Entrepreneurial Academy Students Benefit from Mentoring by Local Corporate Employees

High school students from the Greater Hartford region, employees from The Hartford and Stanley Black & Decker, and members of Hartford Young Professionals & Entrepreneurs (HYPE) worked side-by-side in two editions of the Junior Achievement Entrepreneurial Academy this spring. 

The JA Entrepreneurial Academy, now in its second year, brings urban and suburban high school students together at a corporate site to gain skills in entrepreneurism, leadership, teamwork, ethics and career development. Hosted at The Hartford’s headquarters in Hartford and at Stanley Black & Decker’s New Britain headquarters, each team of students developed and launched a new student-run business during the program.

Collapsible water bottles and distinctive, colorful lanyards were the business products that the two student groups developed, learning important business concepts along the way.  The program provides engaging, academically challenging and experiential learning sessions that focus on enhanced entrepreneurial education.

The 15-week, 30-hour program uses the “JA Company Program” curriculum, and lessons are drawn from the “JA Success Skills” curriculum to provide engaging, academically challenging, and experiential learning sessions that focus on enhanced entrepreneurial education. For the first time, JA of Southwest New England offered two academies this year, driven by student interest and corporate support.

At The Hartford, there were 16 students from Conard and Hall High Schools in West Hartford, Simsbury High School, Manchester High School, Wethersfield High School, East Hartford High School, and High School, Inc. in Hartford. There were 15 students participating at Stanley Black & Decker, including three freshmen and sophomores, six juniors and six seniors from seven local communities:  Berlin, Bristol, Farmington, New Britain, Newington, Plainville and Southington.  The student groups met weekly from January through May.

Members of HYPE mentored the students through their participation as members of the student companies’ boards of directors.  HYPE has been involved with the initiative from the outset.

“We are grateful to these outstanding corporate citizens, and their employees, for their commitment to giving back to the community and the next generation of entrepreneurs,” said Lou Golden, President of JA of Southwest New England.  “This hands-on experience has provided valuable lessons in establishing a business, team-building, leadership and problem-solving, offering students a glimpse of career possibilities.  They saw how creativity, critical thinking, and persistence go hand-in-hand.”

At the JA Entrepreneurial Academy led by The Hartford, the students developed a lanyards production business, Hangin’ Low Lanyards, which captured revenue totaling more than $1,200 with a shareholder return of 50 percent. The Hartford also provided a summer internship to one of the students, continuing their real-world business education.

At the JA Entrepreneurial Academy led by Stanley Black & Decker, the students launched a business called +Spottel, which produced collapsible water bottles, in distinctive colors named Ruby Red, Jungle Green, Pacific Blue and Mango Tango. Sales income from the innovative product reached nearly $4,000, with profit after taxes of nearly $1,300.  The return on investment to initial “shareholders” exceeded 200 percent.

Providing children with positive adult role models, who illustrate ways to build self-confidence, develop skills and find avenues of success in our economic system, is a hallmark of Junior Achievement.   Offering a range of programs – in and out of the classroom - delivered by volunteers, JA helps students understand the importance of saving and planning for financial needs, working with students from kindergarten through grade 12. 

JA's unique delivery system provides the training, materials, and support necessary to enable volunteers to build student skills in financial literacy, work readiness and entrepreneurship.   The number of students and schools participating in JA programs has been increasing in Connecticut, reflecting increasing interest in financial education.

Dedicated volunteers are at the hub of JA’s work with students.  JA volunteers come from all walks of life and use their personal experiences to make the JA curricula practical and realistic. The number of students reached in by JA of Southwest New England programs in Hartford, Litchfield, New Haven, Windham, Tolland, New London and Middlesex counties has increased dramatically during the past decade, from under 23,000 in 2003 to more than 32,000 last year.  The number of participating schools has surpassed 165, the most in the organization’s history. 

Because the number of schools interested in JA programs continues to grow, additional volunteers are needed.  Individual interested in learning more about JA volunteer program should contact 860-525-4510 or visit www.jaconn.org for details.

The Spottel Company students included Suleyman Bozal (Berlin), Katherine Fagan (Farmington), Michael Glasper (New Britain), Christopher Iverson (Southington), Julia Kemmling (Berlin), Katherine Kosenko (Bristol Eastern), Christina Lara-Agudelo (Farmington), Kelley Lawrence (Newington), Cooper Madden-Hennessey (Bristol Eastern), Kasey Mahan (Plainville), Nicholas Mamet (Newington), Kaitlin Martocchio (Southington), James Oday (New Britain) and Emmanuel Rossy (New Britain).

The Hangin’ Low Lanyards company included Jake Reynolds (Conard-West Hartford), Gabrielle Carpenter (Conard), Julie Longfritz (Simsbury), Lebert Lester (Manchester), Jolie Bouchard (Simsbury), Will Jepsen (Hall-West Hartford), Ioana Moldovan (Wethersfield), Ato Donkor (Manchester), Bruno Suarez (East Hartford), Huan Howard (High School, Inc.-Hartford), Frank Barone (Wethersfield), Dania Salazar (East Hartford), Alayzia Williams (High School, Inc.-Hartford), Eugene Amponsah (East Hartford), Paul Zueschner (Hall-West Hartford), and Matthew Safft (Simsbury).