The following story was just published in the Charolotte Sun and Weekly Herald:
NORTH PORT — Steve Burnett formed the Monday 20 group in December as a way to encourage accountability among North Port entrepreneurs and small business owners.
But now, the fledgling business support group is taking on a new project in collaboration with the Kiwanis Knight Owls: a scholarship fund for aspiring entrepreneurs between the ages of 8 and 16.
“We want to get the endorphins cracking and get that creativity flowing,” said Burnett, owner of North Port’s Burnett Painting, LCC. “We really want to inspire some young entrepreneurs.”
The Monday 20 group is seeking applicants for two $250 scholarships to fund a young person’s business idea. Scholarship recipients will also receive six months of free business coaching from group members.
Burnett said the business ideas can range from something as simple as a lemonade stand to something as complex as product manufacturing — as long as the applicants, and not their parents, will be running the business.
Applicants will be judged on their business idea, competitiveness, business plans, the idea’s potential for success, and the uniqueness of their sales strategies.
The Monday 20 group initially began raising money for local charities, requiring each member to donate $20 to a nonprofit organization every time he or she was late for a meeting, missed a sales goal, or fell short of other goals member set for themselves.
After a few months, Burnett said, group members thought a youth scholarship fund might be a more targeted way of promoting the group’s overall mission of encouraging achievement and excellence in entrepreneurship.
“Everything we do is all about accountability,” Burnett said of his group, which meets at 5:45 a.m. every Monday morning. “There’s no blaming, no excuses, no denial. If there’s any hint of that, you’re not a fit with our group.”
Applications are due May 15 and will be chosen by June 1. Those who enter will be interviewed by members of Monday 20 and the Kiwanis Club. Completed applications, which should include a description of the idea and a business plan that addresses the criteria above, should be delivered to Café Gelato in the Heron Creek Plaza at the corner of Price and Sumter boulevards.
For more information on the scholarships or on the Monday 20 group, call Burnett at 941-979-7250.
By CHRISTINE HAWES
Sun Correspondent
View the original Sun Newspapers Story in PDF.
