High School Entrepreneur Kick-off Event Held at SLCC

High school students from across the state will have an opportunity to enter their business idea to win cash and scholarships in the annual Utah High School Entrepreneur Challenge (UHSEC). The first ever kick-off event will be held at Salt Lake Community College’s Taylorsville Redwood Campus on November 4 from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.

SLCC’s School of Business, in collaboration with the Lassonde Entrepreneur Institute from the University of Utah’s David Eccles School of Business, will offer $30,000 in cash and scholarships to the winners.

“It’s not just about winning the money, it’s learning from others in the competition, the exposure to new connections and a confidence boost to what’s possible that are the true prizes that everyone who participates can take away,” says Barbie Willett, associate dean of the new Gail Miller School of Business.

UHSEC is a competition where high school students create a business proposal based on a problem, they then propose a solution, have a targeted audience or customer and include a physical prototype. Through this program they are encouraged to explore innovation and entrepreneurship and to learn from college students who have entered the competition in the past.

"This challenge is all about showing off your unique perspective, and trusting yourself to see an idea through, even if it doesn't end up perfect,” says Brigham Pollack [Paradigm High School], a SLCC student who competed in the Lassonde’s Entrepreneur challenge for current college students.

One of the goals of having this event at SLCC is to attract more students from diverse communities and to expose high school students to a college campus. Events like this also show students a higher education path that starts at SLCC and continues to the U of U.

“I think the biggest barrier for more students to get involved is awareness that the competition exists,” says Willet. “We are trying to address these barriers at the kick-off event by getting the word out to more schools and areas that SLCC serves.”

This event provides students who are taking business classes, participating in DECA or Junior Achievement competitions with connections and information that could show them what is possible for them to pursue in high school and in college.

“Extracurriculars like this are an amazing opportunity, and one I honestly missed almost completely out on when I was in high school," Pollock said. “I feel like the number one thing I learned from my academic events, and education in general, is to just do things.”

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