Laurens County high school students encouraged to FLEX their entrepreneurial skills

Time is running out for local high school students to take part a program that will teach them more about becoming an entrepreneur.

Laurens County recently announced its second year in partnership with the Georgia FLEX (Foundational Leadership and Entrepreneur Experience)  program, which is an initiative that equips high school students to learn real-world business skills, along with a chance to win money and prizes. Not to mention, gain a lot of business experience.

This program is only available to 27 rural communities in the state. Students get to create their own businesses while learning about leadership and business skills, said Sara Kolbie, who is the Laurens County FLEX team leader. 

This is the second year of the program which is opened to all ninth-12th graders in local schools, and includes those who are homeschooled or taking classes online. Students wanting to be a part of this have to attend business plan workshops between Sept. 2 and Sept. 11 at their school.  Last year, approximately 700 students attended the business plan workshops at the four local schools, Kolbie said. 

“This year we hope to exceed a thousand students getting that opportunity to hear about how to write a business plan or come up with a business idea,” she said. “They will listen to instructions for about 35 minutes and they’ll hear about the FLEX program and how they can win cash in the Shark Tank-style pitch competition along with running their own business and how that works with the business mentors in the community throughout this school year.” 

Those wanting to participate will have about six weeks to submit their own business plan. Of the plans submitted, the top 10 business companies will be selected to provide a seed loan to and they will receive mentorship as they run their companies. The students will take business finance classes, customer service, sales and marketing classes and dress for success classes during the school year.

“It culminates at the end of the year in those top 10 companies competing for the local cash prizes,” Kolbie said. “The top company then goes to state for a chance at a $10,000 grand prize along with a lot of other prizes as well.” 

Jazzel Diggs, a senior at West Laurens High School, was the local FLEX winner last year. She was the owner of Sands of Time Jewelry, a company that designs and creates custom beach-themed jewelry products. Paiden Rozier, a freshman at Trinity Christian School, took second place with his business called PlanPal, which sells customized student planners. Shane Stribling and Armani Williams, both seniors at Dublin High School, came in third with their company Drift Guard, which focuses on customization and repairs of video game controllers. 

“We had a great representation,” Kolbie said. “More than 60 percent of these business statewide that are started through the FLEX company are still going on today. Regardless if they continue on with their businesses after FLEX, they have learned amazing soft skills, business finance skills and it equates into a more-well rounded workforce. It stretches you in a lot of different ways. It makes the students think about what is profitable, who their customer is, what customer service actually looks like and how to invest a small amount of money to multiply. We give them a $200 seed loan and we have seen companies take that money and made several thousand dollars by the end of the school year from that initial investment.” 

This lets them see the value of hard work, and its a good addition to students’ resumes. But before they can get a chance to win money, all of the students have to attend the business plan workshop.

“That requires zero commitment,” Kolbie said. “You just show up. You have to take this workshop to understand what the submission requirement is for the local FLEX.” 

The last day for a workshop is Friday, Sept. 11. The local FLEX leadership will choose the top 10 business plans from across the county. The deadline to submit those plans is October.

“We’ll announce those top 10 business companies,” Kolbie said. “Up to three students can participate in a single company. They can form a company and complete the business plan together. Once the top 10 are chosen, those companies will go through the more intense workshops. They’ll learn about business finance from local business finance professionals. They’ll learn about customer service and marketing from local business owners.”