Students assist young entrepreneurs

Fourteen Penn College students volunteered much of a morning to serve as mentors to middle school and high school students who filled the Field House last week to learn about developing business plans.

The event is part of Dream Learn Pitch, an experiential business and entrepreneurship education program offered through Brighter Financial Futures, a nonprofit based in Winfield.

Around 250 students from five school districts arrived on campus with an idea for a new product or service. They were introduced to the “power of a great pitch” by Chris Berleth, president of the Columbia Montour Chamber of Commerce, and walked through the steps of developing a business plan – such as identifying customers and competitors – by Tim Keohane, director of the Penn State Small Business Development Center.

As the visiting students worked on each step of their business plans, Penn College student volunteers and guest experts provided small-group guidance and helped to select finalists for the day-ending competition, which featured pitches from the top five middle school and top five high school teams.

“It was really meaningful to reflect something I love onto the next generation,” said Sierra N. Klinger, a business administration student from Klingerstown.

Jace B. Gray, an accounting student from Hughesville, was among the student consultants who said they wished they’d had a program like it when they were in high school.

“I saw the kids learn a lot: how to budget, how to market – just things most kids wouldn’t know about running a business. They learned that there is a lot more to success than having a good product. They learned what competition truly is and that they have to work for what they want.”

“I thought it was really good exposure to what’s out there,” he added – particularly for the middle-schoolers. “The earlier you get exposure, the better you can decide what to do in your future career."

Also volunteering for the event were students Allison N. Coppella, of DuBois, accounting; Olivia M. Casella, of Williamsport, business administration; Ronnie L. Ergott III, of Jersey Shore, accounting and business administration; Logan D. Greak, of Bloomsburg, information technology; Caleb A. Line, of Shippensburg, industrial design; Christ E. M’balla, of Easton, information assurance & cyber security; Gavin S. Morse, of Roaring Branch, accounting and business administration; Ryan M. Sawyer, of Cornwall, New York, business administration; Abbie J. Snyder, of Adrian, Georgia, game & simulation programming; Logan J. Statler, of Northampton, network administration & engineering technology; Leah D. Vest, of Muncy, accounting; and Jason Wiedl, of West Pittston, construction management.

The middle school and high school students – whose day at Penn College also included tours of the Dr. Welch Workshop: A Makerspace at Penn College, and the soon-to-open Williamsport LaunchBox supported by the Ken and Kristie Healy Foundation – will continue to refine their business plans and pitches and enter them into the final Dream Learn Pitch competition in March. Grand prize for the high school competitors is a $10,000 scholarship for each of the winning team’s members to attend Penn College.