RIT’s Business College Hosts YEA! Saunders Scholars Bright Ideas Competition April 30

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A. Sue Weisler

E. Philip Saunders College of Business

Here’s the challenge: The contestants have six minutes to pitch their startup ideas to a panel of judges. Which entrepreneurs have the best innovations to achieve success and become the next CEO of their own companies?

The E. Philip Saunders College of Business at Rochester Institute of Technology is the official host site for the second annual Young Entrepreneurs Academy Regional Business Competition. Featured YEA finalists (high school students ages 11 to 18) will present their business plans to a panel of judges from 5 to 6:30 p.m. April 30 at RIT’s Center for Integrated Manufacturing, Building 78, room 2240. The event is free and open to the public.

The top three winning teams—out of five finalists in this year’s competition—will win RIT scholarship awards from $20,000 to $30,000. They will also have the opportunity to showcase their businesses to the community at the third annual Imagine RIT: Innovation and Creativity Festival on May 1. The YEA! students hope to prove that “you’re never too young to be an innovator and create your own destiny.”

Developed at the University of Rochester in 2004, YEA! is a non-profit organization that enables educational institutions to provide successful entrepreneurship training courses and mentorship for youths to transform their ideas into real businesses that create economic and social value. YEA! is currently in 17 locations in New York state and Illinois—both in high schools and colleges.