While Some NYC Teens Are Seeking Summer Jobs, Others Are Busy Making Their Own Jobs

NFTE's New York Regional Business Plan Competition Prepares Teens
for Entrepreneurship
NEW YORK--(Business Wire)--
While legions of high school students will be looking for scarce
summer jobs this year, hundreds of teens from across the City's five
boroughs, who are part of the National Foundation for Teaching
Entrepreneurship (NFTE), will be seeking to "make a job, not take a
job."

NFTE's annual New York Regional Business Plan Competition will be
conducted on June 10, when many of the top students from the area's
current class of 4,830 students will be presenting their plans for
local business start-ups. The top five student competitors will
receive venture funding ranging from $1,200 to $250 to help them
kick-start their businesses.

After sinking to a new low in 2007, teen summer employment is
expected to fall again, to the lowest rate in the 60-year history of
government jobs data. Working teens ages 16 to 19 will slide to 34
percent of the population, predicts the Center for Labor Market
Studies at Northeastern University. That's down from 45 percent in
2000 and a high of 48.5 percent in 1989.

This comes as more teens prepare to seek summer jobs, while facing
increased competition from adults for low-skilled, hourly jobs in the
service and retail industries. Additionally, many employers have
raised the minimum hiring ages to 18 or 19.

Among students presenting their business plans 'to make a job'
are:

-- Amanda Loyola, 15, a 10th grade student at Horace Mann,
Manhattan. Her company EcoDog Treats, LLC produces
eco-friendly, inexpensive, vegetarian dog treats. She hopes to
expand her business to pay for college.

-- Marvin Georges, 17, and LeRoy McIntosh, 18, both seniors at
Brooklyn's Tilden High School, developed a customized t-shirt
business, Mr. Frostie, that capitalizes on the latest trends
and styles to keep their customers "Frosted." They are
currently selling custom tees at their high school with orders
daily.

-- Jelani Anglin, 16, a junior at Elmont Memorial High School,
Queens. His company No Bones, offers the opportunity for
customers to purchase quality electronics at competitive
prices without having to leave home. No Bones has exclusive
electronic equipment priced at least 10% below its
competitors.

-- Devron Davis, 17, a senior at Christopher Columbus High School
in Bronx. His company, Devron's DJ Service, provides the
latest and most up-to-date music for all cultures at a low
cost.

NFTE's youth entrepreneurship education program is designed to
teach teens the skills needed to start their own business, while at
the same time reinforcing academic and life skills. The program
explains business concepts such as: developing income statements;
conducting market research; and completing and presenting business
plans. NFTE's goal is to give young people the skills and confidence
to unlock their true potential, so they can improve their lives and
their communities.

"Starting my own business is way better than a summer job, because
with a summer job it's just the summer. When you have your own
business it could be a stable thing throughout the whole year as your
income," says NFTE student Amanda Loyola.

A recent survey conducted by Harris Interactive(R) finds that four
out of 10 young people ages 8 to 21 would like to start their own
business and another 37 percent did not close the door to
entrepreneurship, saying they were just unsure about it. The survey
found that 63 percent of respondents agree that, through hard work,
they have the ability to start their own business.

A sea change is afoot: through NFTE, more than 186,000 students
have written business plans, learned how to open bank accounts and
tracked income per unit of product or service sold. Research from
Harvard and Brandeis universities finds that NFTE students are not
only likely to consider entrepreneurship as a path out of poverty, but
they also set their sights on higher academic goals--attending and
completing college.

"After running their own businesses, many of our NFTE students may
return to traditional employment, yet they've learned how the economy
operates, which makes them much better business people," says Barbara
Reuter, NFTE New York Metro Executive Director.

About NFTE

The National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship
(www.nfte.com) is a 501 (c) (3) non-profit organization, whose mission
is to teach entrepreneurship to young people from low-income
communities to enhance their economic productivity by improving their
business, academic, and life skills. Since 1987, NFTE has reached over
186,000 young people. Currently, NFTE has more than 1,000 active
Certified Entrepreneurship Teachers in 21 states and 13 countries
outside the U.S.

NFTE
Tom Phillips, 212-935-4655
comptwp@aol.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008