Teen entrepreneur camp focuses on creating smart cities

Area high school students will work alongside Grand Valley State University faculty members and students to come up with a new product concept or service during a week-long summer camp.

The Teen Entrepreneur Summer Academy (TESA), hosted by the Richard M. & Helen DeVos Center for Entrepreneurship & Innovation in the Seidman College of Business and sponsored by Amway, will take place June 18-22 at the L. William Seidman Center on the Pew Grand Rapids Campus. 

TESA is a hands-on, interactive camp where more than 50 high school students immerse themselves in the entrepreneurial experience by learning about problem solving, opportunity recognition, creativity, teamwork and conceptualizing an idea for a business. 

Students are presented with a different challenge or theme and asked to come up with a new product concept or service and present it to a panel of judges for a chance to win $5,000. Students will engineer advanced digital solutions to turn urban areas into smart cities.

Grand Valley faculty, staff members, current entrepreneurial college students and local entrepreneurs will provide training, mentoring and facilitation of business idea development and marketing processes.

Shorouq Almallah, director of CEI, said data collected on 148 students who participated in the camp between 2009-2015 shows the program inspired students to start businesses and further their education. 

"Based on the data that was collected, 13 percent started a business, 42 percent are employed and have a career and 54 percent are currently pursuing a higher education degree," said Almallah. "These numbers corroborate other national studies and research that suggest youth entrepreneurship programs increase the students' occupational aspirations, interest in college and leadership aspirations after participation."

For more information on TESA and the 2018 camp schedule, visit www.gvsu.edu/cei or contact Shorouq Almallah at (616) 331-7256.