Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Local teens with an idea and a dream will have an opportunity to make both a reality for one week this summer. East Carolina University’s Summer Innovation Academy – an entrepreneurial program for high school students – is expanding into Beaufort County. 

Organized by ECU’s College of Business, Miller School of Entrepreneurship and Isley Innovation Center, 15 to 20 high schoolers will spend a week learning how to become an entrepreneur by writing a pitch for a product or service they create. They will display their presentations for family and friends to view at ECU on Friday then again at the Turnage Theatre on Saturday, July 13. 

Previously offered to Pitt County teens for the last seven years, it is now being offered to local teens with assistance from Keith Hudson and the Pamlico Business Resource Center. The Pamlico Business Resource Center is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization that serves small business owners in Beaufort County and surrounding areas. It proposes business solutions, financial advice, marketing strategies and website development. 

Upon learning about the Summer Innovation Academy, Hudson worked to make the camp available to Beaufort County teens. Even if students don’t become entrepreneurs as adults, they can learn about “principles of entrepreneurship” like leadership skills, personal values and mindset development while attending the Summer Innovation Camp. 

“The principles of entrepreneurship can be attached to how effective you are in your community and the things you can do to help yourself be a better person,” Hudson said. 

The camp will take place from July 8-12 on East Carolina University’s campus on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. On Tuesday and Thursday, students will meet at the Pamlico Business Resource Center at 409 W Main Street, #105 in Washington. Students will be bused from the Pamlico Business Resource Center to East Carolina University. Tentative camp hours are from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. each day. The camp is free to attend. 

To sign up, fill out a form at: https://forms.office.com/r/ArGffsZagm