Be Your Own Boss Camp plants entrepreneurial seeds

CRESCO - Eighteen entrepreneurial-minded, soon-to-be fifth and sixth graders spent a week of their summer going to the ninth annual Be Your Own Boss camp this June. The camp, which is presented by Howard County Business & Tourism (HCBT) and Northeast Iowa Community College (NICC) – Cresco Center, is filled with fun activities and field trips designed to teach and encourage campers to explore the world of business. 

Each camper begins the week with an idea for a business. They develop this idea throughout the week-long camp, learning such crucial skills along the way as how to create a business plan, how to make a business card, how to craft a commercial on iMovie and how to come up with an “elevator pitch” for their business. 

Elevator pitches are a 30-second encapsulation of their business – what it is and how it’s special – that can be pitched to a potential customer or investor in the time it takes to ride an elevator between floors.

Helping them along the journey of business development are teachers Kelly Moellers, who has been a teacher at the camp for all nine years; Pam Jackson, who has been with the camp for seven years; and Taylor Rice, a first year camp teacher. 

“We can’t do this without these three teachers,” HCBT’s Jason Passmore said. “We go after the rock star teachers. That’s kind of the requirement for teaching this, and that’s what we get.”

Also assisting the kids this year were student helpers Saydey Scholbrock, Kelsey Burke and Nora Ryan, all of whom are incoming seniors and will receive silver cord hours for volunteerism for their work with the camp.

In addition to the ongoing project of business development, the camp is chock full of fun field trips and exciting activities. This year, the campers visited local businesses MiEnergy and A&W/Long John Silvers. “We do different activities tied into STEM [Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics], touring businesses and looking into how they use STEM in their day-to-day operations,” Moellers said.

Other STEM-related activities include learning about 3-D printing, building and racing solar cars and trying out a flight simulator. The solar cars, in particular, presented a challenge this year with so many cloudy and rainy days. Luckily, the teachers were able to find a window of sunshine to show how the cars run on solar energy.

Unlike last year, this year’s model of solar car was adjustable, so the campers could see why the car went right, or left or not in the intended direction. This allowed them to do some problem solving to course correct. 

“STEM is also good because they see, in their own business, how they may have to change technology to make it fit and to make things more efficient,” Jackson noted.

The kids’ creativity and the new relationships they build with other students are some of the most exciting things the teachers see across the duration of the camp. “The things that they come up with. Some of the 3-D designs – what they had in their head and how they could make it work,” was particularly impressive to Jackson. 

Moellers cited the relationships the kids build with youth from other schools as very rewarding. “This year we have six different schools represented,” she pointed out. “We have Crestwood, Notre Dame, Decorah, New Hampton, Turkey Valley and Holy Trinity.” 

“These kids are smart, smart kids,” Passmore added, “and there’s a huge benefit in networking with other communities and other school districts. Those are things that they won’t forget. So it’s not just teaching them about businesses and about trying to plant a seed of entrepreneurship in these young adults. It’s also about networking, and humanity, and how to get along with other kids in an environment like this, especially when they’re all going after that same goal.”

The 18 campers this year included two repeat customers. Elliott Bissen came back because he wanted to create a business plan for a different business. This year’s project, a lawn mowing business, already has a foot up on the competition with some word-of-mouth networking he’s done to identify high probability customers. When asked what his favorite part of the camp has been, well-rounded Elliott ranked recess and 3-D printing at the top of his list.

Brynlie Hvitved also returned for a second year at the Be Your Own Boss camp, and for similar reasons. “I came back to try another business that I’m more confident in,” Hvitved said. “I feel last year’s business [B’s Breakfast Bakery] was good, but it was more for me in the future, and I wanted to do something that started now.” A babysitting business is her target this year.

Another project the campers tackled during their week-long camp was selling “freezies” around town to benefit local charities. The campers broke into four groups to choose their location, choose their charity, calculate the startup costs of their enterprise – the cost of the freezer pops and the ice to keep them cold – and deduct that from their sale price to understand the profit margin and make posters to motivate customers to buy. The activity teaches campers about the importance of giving back to their community.

One group sold their pops in the Cresco Bank & Trust parking lot and made $220, which they donated to the University of Iowa’s Children’s Hospital. Another group sold their pops at Evans Park to tee-ball players and parents and made $67.21 in one hour, which they donated to the Howard County Cancer Association (HoCA). A third group sold their pops at Fareway and made $218.63, which they donated to the Humane Society of Northeast Iowa. The fourth group sold their pops in the CUSB parking lot with dance moves and a twirling sign like the guy on TV and made $388.52, which they donated to a local woman battling cancer. 

At the end of the week, campers enjoyed a graduation ceremony where they gave their earnings to representatives from each charity and presented commercials and elevator pitches to a crowd of parents and special friends.

This year’s camper businesses were:

Ayden McIntyre – Ayden’s Cleaning’s, “House is dirty? Call Ayden’s Cleaning’s and you won’t have to worry.”

Brynlie Hvitved – Tiny Tots Babysitting (partnered with Kierney Curtin), “Special and safe and we put smiles on your face.”

Charlie Geerts – Duos! “A shirt company for you!!!”

Cooper Dietzenbach – CK Recycling Pickup, “I am your mean, green, recycling machine.”

Cora Johnson – Real Doll (she makes the doll), “A smart doll is a real doll.”

Elliott Bissen – Mowing Man, “We mow down the competition.”

Eli Jessen – Planasaures, dinosaur toys with slime coming out of them.

Kaden Kuboushek – All About Mowing, “You grow, I mow.”

Kierney Curtin – Tiny Tots Babysitting (partnered with Brynlie Hvitved), “Special and safe and we put smiles on your face.”

Lewie Wurzer – MoneyWise (a gas card company), “If you don’t have gas, you’re in the grass.”

Liam Daley – Liam’s Hunting and Fishing Shop, “Your daily dose of outdoor gear.”

Macy Dungey – Hot Shots (teaching people how to play sports), “One team, one dream.”

Madison Midthus – Madi’s Flower & Gardening Co., “You bring the thought, we’ll bring the flowers.”

Naomi Kammerer – Artify (upcycled products), “Keeping it green.”

Owen Casper – Casper’s Dog Walking

Poppy Lewis – Fuzzy Hotel Shopper, “Let your pet get things it needs!”

Ryden Wall – Ryden’s Babysitting and Pet Sitting, “You’re my priority.”

Stella Valentini – Sing Your Heart Out (singing lessons), “I’m gonna sing, sing, sing. I’m gonna shout, shout, shout. I’m gonna sing. I’m gonna shout. Make some noise.”

Just as “It takes a village to raise a child,” it also takes a community to sponsor an entrepreneurial summer camp. 

The camp takes extensive planning to pull off each year, with plans starting in October of 2021 for the 2022 summer camp. “I start a little bit of it in October,” Hallie Gregert, NICC Center Supervisor, said. “Then, starting February, is when I really dive into it. And most of May is prep for the camp.

“There’s a lot of prep,” she noted. “But it’s all worth it.”

“It’s a confidence builder,” Moellers said. “It’s a chance for them [the campers] to take a dream and try to turn it into a reality. It doesn’t matter how old you are. It doesn’t matter that you’re a kid. You CAN do this.”