2008 Youth Entrepreneurship Leadership Institute
River City Community Development Corporation’s (RCCDC) Youth Entrepreneurship Leadership Institute “Empowering, Educating and Enterprising,” will provide low-income at risk youth between the ages of 16-24 with the tools necessary to plan, start and manage their own small business enterprise. 

By training and educating our youth to become innovative entrepreneurs this will ideally assist in strengthening the local and regional economy by creating jobs, commercializing technologies, and offering new products and services to the local economy for the years to come.  Additionally, by engaging youth in education and meaningful work, this builds self-esteem and a sense of identity.  This also prepares them for self sufficient, productive and law-abiding lives.

The program will provide the principals and processes of small business start-ups through classroom instruction, hands-on, shadowing and mentoring.  Professionals in the field will provide comprehensive instruction on the start up process.  Educating youth to value free enterprise, understanding business and economics and be workforce ready is the overall objective of the Institute.  The curriculum will integrate effective entrepreneurial education that will empower this generation of entrepreneurs to be socially responsive to their own communities.  This will be accomplished through business, academics and leadership and will be based on the best practices of effective entrepreneurial program. 

The course material will include:  

1. The role of small businesses and the role it plays to the local economy
2. Business Feasibility
3. Marketing plan and strategies
4. Business plan development
5. How to market goods and services
6. How to organize and manage the business and leadership development
7. Basic financial planning and internal controls
8. Financial Literacy, money, credit & banking
9. Risk Management  

Benefits of the Institute

Economic

1. Creation of permanent jobs for low/moderate income youth between the ages of 16-24 through business creation and expansion
2. Opportunity for low/moderate income youth to own their own small businesses
3. Promoting self-sufficiency
4. Increased revenues for local economy from business development and expansion

Human Capital Development

• Encouraging youth in education and meaningful work, builds self-esteem and a sense of identity which prepares them for self-sufficient, product and law-abiding lives. 

Community Development

• Improvement in the living environment by enhancing the economic and self-sufficiency of disadvantaged youth
• Opportunity for youth to participate in service learning while contributing to the their own communities

In school and out-of school youth between the ages of 16-24 interested in participating, please call River City CDC at (252) 331-2925 for more information.