Wisconsin Food System Partnership Accentuates Outreach

From the Spring issue of Seeds of Change, a newsletter from the Food Systems/Rural Development initiative of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation

Neighborhood lemonade stands in Iowa may not have lines of credit, but you can bet the young entrepreneurs who run them are on the fast track to success. That success stems from access to a relatively new youth development program in Iowa that allows lemonade stand managers -- and other young CEOs -- to explore entrepreneurial opportunities.

"Iowa ranks low compared with other states in measurements of entrepreneurship and new business start-ups," says Ann Schultz, program coordinator for Iowa Vision 2020, the Kellogg Foundation’s Food Systems Professions Education (FSPE) program that helped start LIFE, Learning Independence From Entrepreneurs, in 1996. Vision 2020 involves Iowa State University (ISU) and Iowa’s 15 community colleges. "Studies show students who experience entrepreneur workshops tend to stay in Iowa for education and for their careers."

LIFE is coordinated by ISU Cooperative Extension Service and the Association of Business and Industry Foundation. The program matches local entrepreneurs with students during camps where young people learn the ropes of business from their mentors. LIFE helps students develop creative thinking skills, understand how to identify unique business opportunities, learn basic business practices, provide business-mentoring situations and develop a business plan.

"We are seeing a lot of little efforts come together and make an impact," says Jeff Zacharakis-Jutz, community development specialist for ISU Extension and co-project investigator. To date, 300 sixth through eighth graders in seven counties have created 75 new business ventures.

Susan Judkins sees LIFE’s positive impact. She has participated in Warren County camps as past director of the Warren County Economic Development Corporation and as a parent. "We work with up to 25 students in sixth through eighth grade because that is the age when kids, whether they know it or not, make decisions that impact whether they will work for themselves or for someone else," she says. "It’s an annual event now, and we are working on finding ways to stay in contact with youth about their business ideas."

Judkins’ daughter participated in the program and will open a new business venture this year known as The Twilight Academy. The Judkins family will provide a structured evening preschool program once a week for area children that will provide parents with a few hours of free time.

"Vision 2020 makes this happen," says Judkins. "LIFE provides a way to promote leadership development and provide students with a chance to explore their future."

Now that the LIFE program is established, coordinators have packaged the curriculum as a "camp in a box" to make it easy for others to use it. Coordinators hope to find a national group interested in distributing their curriculum to other communities. "Raising money for the camps locally is pretty easy," says Zacharakis-Jutz. "We hope we can find the resources to have one facilitator for the entire program. The potential for sustainability is there."