eAcademy, a program designed to give high school seniors the opportunity to explore and experience what life has to offer them before leaving high school, just completed its first school year. Students who participate in the program explore the community by attending field trips to businesses, listening to guest speakers, designing business plans, creating prototypes, and connecting with other students from local school districts.

At the beginning of the year, students learn about entrepreneurship and see how a variety of different businesses function, then focus on entrepreneurship and their own business start-up towards the end of the year.

On May 15, students participated in Demo Day to showcase their start-ups. For the event, students had to have a fully written business plan, five-minute pitch of their company, prototype, and answer questions from a panel of judges, including Chamber President & CEO Susan Williams. The event took place virtually and Laney McNellie of Oil City took home first place and the $1,000 scholarship. Her start-up business was Moments in Time, a wedding and event planning business.

Enrollment for the 2020-2021 school year is still open, and any interested senior is encouraged to apply. To learn more about the eAcademy program please visit us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/VenangoeAcademy or Email: tsnyder@co.venango.pa.us .

This article was shortened to fit the newsletter. Find the full
article at: venangochamber.org/eacademy-demo-day-2020

This article was published in the Venango Chamber’s June 2020 VenangoWorks! Newsletter