This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Northeastern chapter.
FrontStreet Facility Solutions Inc. (FrontStreet) in partnership with Sprint and Capital One Bank recently announced the expansion of the annual Long Island Young Entrepreneur Challenge to the New York Young Entrepreneur Challenge (NY YEC) for 2014. Budding entrepreneurs aged 17-22 who either live in New York or are enrolled as an undergraduate student at an accredited New York college or university will be eligible to compete in the upcoming business pitch competition to win up to $10,000 in start-up funding, mentorship and additional support essential for starting a business. Online applications will be accepted until Friday, Feb. 28th.
“The statewide expansion speaks directly to the evolution of the Young Entrepreneur Challenge, and this growth foreshadows our long-term goal of hosting an entrepreneur challenge in each state throughout the country,” Joseph Scaretta, FrontStreet’s Chief Development Officer, said. “We have been incredibly impressed with and inspired by the ideas of the young entrepreneurs in Long Island, and we are excited to see what entrepreneurs throughout the state of New York will present at the 2014 live pitch event.”
Online entries are judged by a panel of esteemed entrepreneurs. Top scoring applicants will then be invited to present a live business pitch to a panel, after which one prizewinner is identified in each of the two competition tracks, Student and Entrepreneur. The 2014 live pitch challenge will be hosted at the Sprint Executive Briefing Center in New York City on May 14th. Winners are named immediately following the NY YEC live pitch competition at a reception for finalists, families and sponsors.
The NY YEC will not only provide support, mentoring and guidance to budding entrepreneurs, it will also create a forum for networking and making connections that could benefit the future success of the participating entrepreneurs and the winning start-ups that will receive funding through the competition.
The U.S. Small Business Administration estimates that small businesses have created almost 65 percent of the new jobs in U.S. over the last 17 years and often employ the most vulnerable groups in the workforce. According to the Association for Enterprise Opportunity, small businesses create 2 out of 3 net new jobs in the U.S. and if just 1 in 3 small businesses could hire just one more person, the U.S. would be at full employment.
For the official guidelines, visit:
To submit an application, visit: