Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase Winners Announced

Boone, Pulaski, and Van Buren County Students Top Winners at Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase (Y.E.S.) 5^th – 8^th Grade Business Plan Competition

“Sweet Feet,” “Mac Magic,” and “Sports Boards,” were named this afternoon as first place winners in the Arkansas Capital’s 12^th annual “Y.E.S. for Arkansas” business plan competition for elementary, middle, and junior high school students.

The winners were announced this afternoon by Rush Deacon, CEO of Arkansas Capital, in an awards ceremony that followed “Y.E.S. for Arkansas Expo Day” at Park Plaza in Little Rock. Twenty-five teams from 15 Arkansas counties beat out 127 other teams to be invited to Expo Day for the opportunity to compete for cash and other prizes in four divisions, pitching their business ideas to judges and making their products or services available for sale to mall patrons.

The winners are:

Most Innovative Division:

• Sweet Feet, Omaha School, Omaha – First Place
• Mac Magic, Pinnacle View Middle School, Little Rock – Second Place
• Sal de la Vida, Omaha School, Omaha – Third Place
• Pape-R-Us, Forest Heights STEM Academy, Little Rock, – Fourth Place

Best Marketing Piece Division:

• Mac Magic, Pinnacle View Middle School, Little Rock – First Place
• JK’s Mystical Lights, Cutter Morning Star Elementary, Hot Springs – Second Place
• The Giving Girls, Pangburn School District – Third Place
• Dog Deli, Sheridan Intermediate School – Fourth Place

Best Retail Booth Division:

• Sweet Feet, Omaha School, Omaha – First Place
• The Natural State V.O.V. Bracelets, Lakeside Middle School, Second Place
• JK’s Mystical Lights, Cutter Morning Star Elementary, Hot Springs – Third Place
• Flower of Life Gourmet Chocolates, Omaha School, Omaha – Fourth Place

Best Business Plan Division:

• Sports Boards, Southside Bee Branch School District, Bee Branch – First Place
• Trendy T-Shirt Tribe, Cotter Public Schools, Cotter – Second Place
• The Compact Case, Don Tyson School of Innovation, Springdale – Third Place
• Sal de la Vida, Omaha School, Omaha – Fourth Place

In addition to winning cash prizes totaling more than $6,400, each team member received a commemorative medal and their schools were presented a 3-D-printed trophy, produced by the Innovation Hub in North Little Rock.

The Y.E.S. for Arkansas competition is managed by Arkansas Capital’s 501(c)(3) affiliate, the Arkansas Economic Acceleration Foundation (AEAF). AEAF’s mission is to nurture people and ideas to generate future Arkansas entrepreneurs.

Since AEAF launched Y.E.S. in 2006, 7,436 elementary, middle, and junior high students have been impacted by the competition by creating and submitting 2,210 business plans. Arkansas Capital has provided nearly $73,100 in cash prizes awards to teachers and students.

In addition to Y.E.S., AEAF also manages and produces the Y.E.S. for Arkansas 2.0 High School Business Plan Competition established in 2011, and the Donald W. Reynolds Governor’s Cup Collegiate Business Plan Competition, established in 2001.

Arkansas Capital is a certified financial development institution with five affiliate and subsidiary companies – Six Bridges Capital Corporation, Arkansas Capital Relending Corporation, AEAF, Heartland Renaissance Fund, and Pine State Regional Center.