Taylor Ayers wins this year’s Rooks County Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge
Top three pictured along with the other Rooks County teams participating
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TAYLOR AYERS OF PLAINVILLE was this year’s Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge winner with his business concept, “Ayers Buddies Pet Sitting.” He also won the Best Marketing Award as well as the John McIntyre Teamwork Award. Taylor is now eligible for the State YEC to be held in Manhattan on Thursday, April 28th. -
BRYAN GARVERT OF PLAINVILLE placed second at the Rooks County Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge for his business concept, “Intricates.” The contest took place in Stockton on Wednesday, March 2nd. He also received the John McIntyre Business and Professional Award. -
MIA ODLE, Camille Lowry and Brenna Odle of Stockton, made up the team for “Sunflower Stickers & Company” at the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge held in Stockton on March 2nd. They received third place for their business concept. They also received the John McIntyre Teamwork Award. (Please look on the Stockton Sentinel website to see pictures of all the students who participated in this year’s event.) -
CADY PIEPER (Palco) was the “Growing Kansas Ag” Award winner at the Rooks County YEC. Her business concept was “Wild Heifer n’ Co.” -
JAYANA CREIGHTON and Reese Taylor received the “Ready to Go” Award at the Rooks County YEC for their business concept, “Frosty’s Kettle.” -
AUSTIN STOHS, Braydon Desaire and Kyler Martin (Palco) teamed up as “The Meat Brothers,” which was their business concept for the Rooks County YEC. They received a “Ready To Go Award” Honorable Mention. -
ERIC GASCHLER'S (Palco) business concept at the Rooks County YEC was “Palco Poultry.” The students had to come up with a business plan, give a presentation to a panel of judges, and have a tabletop display. -
CHRISSY JURGENS (Stockton) had for her business concept, “CC’s Tasty School Supplies & Treats.” Chrissy was one of the students in Mrs. Laura Moffet’s seventh grade class who participated in the contest. -
"HYDROPDIP PARADISE" was the business concept of Stockton students Kolby Dix, Wesley Toll and Isaac Thayer at the Rooks County YEC. -
SHAE YOHON and Skylar Amlong (Stockton) presented their “S&S Sweet Treats” at the Rooks County YEC. -
"PHEASANT FIELDS" was the business concept of Lucina Parson (Palco) at the Rooks County YEC. Parson plans on hatching pheasant eggs and then selling the birds to area farmers. -
THE "YOUR WAY" business concept of Lukas Sager, GarryWayne Moore and Deacon Creighton (Stockton) combined tie dye and spray-on tattoos. They plan to be one of the vendors at Stockton’s upcoming Peony Festival. -
"SHAPE UP OR SHIP OUT" was the business concept of Austin Mitchell and Anthony Ciarallo (Stockton) at this year’s Rooks County YEC. -
MAKING UP THE TEAM of “C&D Custom Upholstery” were Cameron Earl, Dayton Carpenter and Beckem Hilbrink (Stockton) at the Rooks County YEC. -
GOING "FULL THROTTLE" on this business concept was Lincoln Keller and Haden Hahn (not pictured) of Stockton. The Rooks County YEC was held on Wednesday, March 2nd in Stockton. -
JACE KESLER and Tanner Inglsbee (Stockton) received an Honorable Mention for the Ready To Go Award for their business concept, “TJ Processing & Taxidermy.” -
DELANEE BEDORE (Stockton) presented her business concept, “Aunt D’s Babysitting” at the Rooks County YEC on March 2nd.
This year a total of 17 teams from the Rooks County schools competed at the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge event, which was held at the Stockton High School on Wednesday, March 2nd. The goal of the Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge (YEC) is to expose Kansas middle school and high school students to entrepreneurship and give them a handson experience.
The students presented their business concepts with a written business plan, a four-minute presentation to judges, and a tabletop marketing display. All were judged by a selected group of experts from around the area and state.
There were many very unique concepts with this group of students with “Ayers Buddies Pet Sitting” presented by Taylor Ayers of Plainville placing first, as well as winning Best Marketing Award. Taylor has actually been operating his business for a while. He visits pets in their homes while the owners are away, allowing for the least amount of stress for the pet. Taylor has donated much of his earnings to the Special Education program at USD #270. His first place win makes Taylor automatically eligible for the State YEC to be held in Manhattan on Thursday, April 28th.
Second place went to Bryan Garvert of Plainville for his business concept “Intricates,” which uses laser technology to transfer photographs on wood. Third place went to Sunflower Stickers & Company presented by Mia Odle, Brenna Odle and Camille Lowry of Stockton.
The Growing Kansas Ag Award went to Wild Heifer n’ Co. presented by Cady Pieper of Palco. The Ready To Go Award went to “Frosty’s Kettle” presented by Jayanna Creighton and Reese Taylor of Stockton. Honorable Mentions in that category went to “TJ Taxidermy & Processing” presented by Jace Kesler and Tanner Inglesbee of Stockton, and “The Meat Brothers” presented by Austin Stohs, Braydon Desaire and Kyler Martin of Palco.
Plainville alumni John McIntrye donated towards this worthwhile contest with the funds going to the John McIntyre Business & Professional Awards, which were won by Taylor Ayers and Bryan Garvert. The John McIntyre Teamwork Award went to “Sunflower Stickers & Company.”
It is worth noting that nine of the teams competing this year were Stockton students from Mrs. Laura Moffet’s seventh grade class. Their presentations included “Sunflower Stickers & Company;” “Frosty’s Kettle;” “TJ Processing & Taxidermy;” “CC’s Tasty School Supplies & Treats” presented by Chrissy Jurgens; “Hydrodip Paradise” presented by Wesley Toll, Isaac Thayer and Kolby Dix; “S&S Sweet Treats” presented by Shae Yohon and Skylar Amlong; “C&D Custom Upholstery” presented by Cameron Earl, Dayton Carpenter and Beckem Hilbrink; “Full Throttle Car & Truck Detailing” presented by Lincoln Keller and Haden Hahn; and “R&S Kitten Rescue & Adoption” presented by Sierra Jackson and Raileigh Huenergarde, though they did not present at the contest..
The rest of the presenters included “Your Way” with GarryWayne Moore, Deacon Creighton and Lukas Sager, “Shape Up or Ship Out” presented by Austin Mitchell and Anthony Ciarllo; “Aunt D’s Babysitting” presented by Delanee Bedore; “Palco Poultry” presented by Eric Gaschler; and “Pheasant Fields” presented by Lucina Parson.
“We are excited to see the innovative ideas put forth by the students,” said Rooks County Economic Development Director Roger Hrabe. “The goal of our E-Community team is to encourage an entrepreneurial environment in our communities, and what better place to start than with our students.”
Cash prizes of nearly $1,800.00 were awarded to the winning teams as part of sponsorships by Rooks County Economic Development, Rooks County E-Community, Nex-Gen, and a special donation from former Plainville resident and entrepreneur, John McIntyre.
(All the other teams can now apply for 15 wild card positions at that same event. The state YEC event will include the top young entrepreneurs from schools across the state of Kansas.)
