On April 7, Innovation Park hosted Economics Pennsylvania’s 6th annual Centre County Entrepreneurship Challenge. This event is sponsored by statewide by Economics Pennsylvania, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping young people understand necessary economic concepts and the structure of the global economy, in addition to developing economic ways of thinking and problem-solving skills.

The competition serves as an opportunity for students to engage in learning about business and entrepreneurship and to showcase their business plans to a panel of judges. Prior to the competition, teachers work closely with each team to turn business concepts into viable business plans. The competitions are then held at places across the state and hosted by entrepreneurs, local business owners, and often directors of expert facilities.

The team at Innovation Park, an ecosystem where business, education and research come together, welcomed the Centre County teams, eager to encourage the development of this next generation of entrepreneurs. Competing in the challenge were teams from the Bald Eagle Area, State College, Grace Prep, and Central Mountain high schools. Innovation Park Director, Dan Leri, welcomed the teams, and introductory remarks were made by Don McCandless, Director of Business Development at Ben Franklin Transformation Business Services.

After each team presented their business plans, participants enjoyed a lunch and a tour of Innovation Park—a chance to see entrepreneurship in action.

Bald Eagle Area High School students, Raelee Passuello, Emily Trigg, and Mary Veneziano, took first place, taking home $150 total in gift cards, while their teacher won $75. The four runner-up teams took home monetary prizes as well and had the opportunity to enter the State competition.