Overview
During the 2025-2026 academic year, Network Kansas eCommunities and non eCommunities held 70 local-level youth entrepreneurship competitions with over 1,200 students as part of the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (YEC) Series, culminating in a statewide championship known as the State Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (YEC State).
What is a local entrepreneurship competition?
Communities host locally-organized events (at the county, city, school, or classroom level) that bring students together for the purpose of a hands-on entrepreneurship experience. Typically, local entrepreneurship competitions involve students preparing a written business plan or executive summary, a “tradeshow booth” (similar to a science fair tabletop display), and a pitch or presentation. Then, on a given day, students compete against one another in teams or individually. Students’ work is judged by local entrepreneurs, resource partners, mentors, or other adults. Most successful events are organized through a teacher or school as a classroom project or extracurricular activity, but other groups can be successful at organizing an event as well.
Important Elements
-A written executive summary
-Access to resources, like a teacher or other groups like K-State Extension and 4-H
-A formal presentation, and may also include an additional oral component of some sort - pitch, interview and/or a tradeshow
-Competitive process by which students’ work is evaluated/scored
-Judges - usually members of the community
-Awards or prizes (whether it’s a 1st place certificate or a cash award; token for participation)
Other Ideas
- Invite other students or the community at large to visit the tradeshow
-Invite an entrepreneurship guest speaker to talk to students and/or others
-Seek business owners to mentor students
-Invite businesses to sponsor the event
-Share resources with teachers, including the YEC teacher packet
Expectations of the Host
-Decide the format and other parameters of the event (who, when, where, etc.)
-Find a mentor to help and decide how much education you can do on the topic of entrepreneurship
-Create or find applicable forms (judging forms, business plan outline, etc.)
-Decide your budget and how to fund the event (Will there be lunch? Awards? Other expenses?)
-Decide how to get students to participate
-Promote the event! Invite judges, students, businesses, and others to attend
-Coordinate the event (print documents, organize schedule, find a speaker, etc.)
-Run the event on the day of (give instructions, keep schedule on time, tally scores, give awards, etc.)
-Send thank you notes and write articles for newsletters, newspapers, etc.
-Follow instructions from Network Kansas to coordinate participation at the state level