This program can help your students become successful in creating and running a small business. Its focus is on selecting a business, preparing a business plan, and managing an ongoing operation.
Seventy percent of high school students say they want to start their own businesses. This completely revised program provides them with the information and skills that lead to success. It also benefits student-employees by giving them an appreciation for the realities of business, and it helps all students understand their role as a consumer.
Teachers appreciate that Project ECHO provides a more “real world” experience for their students compared to other youth entrepreneurship programs and offers the programs at no cost. Project ECHO is unique among organizations that provide business education to K-12 in its emphasis on fostering on-campus businesses that are operated as going-concerns (i.e., businesses that will continue to operate in the foreseeable future). This approach differs from other youth entrepreneurship programs that teach a narrow set of skills in an “experiential lab” environment (e.g., practicing negotiation and pricing through an on-campus “selling event,” at which students sell items they purchased at wholesale prices).
Project ECHO also offers an unparalleled mentoring opportunity by partnering with UCLA Anderson School of Management, recognized as one of the top MBA programs in the world. UCLA Anderson mentors are able to help students develop personal career plans, provide guidance in career technical areas, encourage personal development and teach life skills. The competitive event at UCLA Anderson is truly unique in bringing together three generations of entrepreneurs and business leaders: high school entrepreneurs, MBA-level entrepreneurs from UCLA Anderson and business leaders from the community.
If you would like to participate in our program, please fill out the Project ECHO application
