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Summer camp to offer lessons on entrepreneurship for teens, young adults

CHARLOTTE AMALIE, St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands - June 25, 2015 - To assist young people in discovering methods on how to start and grow a business at an early age, the United States Virgin Islands Economic Development Authority (VIEDA) announces that it is partnering with Small Business Camp to present the Young CEO Camp on St. Croix. This five-day summer training program will be held from Monday, July 6, 2015 to Friday, July 10, 2015 from 8:30AM to 4:30PM at the Governor Juan F. Luis Hospital & Medical Center in the Cardiac Center Conference Room. Space is limited and the application deadline is Wednesday, July 1, 2015. The website for registration is www.BizYouth.EventBrite.com.

Sponsored by the United States Department of Commerce and the VIEDA, the Young CEO Camp is free to all participants. This camp is specially designed for young people ages 13 to 22 to help them learn how to transform their ideas into a for-profit or non-profit business. Camp participants will be able to join the camp in person or online and learn how to select a business that provides a service or product that can be sold during the summer. To qualify, young people must apply by writing a brief 100-word essay about why they should attend this free training program.

“The VIEDA’s Incubator Program embraces this opportunity to partner with Small Business Camp to provide our young people with the necessary tools and lessons that can inspire and empower our next generation of leaders to become business owners in our community,” said VIEDA Acting Chief Executive Officer Wayne L. Biggs, Jr.

“For students not living on St. Croix, these individuals can join [the camp] from the comfort of their home by viewing the “live” web video broadcast of the camp each day and can interact with the instructor and fellow participants via online messaging. Young CEO Camp is leading the way in providing online instruction for our local youths and training them for entrepreneurship in the world of e-commerce,” said Andrew Morrison, president of Small Business Camp and the instructor of Young CEO Camp.

According to the USVI Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate in the USVI was 11.9 percent in April 2015. The unemployment rate of 13.4 percent on St. Croix was a slight decrease from 14.1 percent in April 2014. In May 2015, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate for teens ages 16-19 was 17.9 percent. For young adults ages 20-24, this rate is 10.1 percent. Small Business Camp is a company that provides high-impact marketing strategies for entrepreneurs, executives and non-profit leaders.

Morrison has lectured at Harvard University, been featured in the Wall Street Journal, trained thousands of entrepreneurs from Alaska to Africa and has appeared on The Oprah Winfrey Show. For more information and registration visit www.BizYouth.EventBrite.com or contact the VIEDA Incubator Program at (340) 719-2037.

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