Three North Carolina 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,” said Gregg Thompson, state director of
NFIB/North Carolina.

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 North Carolina winners are:

• Molly Paul of Raleigh, who attends St.
  Mary’s School, received an NFIB/KPMG Young Entrepreneur Award. She owns Molly’s
  Turtle Soap and STEM Leadership Camp.
• Joshua Boyd of Elm City,
  who attends Southern Nash High School, received an NFIB/North Carolina
  Leadership Council Young Entrepreneur Award. His enterprise is B&S
  Concessions.
• JohnPaul Baric of Cary,
  who attends Wake Young Men’s Leadership Academy, received an NFIB/North
  Carolina Leadership Council Young Entrepreneur Award. His venture is Robotic
  Camp Cary.

North Carolina’s 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.