$1,000 prize on the line at Hazleton LaunchBox high school student competition

Teen Entrepreneurship Challenge begins June 20
Teen Entrepreneurship Challenge
Credit: Penn State

HAZLETON, Pa. — High school students can learn how to develop a business or product idea while earning the opportunity to win a $1,000 prize this summer through the Teen Entrepreneurship Challenge hosted by the Hazleton LaunchBox supported by Pasco L. Schiavo, Esq.

Open to high school sophomores, juniors and seniors, the Teen Entrepreneurship Challenge will run from June 20 to Aug. 15. Classes will meet on Mondays from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Hazleton LaunchBox, located at 13 W. Broad St. in Hazleton. Classes will not be held during the week of July 4.

The program is designed to teach students key strategies for launching a product or startup, how to act on their ideas, and how to develop innovative solutions to problems. Students can participate individually or in teams.

The challenge concludes with a Shark Tank-style pitch competition on Aug. 15, where students will present their business or product ideas before a panel of judges from the local business community.

A top prize of $1,000 will be awarded to the student or team that finishes in first place. The student or team that finishes second will earn a $500 prize.

Recent product ideas to win the challenge included a dance shoe equipped with LED lights and an athletic cleat with interchangeable soles that can be snapped in and out depending on the sport. 

Students who don’t have a product or startup idea can work with Hazleton LaunchBox Education Entrepreneurship Coordinator William Andahazy or Entrepreneurship Facilitator Fermin Diaz throughout the program to develop their own.

The Teen Entrepreneurship Challenge is offered at no cost thanks to donations from Wells Fargo Bank and the Reading Blue Mountain and Northern Railroad to the Downtown Hazleton Alliance for Progress on behalf of the Pennsylvania Department of Community and Economic Development Neighborhood Assistance Tax Credit Program.

For more information or to register, contact the Hazleton LaunchBox at [email protected] or [email protected] or by calling 570-450-3110.

Learn more about the challenge at hazleton.psu.edu//launchbox/entrepreneurship-challenge.