My name is Eugene Collins. I am an American citizen and a veteran of the United States Army and President of Portsmouth Ohio Inner City Development Corporation, a 501-C3 non profit corporation. We are a recipient of an Appalachian Regional Commission regional initiative grant that focuses on developing an interest in entrepreneurship among youth in a ten county area.
This project has touched the lives of over one hundred youth in several Appalachian communities within the Ohio Valley Regional Development District. The reason this program has been so special to us is because we feel that small business ownership is a way that any American can be successful if he or she sincerely believes in the business and works hard to make it a success. We are also very high on entrepreneurship because it is still the case that small businesses account for the vast majority of new jobs created by the American economy.
Participation is open to all young people in the target area who are between the ages of fourteen to twenty-two. However, the project places special emphasis on minorities and females. Many of our participants face enormous barriers to success. They are being raised in poverty stricken homes and are at risk of dropping out of school and/or engaging in criminal behavior. We feel that our Youth Entrepreneurship Initiative gives them a new career option to consider and fortifies them with the motivation to break the cycle of poverty that is so common to Appalachia.
The project's work plan consists of structured training seminars and workshops held in various locations throughout the region. Participants are given the basic information necessary for starting up and maintaining a new business. The hands-on instruction is presented by successful business owners whose background resembles that of the participants. The project supplements the nuts and bolts information with motivational speakers and presenters who emphasize the importance of education as the key to successful business operation and show them ways in which that education can be obtained. Participants are also linked with a mentor in their home area who has successfully started and operated a thriving business. The mentor is available to answer questions, help develop business plans and offer other follow-up support. The mentorship component also gives the youngsters the opportunity to see first hand how entrepreneurs operate their businesses.
The project will also provides no interest loans for up to twenty-five young men and women who wish to start their own full or part-time venture and develop workable business plans.
Ultimately, we wish to instill in the youth of our area the belief that regardless of race, creed, color or where you may live in America you can be a successful businessperson.
We believe that the creation of a new group of potential entrepreneurs within Appalachian Ohio will be a positive force for economic development of the area. This project and others like it deserve the continued support of the Appalachian Regional Commission and other funding sources.
The Motto of our program is: Business First in the Twenty-First Century.
A synopses of the project's approved work plan is attached to this statement.
Identification and Description of the Area to be Served by the Project:
The area to be served consists of Scioto, Gallia, Lawrence, Pike, Ross, Adams, Brown, Highland, Jackson, and Vinton counties of Ohio. The project's target group will be minority and/or disadvantaged youth aged fifteen through twenty-one who display an interest in entrepreneurship as a career choice.
Objectives of the Project and Relation to ARC Strategic Goals and Regional/Local Development Plans:
The continuation project relates to federal/state ARC goals of creating dynamic local economies and support of entrepreneurial activities in Appalachian counties. It addresses regional goals of access to capital and financial assistance and technical and managerial assistance. The major objectives for the project are:
To introduce a minimum of 130 young men and women to the opportunities available through entrepreneurship and self-employment as career options.
To identify and utilize no fewer than 20 successful businesspersons to serve as mentors to participants.
To identify and recruit appropriate providers of financial, technical and business support services.
To provide opportunities for participants to actually begin their own businesses through small start-up loans and assistance in consignment of participant generated goods or services through appropriate outlets. It is expected that 30 participants will take advantage of this opportunity.
The youth business loan component will be administered in much the same way as PIDC manages its existing adult microloan component. However, some concessions will be made to the particular needs and circumstances of the target group. For example, requirements for personal credit histories and collateralization of loans will be waived.
PIDC's microloan committee will review applications for youth microloans, which will average $500. That committee consists of PIDC senior staff and selected members of the Ohio Valley Minority Business Association. Approval will be based upon the viability of the individual business plan submitted by the loan applicant. Development of a successful business plan will be a key element of the workshops and seminars referred to below in this narrative. In addition, project staff will provide hands on assistance to participants in developing their specific plans. Loans will be made at no interest and will normally be repayable in equal monthly installments with the first payment due six months from the business start-up date. Repayments will be deposited in an escrow account and will be used to maintain an ongoing capacity to make future youth microloans after the termination of ARC support. Need/Purpose of the Project:
Appalachian Ohio has not fully enjoyed the benefit of the longest peacetime economic boom in the nation's history. Unemployment and poverty rates remain unacceptably high within the target area. Monthly unemployment statistics in each of our counties are consistently double the state and national averages. Youth unemployment shows even higher percentages than those for the general population. Although some economic development activities have been successful in obtaining new jobs in the area, these efforts have not kept pace with the need. The lack of opportunity is compounded for many minority youths who are faced with a number of other barriers to successful employment. One significant barrier we have found is that many minority youngsters are reluctant to consider self-employment as a career option.
The Youth Entrepreneur Initiative recognizes that the vast majority of new jobs generated in our national economy are created by either new or expanding small businesses and we propose to address our local need by expanding the pool of potential entrepreneurs in the area.
Description of the Project:
Informational meetings will be held in each of the ten counties to explain the format and content of the Youth Entrepreneurship training. These meetings will describe the opportunities and obligations associated with the formation and management of one's own business. PIDC's project staff and appropriate program consultants will conduct the meetings. Transportation will be provided for those require assistance in attending.
PIDC will publicize the meetings through an extensive media campaign using both regional radio and newspaper advertisements and radio and TV public service announcements. Informational material promoting the program will be distributed to each high school, vocational school and college within the region. Material will also be made available to local economic development and social service agencies for distribution.
The program will culminate in a series of ten workshops in various regional locations that will provide detailed information to participants on the basics needed to launch an entrepreneurial enterprise. Topics will include, but not be limited to: legal requirements, financial planning, banking, accounting, capital development, personnel selection and management, taxes, EPA/OSHA standards and business plan development. The workshops will be conducted by program staff and specialized consultants/presenters in each of the fields referenced above. They will be assisted by local volunteer professionals who have working expertise in each topic. Transportation will be provided for those without a means to otherwise attend.
The project will continue to refine the content and curricula for the workshops. The approved content will be the joint responsibility of the individual program consultant/presenter and PIDC staff. Content will vary depending upon the specific areas of expertise each consultant/presenter brings and the needs and interests of the workshop participants.
As a part of the program follow-up activities, each workshop participant will be linked to a local mentor who is engaged in or has expertise in the young person's field of interest. Each mentor will commit to a minimum of six instructional visits at the mentor's work site or other appropriate place. Mentorship visits will consist of participants engaging in supervised hands-on work, question and answer sessions and instruction in a variety of business procedures. Mentors will be selected on the basis of their expertise and ability to communicate information and their geographic proximity to the assigned participant.
The program will continue to utilize its linkages to regional minority business organizations and the larger business community for identification and recruitment of mentors. These resources include the Ohio Valley Minority Business Association, businesses participating in the MCBAP activities, the economic development agencies in Portsmouth, Ironton, Chillicothe and Hillsboro, Chambers of Commerce, local financial institutions and post-secondary schools.
Benefits/Results of the Project:
It is expected that up to thirty of the young people participating in the project will ultimately engage in entrepreneurship as a career choice. This would result in creation of as many as 100 to 150 new jobs within the area, thus providing an ongoing benefit to local economies in the form of payrolls, expanded tax bases and stabilization of population. A shorter term benefit will be the income generated and hands on experience gained by those participants involved in the start-up grant and consignment components of the program.