More than 200 middle school and high school seniors from Wiregrass attended the annual Troy University Youth Business Summit held at the Dothan campus on Wednesday. At the end of the event, six students left with scholarships to TROY.

Twelve local schools participated in half-day workshops on different aspects of business taught by local professionals and TROY professors. In addition to the workshops, the students also had the opportunity to participate in several competitions, including a “Shark Tank” style business plan competition, a social media contest to create the best social media plan for Todd Farms and a financial investment competition.

“This project has been very helpful over the years,” said Dr. Skip Ames, business competition judge and speaker at the Sorrell College of Business on the Dothan campus. “What really energizes us as teachers is the fact that these students want to be involved in business and they want to succeed. It doesn’t matter who wins, the fact is that these students had an idea and were motivated enough to give it a try.

Ridgecrest Christian School (RCS) won top prizes in business plan and social media competitions, winning each team member a $500 scholarship to TROY. The Haute École cantonale de Genève came first in the financial investment competition.

RCS was also named TROY’s Top Champion of the Day, the highest award given that represents exemplary achievement in all categories of competition.

“Ridgecrest Christian School would like to express our gratitude to our students and mentors for representing us so well at the TROY Youth Summit,” said RCS Administrator Theresa Cumbie. “We are reassured to know that our future rests in the hands of such brilliant minds. Congratulations on a great win!”

Held annually since 2017, the Young Entrepreneur Summit was created in part to expose high school students to the many facets of business they can explore in their academic and professional careers. The event also introduces them to all the resources TROY has to offer.

“Thirty percent of students who attend the Youth Business Summit become Trojan horses,” said Dr. Dewey Todd, associate dean of Sorrell College of Business. “It’s a great way to introduce young business-minded students to Sorrell College of Business and the University of Troy and also introduce our services, such as AdmissionsFolders, Student Services/TRIO and Financial aid. Plus, we also tell them about opportunities that many of them don’t know about, like the Small Business Development Center and IDEA Bank as well as local organizations, the Chamber of Commerce and our many sponsors. We are proud to see so many local high schools represented here year after year.

Event coordinators Tatum McClendon and Kay Peterson said they love being able to show students around campus and the different avenues TROY has to offer outside of the business route.

“The Youth Business Summit is a great way to introduce local students to our campus, not only to try to get them into the business world, but also to bring them here to campus so we can show them all the other avenues for them once they leave high school,” McClendon said.

Peterson added: “We want young people in the area to know that there is a great local university for them and that they have options. It is a very rewarding experience for us to help students find their career path. We just want them to know they don’t have to go far, there’s a great college near them that will make them feel like family.

The winners were:

Business plan competition: Nora Nixon, Esther Hobbs, Gemma Sommer (Ridgecrest Christian School)

Financial investment competition: Hayden Hughes, Ryan Fuller, Nicolas Simmons (Geneva County High School)

Social Media Contest: Brynley Bradshaw, Isabella Beaty, Ruthie Sommer (Ridgecrest Christian School)

Students from Ashford, Cottonwood, Dale County, Geneva County, Houston County Career Academy, Houston County High School, Kinston, Poplar Springs, Rehobeth, Ridgecrest, Samson and Wicksburg were all represented.

The Young Entrepreneur Summit takes place every spring. Click here for more information.