soulsearcher
11-16-2005, 11:16 PM
West Coast Coalition Cultivates Young Business Owners
By Stacy Gilliam, Special to AOL Black Voices
Sherbert Jones might be 14, but he’s already got entrepreneurial ambitions. With plans of owning a clothing company someday, the 10th grader is staying one step ahead of his future competitors by hobnobbing with CEOs and honing his business acumen.
“If you want to get into the business industry, you need to get information now,” says the Long Beach High School student, who has participated twice in the Smart Start Youth Financial Literacy Program, a California-based program designed to change the way African American youth view wealth. “It’s harder to catch up later.”
Pat Means had kids like Sherbert in mind when she developed Smart Start under the TPC Foundation, a non-profit branch of her company, Turning Point Communications. After 20 years on the corporate beat, Means decided in 1995 to be in the business of helping black-owned businesses in the California region with Turning Point resource magazine, seminars, workshops, mentoring programs, internships and annual conferences. Six years ago, she reshaped the foundation to include tomorrow’s entrepreneurial leaders.
http://blackvoices.aol.com/goodnews/canvas_directory/good_news?id=20051027144609990001
By Stacy Gilliam, Special to AOL Black Voices
Sherbert Jones might be 14, but he’s already got entrepreneurial ambitions. With plans of owning a clothing company someday, the 10th grader is staying one step ahead of his future competitors by hobnobbing with CEOs and honing his business acumen.
“If you want to get into the business industry, you need to get information now,” says the Long Beach High School student, who has participated twice in the Smart Start Youth Financial Literacy Program, a California-based program designed to change the way African American youth view wealth. “It’s harder to catch up later.”
Pat Means had kids like Sherbert in mind when she developed Smart Start under the TPC Foundation, a non-profit branch of her company, Turning Point Communications. After 20 years on the corporate beat, Means decided in 1995 to be in the business of helping black-owned businesses in the California region with Turning Point resource magazine, seminars, workshops, mentoring programs, internships and annual conferences. Six years ago, she reshaped the foundation to include tomorrow’s entrepreneurial leaders.
http://blackvoices.aol.com/goodnews/canvas_directory/good_news?id=20051027144609990001