In July the National Federation of Independent
Business (NFIB) awarded incoming college freshmen Richard “Hart” Main the top
award from its Young Entrepreneur Foundation, the 2015 Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award.
“My entrepreneurial experience has taught me
a lot about myself,” said Hart Main. “I have grown a lot as a person,
but more importantly it has also taught me many life skills and has helped me
find my passion for giving back to the community. This scholarship will help me
go to Kent State without any debt, which down the road will allow me to afford
law school.”
He a recent graduate of New Philadelphia High
School and started his own business Man Cans at the age of 13. Hart sells manly
scented candles in soup cans and donates $0.75 of every sale to soup kitchens
in Ohio, West Virginia, Pennsylvania and Michigan. Over the last few years Hart has donate 90,000
cans of soup and $30,000 to 25 soup kitchens across those four states. He came up with the idea of manly scented
candles when his sister was doing a candle fundraiser and few of the candles
appealed to him. As Hart heads to Kent
State University this fall, he plans to continue running his business.
Hart also presented his business to the NFIB/Ohio
Leadership Council and the members in attendance were very impressed. His nominator, Rob Greiner, a member from Steubenville,
with MidWest Land Services, was in attendance and also was in Washington, DC
for the formal presentation. Also
presenting at the July Leadership Council meeting was Molly Young, director of
the Young Entrepreneur Foundation.
Annually, the NFIB/Ohio Leadership Council awards at
least two scholarships to two students who have run their own businesses during
their teen years and are graduates of Ohio high schools heading to an Ohio
college. If you would be interested in
donating to this worthy endeavor or serving as a nominator as Rob did last
year, please contact Andy Patterson in the NFIB/Ohio office at [email protected] or at
614-221-4107.
Since the award was presented, another company Rob
is involved in, Leviathan Creative, has completed a short documentary about how
Hart started his business to the awarding of the Young Entrepreneur of the Year. The video can be viewed here:
