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No.250 オリジナル英文

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Aspiring US Student Entrepreneurs Get Help Starting Businesses
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High school student Vivian Chau, like most Asian American youngsters, loves a drink called boba, a sweet milk tea with jellied tapioca balls.

Boba can be found in cafes around San Francisco, but Vivian says it is not sold in supermarkets.

So she came up with the idea of a company called Jelly It! to make a ready-to drink bottled tea mixed with jelly.

Chau was a finalist in a recent competition in which students prepared plans for actual businesses.

Finalist Ugo Ugamba makes flashy fitted caps - baseball caps with flashing logos powered by batteries.

He says he also places flashing logos on people's own hats.

The competition winner, high-school student Huong Cheng, plans to create a company that will send volunteers from school clubs to help retirees.

The students will take the senior citizens for a stroll, read them a book or help them with shopping.

The retirees will pay a small fee to the visiting students, and school clubs and Cheng's company will share the fees.

She got the idea when she visited a retirement home.

"And it didn’t seem like there are many volunteers there all the time.

And I’ve noticed that all the clubs at my school, they’re always fundraising.

So I tried to connect the two, and I thought of this service business."

The contest was sponsored by the National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship and the financial firm Merrill Lynch.

Financial advisor Neville Richardson worked with the students on their business plans, and was impressed with their enthusiasm and talent.

The National Association for Teaching Entrepreneurship helps teachers convey the skills that students need to start a business.

The foundation's executive director for the San Francisco Bay area, Gerald Richards, says the program also helps the youngsters academically.

"They have to do the business plan.

They have to do the economics of one unit, so they are learning about math.

They have to write a business plan, so they are using their writing skills, but they are also using their presentation skills.

Therefore, I think we are realizing, and schools are realizing, that this is a great way to engage students."

Merrill Lynch’s Neville Richardson says there are challenges in business, as these students have learned in preparing their business plans.

"So we present all the possible scenarios for business, and we also present - what if you get a tremendous demand for your product?

How will you handle that?

How will you service that need?"

He says the students hone their problem-solving skills as they come up with a detailed plan for a product or service.

Mike O'Sullivan, VOA News, San Francisco
by danueno | 2008-07-07 12:47 | オリジナル英文


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