In the News

Back to school looks a bit different for high school students enrolled in the Williamson County Schools Entrepreneurship and Innovation Center (EIC). Opened in 2019, the EIC has a state-of-the-art facility with a podcast room, fabrication lab, meeting rooms, and an incubator-style environment and it offers a chance for students to grow in a nontraditional way, to experience real-world business situations. In the EIC, students gain real-world experience in entrepreneurship and innovation by crafting business plans, conducting market research, launching products or services and pitching for funding. Enrollment is determined through an application process that includes short answer questions, teacher recommendations, and an interview. The one common thread among all of the students of the EIC is that the students should have a drive or interest in offering a service, developing a product, starting a business, being an entrepreneur, or thinking outside of the box. 

A team of student entrepreneurs from Naperville, IL, striving to make traveling easier, was among the finalists in a national competition.

A team of Naperville-area teen entrepreneurs who created a business designed to make travel smoother will compete this coming week as one of five national finalists in the INCubatoredu National Pitch competition in Chicago.

Teagan O’Carroll, 18, has worked for two years as a coordinator at the James Anthony Salon in Oak Park. During that time she has trained a few new employees.

At the annual Butler Tech Entrepreneur Fair, students don’t just display products, they pitch passion, purpose, and impact. This year, Dan Bates, President & CEO of the Greater Hamilton Chamber of Commerce, responded by announcing during the Entrepreneur Celebration Luncheon that every student entrepreneur who participated would be gifted a one-year membership to the Chamber.

From the outside, what happened in the Farmer School of Business last month certainly looked like a pitch competition. Teams of students put forth their idea for a business before a group of people who gave them feedback about their plan and gave advice about where to go from here.

Student teams will pitch their business ideas and product demonstrations to a panel of judges at the Student Business Incubator Showcase at 10 a.m. Wednesday at the Triggs Student Center at SMU in Dallas.

The students have spent the year developing innovative business ideas in a “Shark Tank”-style course and will now present their solutions to the public for feedback.

PLAINFIELD, Ill. - Plainfield is fostering the next generation of entrepreneurs, with 80 high school students already on the path to success.

With stage lights beaming down, a group of five teens wearing matching green T-shirts and wide-leg denim jeans stood shoulder to shoulder. Facing them was a panel of judges ready to ask tough questions about the students’ business proposal for an innovative portable barbecue smoker, including everything from its design to a marketing plan.

A Brentwood High School alum is one of five finalists in the INCubatoredu National Pitch Contest.