ACC has entered into a new partnership with Economics Arkansas, a non-profit that trains Arkansas K-12 teachers to integrate economic and personal finance principles into their classrooms. This partnership will increase the growth and participation of the Youth Entrepreneurship Showcase (Y.E.S.), a business plan competition for 5th through 8th grades established by ACC in 2006.
“Y.E.S. has been a huge success in the state, reaching more than 9,800 Arkansas youth and awarding more than $124,000 in cash prizes to teachers and students,” ACC CEO Sam Walls said. “This partnership with Economics Arkansas will build upon the program’s success with a renewed intentionality to engage teachers and students in our state’s most rural communities.”
Y.E.S. supports the development of young entrepreneurs through a competition that evaluates the best business plan, most innovative idea, best retail display, and best marketing piece. The partnership enables ACC to serve as the program sponsor and Economics Arkansas to lead programmatic execution.
“Through this collaboration, we have the opportunity to expand our commitment to entrepreneurship education for students,” shares Kathleen Lawson, Executive Director of Economics Arkansas. “The Y.E.S. competition is an engine for fostering innovation, igniting youth ambitions, and driving home our mission of economic education for all students.”
The application window for Y.E.S. opens in October with winners expected to be announced in January 2024.
Economics Arkansas is a private, nonprofit, non-partisan educational organization founded in 1962 by Dr. Arch Ford and led by Dr. Bessie B. Moore to promote economic literacy in Arkansas. Its mission is to equip PreK-12 schools with standards-based resources and professional development to teach economics, personal finance, and the free-enterprise system using practical, innovative, and inspiring methods so that Arkansas students may master an understanding of economics and personal finance and apply that knowledge for success in the free-enterprise system.
