Minority Enterprise Development Week on August, 2024: Do you know of any businessentrepreneurship compeitons in maryland for the youth?
Minority Enterprise Development Week 2024. Committee The Minority Enterprise
National Foundation for the Teaching of Entrepreneurship
-offers local and national competitions
Students in Free Enterprise
youthventure.org
-provides sources of funding
-national competition
Minority Enterprise Development Week
-a great national conference that features a business plan competition among youth
Who is the youngest self made millionaire?
Jackie Coogan
Most people do not remember his childhood career and only remember him as Uncle Fester.
He was born into the entertainment business, and grew up in the spotlight.
He is said to be the youngest 'self made' millionaire in history.
When he wanted the money that he made as a child star in the 20's his mother and stepfather refused and Jackie filed suit for the $4 million that he had made. Under California Law at the time, he had no rights to the money he made as a child and he was awarded only $126,000 in 1939. Because of the public outcry, the California Legislature passed 'The Child Actors Bill' aka 'Coogan Act', which would set up a trust fund for any child actor and protect his earnings.
On April 15, 2005, The American Red Cross in conjunction with National Youth Service Day presented 20-year-old author and self-made millionaire Farrah Gray the Award of Appreciation for Support and Contribution to National Youth Service Day.
For more than 15 years, National Youth Service Day has recognized the accomplishments of youth and has brought together 28 million people nationwide, mobilizing millions of America's youth to identify and address the needs of their communities through community service.
"Farrah Gray truly embodies the spirit and philosophy of what national youth service day is all about. He is a remarkable young man," said Sharon Ions, senior program manager of the American Red Cross.
"I take pride in being a young corporate citizen while leading by example in the area of social responsibility, doing good by doing well in my community and nationally," states Gray.
Entrepreneurship began at six for Gray, when he peddled body lotion for $1.50 door to door. Growing up in a single-parent household in the projects of Chicago, at eight years old he started UNEEC (Urban Neighborhood Economic Enterprise Club). Gray reached millions every Saturday night as co-host of TV/radio show "Backstage Live" in Las Vegas. He was 10.
At 13, he founded NE2W U.S.A. (New Early Entrepreneur Wonders University Student & Alumni), a million-dollar Capital Search Fund headquartered on Wall Street. Gray officially became a millionaire after hitting sales of $1.5 million for his company, Farr-Out Foods. At 15, he served as the youngest member of the Board of Advisors for the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce. Also at 15, Farrah was invited to consult and oversee an entrepreneurial institute for The Minority Business Development Agency of the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Gray founded the Farrah Gray Foundation, which gives a certain portion of his personal income to charity. Its primary purpose is to help youth organizations with inner city literacy and after school programs. From 15 to 18, Gray served on the Board of Directors of the United Way as their youngest director ever. When he was 16, he acquired INNERCITY Magazine from Inner City Broadcasting Corporation, the largest privately held radio broadcasting company in the U.S. that primarily targets African-Americans.
At the ages of 15 and 16, Farrah Gray was invited to speak alongside Bill Gates at both COMDEX/Fall 1999 and 2000 as the youngest venture capitalist speaker.
His inspirational book, "Reallionaire: Nine Steps to Becoming Rich from the Inside Out: The Essential Lessons That Took Me from Public Assistance to a Millionaire by the Age of 14," reached Amazon and Barnes & Noble "Bestseller List" two weeks before it was released January 2005.
Reuben Singh "Young Sardar from Manchester"
REUBEN SINGH, the UK's youngest self-made millionaire, believes age is never a barrier to having entrepreneurial vision
HE IS a multi-millionaire with an established track record as an entrepreneur, and a key figure at the heart of New Labour's aim to make business sexy. But Reuben Singh is no ordinary corporate high-flyer.
Only 24, he has been setting the UK business world alight since 17, when he juggled his A-levels with a venture that earned him a place in the Guinness Book of Records as the UK's youngest self-made millionaire.
In 2000, Welsh singing star Charlotte Church has been revealed as Britain's youngest millionaire in a Sunday newspaper's list of the young rich.
The 14-year-old Cardiff schoolgirl is worth £10m and ranks equal 42nd in the Sunday Times list of 60 millionaires in Britain aged 30 or under.
100's of places advertise Small Business Grants/Loans. Are any of these worth the application or money?
AVOID THEM -- they are SCAMS
It is hard to find grants to start a business. Unlike the myths that some perpetuate, federal government and even private foundations hardly give grant money for starting a for-profit business.
One possible exception is for companies developing or exporting agricultural goods, including food and forest product. Another exception could be the Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) or Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) programs , which fund the research and development of technological innovation that meets specific government needs.
Your best bet actually will be from the states if they offer grant programs for women (or any other special interest groups -- minorities, women, disabled, veterans, etc). Or check with non profit organizations, particularly women organizations if they offer grants. Examples include
Iowa Women's Foundation
New Mexico Women's Foundation
Even SBA does NOT give out grants. From the SBA website
"The U.S. Small Business Administration does not offer grants to start or expand small businesses, although it does offer a wide variety of loan programs. (See for more information) While SBA does offer some grant programs, these are generally designed to expand and enhance organizations that provide small business management, technical, or financial assistance. These grants generally support non-profit organizations, intermediary lending institutions, and state and local governments."
Nonetheless, you can go to the Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance (CFDA) and Grants.gov - these are two sites created by the federal government to provide transparency and information on grants. Browse through the listings and see if you can find any grant that would support a for-profit venture.
Here is a listing of federal grants for small businesses. See if there is any available for individuals for starting a business -- THERE'S NONE.
Most of the federal grants are given to specific target groups with specific requirements (e.g. minority business owners involved in transportation related contracts emanating from DOT - Grant#20.905 Disadvantaged Business Enterprises Short Term Lending Program
Grants are also often given to non profit groups or organizations involved in training or other similar activities (grant 59.043 Women's Business Ownership Assistance that are given to those who will create women's business center that will train women entrepreneurs
I suggest you read the following books to get ideas of how to finance your business:
Financing Your Small Business
Small Business Financing: How and Where To Get It
Financing the Small Business: A Complete Guide to Obtaining Bank Loans and All Other Types of Financing
The SBA Loan Book
Angel Capital : How to Raise Early-Stage Private Equity Financing
Financing Your Small Business (Barron's Business Library Series)
For private grants, you may want to check the Foundation Center's Foundation Grants for Individuals Online . It's a subscription based website ($9.95 per month) but their opening blurb only says that the database is ideal for "students, artists, academic researchers, libraries and financial aid offices." Entrepreneurs are apparently not one of them, so I take it they also don't have listings of private foundations who give grants to would-be entrepreneurs.
