Interfaith’s JET program participation grows 76 percent
Students to learn entrepreneurial skills during 14-week course
April 9th is the end goal for 30 Asbury Park middle-schoolers who took their first step this weekend in becoming entrepreneurs.
“I want to learn about starting my own business,” said Mekhi Birch, 12, who has aspiration of becoming a software developer for the video and computer gaming industry.
Mekhi is among those who joined the 2016 Junior Entrepreneur Training [JET] program Saturday. Sponsored through a $15,000 grant from the state Office of Faith Based Initiatives, JET is administered under Interfaith Neighbors’ Business Development Center.
Beginning its second year, the program grew 76 percent over the 2015 pilot that resulted in two teams creating and executing business plans for tee-shirt and chocolate-dipped treat sales at the Made in Monmouth Expo.
This year, four teams will work with mentors to create a start-up, learn about pricing, and execute a marketing plan. They will then compete in a shark-tank like presentation to obtain a loan of up to $200. The loan will fund a business ready to take to the annual Made in Monmouth Expo on April 9.
“You may fail once, you may even fail twice, but I promise you won’t fail the third time,” Monmouth County Freeholder Thomas Arnone said during Saturday’s information session for the students and their families.
The pilot’s participants received certificates of recognition in May from the Monmouth County Board of Chosen Freeholders.
“These students are our future and it is great to see them show so much initiative and drive,” Arnone said during the recognition ceremony.
The JET program is the brainchild of Asbury Park’s West Side Citizens United president Frank Syphax. It is based on Rider University’s Minding Our Business program that’s worked with over 3,000 Trenton middle school students since 1997. Syphax’s son Tracey [at right] is that program’s chairman of board.
“Entrepreneurship training is about encouraging creative thinking, promoting a strong sense of self with accountability, and the stability to recognize opportunities in one’s life,” Syphax has said.
Although 13-year-old Danielle Delgado [shown at right in photo below] has aspirations of becoming a doctor, she’s returning for a second year in order to expand on what she learned this year, she said.
“I made a lot of good friends and wanted to come see them again,” she said. “I learned what it felt like to be in business with a bunch of other people. It was really fun and I like the idea of learning more.”
Mentor participation also grew to include nine business professional, many of which were entrepreneurs. They include newly elected BOE member Sheila Etienne, and business owners Jan Sparrow and Isaac Jones. Other mentors guiding the students to their goal are Interfaith Neighbor’s Business Development Center director Roger Boyce, entrepreneurs Thomas J. Johnson and Charles Simmons [the program’s director], retired marketing executive and business owner Robert Weiner, and Syphax, who retired from the federal government in 1997 before operating a Red Bank business for 20 years.
“I believe everyone needs a mentor in life,” Jones said. “Th
e most important thing that these kids should take away from the program is to pick up listening skills. There’s nothing more to say other than you have to listen before you can learn anything.”
JET’s after school classes will be held from February through April at the Springwood Center.
Mills, a Food Sourcing Supervisor at the FoodBank of Monmouth and Ocean Counties told the students they will learn teamwork, communication and life skills.
“You are uniquely special,” he said. “Cherish that. The seeds that are planted today will blossom tomorrow.”
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