvation (Alima Rodriguez), Montgomery County;

Sweet Treats (Dalton Strnad), Jewell County;

The Chopping Block (Owen Russell), Republic County;

The Compassionate Couch (Marley Madsen and Ashlyn Voeltz), Lincoln County;

The Laurel (Andrea Graham), Cheyenne County;

Udder Butter (Maddie McCarty), Thomas County;

Valverde Poultry (Esai Valverde), Ford County;

Victory Displays (Gabby Poels), Phillips County;

Warm and Fuzzy, LLC. (Carly Reif), Crawford County;

Wheel Clean It (Ryker Wolf), Pottawatomie County;

Willow Branch Boutique (Aubrey Gengler), Mitchell County;

YeslekDine (Enid Kibiro), Labette County;

Yesterday Café (Hailey Begnoche and Hailie Affolter), Cloud County;

Youth Skills Foundation (Tara Rose), Scott County;

Zeia’s Beauty & Boutique (Jocelyn Ramirez), Finney County.

For more information, contact Bailee Henry at [email protected] or visit: www.youtheshipchallenge.com.

Share this post