Two Illinois high school seniors were among the 100 winners of a Young Entrepreneur Foundation Scholarship award from the National Federation of Independent Business, America’s leading small-business association since 1943.

NFIB’s Young Entrepreneur Awards are designed to reward and encourage entrepreneurial talents among high school students. “We are impressed year after year with the quality of these hard-working, innovative high school students who are making their entrepreneurial dreams happen,” said Molly Young, Director of the Young Entrepreneur Foundation.

“These young entrepreneurs are the future of small business in America,” said Kim Clarke Maisch, state director of NFIB/Illinois.

Ninety-five of the graduating high school seniors will receive $2,000 toward their college and university costs. Five students are in the running for the top Young Entrepreneur of the Year scholarship of $25,000 and the $15,000 Dan Danner Scholarship. The remaining three finalists will receive a $10,000 Young Entrepreneur Award. A special ceremony announcing the five will be held in Washington, D.C. on June 23.

The Illinois winners:

• Jacob Durham of Collinsville, who attends Metro-East Lurtheran High School, received an NFIB/Lloyd E. Falconer Young Entrepreneur Award. His enterprise is Precision Seasonal Services.

• Drew Groezinger of Stockton, who attends Stockton Senior High School, received an NFIB/Kathy and Richard Duffy Young Entrepreneur Award. He owns NW Designs Glass Studio.

Illinois YEF Scholarships were financed by donations to NFIB. Each of these contributions was then matched by Visa Inc. to provide more reward for these deserving young entrepreneurs. Since 2003, the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation has awarded more than 2,700 scholarships totaling $2.7 million. This year, NFIB’s Young Entrepreneur Foundation awarded $270,000 to deserving young entrepreneurs. Each award is between $2,000 and $25,000. The scholarships are used to help with tuition costs for the winners’ post-secondary education.

To qualify for an NFIB Young Entrepreneur Award, students must be seniors in high school who own and/or operate their own small business. They are required to write an essay describing their entrepreneurial endeavors and future goals. NFIB members around the country interview the applicants for the Young Entrepreneur Awards.

A full list of this year’s winners, as well as past winners, is available at www.nfib.com/YEA2016.