Riley County 4-H is challenging area high school students to show off their innovativeness.
John Jobe, Riley County K-State Extension 4-H Agent, tells KMAN they will be holding their 5th annual Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge on Wednesday March 10. The challenge aims to reward talented area students for creating and presenting a business pitch. Jobe talks more about the challenge.
“This is a local event for high school aged students who are living or attending school in Riley County, and we always liken it to, kind of, a Shark Tank pitch competition for those young entrepreneurs,” Jobe says.
Jobe says that the students competing will create a business plan, put together a trade show, and present a formal business pitch to a panel of judges who will give them scores on each aspect. Jobe adds that due to the ongoing pandemic, the event will look a little different this year.
“Students will be coming together at Manhattan High School,” Jobe says. “They will be in person, however, many of our judges will not be their in person, so our students will be pitching to a panel of judges that will be remote.”
Jobe says the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place finishers in the contest have an opportunity to win cash prizes. He adds that the 1st place finisher can also go on to compete in the Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge which is part of the School of Business at Kansas State University.
The 2021 Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge will begin at 8:30AM on Wednesday March 10 and will be streamed live on the Riley County Extension Facebook page.
