South Florida students Jhasir Bermudez and Mariem Marquetti will compete for seed capital and prizes in the NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge in New York City on Thursday, Oct. 11.
The finalists represent 34 businesses from across the nation, all of whom participated in the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship’s program that engages and inspires young people to pursue educational opportunities and start their own businesses. “We seek to address the needs of under-served segments of our young students, offering support and opportunity where there would otherwise be none,” said NFTE South Florida’s executive director, Alice Horn. Jhasir and Mariem were first and second place winners of the South Florida regional competition, and have moved on to the finals to compete for seed capital and prizes.
Finalists developed and presented original
business plans as part of their entrepreneurial studies at school. As part of
their coursework, NFTE students receive hands-on training in launching a
business and learn the real-world relevance of math, reading and writing to
their businesses.
South Florida’s first place winner, Jhasir, a senior at Miami’s Southridge Senior High School, developed Princesa by Jhasir, a business manufacturing organic cotton dresses for young girls. Jhasir, who learned to sew from his mother, an expert seamstress, works 30 hours a week to help support his family while staying in the top 1 percent of his class. When Jhasir enrolled in the NFTE class, he saw an opportunity to develop his talent for sewing and design into a full-fledged business.
Mariem Marquetti is a sophomore at Ferguson
Senior High School. She won second place with her business Purely
Natural Crochet, a collection of hand-crocheted scarves. Since then, her business has evolved to
include one-of-a-kind crocheted purses. During the regional competition, Mariem wowed the judges with her presentation style.
The 2012 NFTE National Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge grand-prize winner will take home a total of $25,000 in venture capital and prizes, including a $2,500 technology suite from Microsoft, $2,500 of business travel, and a $5,000 Coleman Entrepreneurial Scholarship, sponsored by GlobalHue. Two runners-up will each win $5,000 and two round-trip tickets on Southwest Airlines.
Finalists -- including Jhasir and Mariem -- also filmed an elevator pitch video as part of the NFTE Online Elevator Pitch Challenge, presented by E*TRADE Bank. To vote for their favorite elevator pitch, members of the public can visit www.elevatorpitch2012.com and vote through Tuesday, Oct. 9. The winner of the pitch challenge will receive $2,500, with two runners-up receiving $500 each.
In honor of NFTE’s 25th Anniversary this year, the event will also feature the inaugural Mariotti Venture Award Pitch Challenge, in which up to ten NFTE graduates with fully operating businesses will compete for an additional $25,000 in venture capital. The winner of this new challenge will be chosen by a panel of judges and a live action vote by the audience.