Six Tennessee 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 Jim Brown, state director of NFIB/Tennessee.

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 Tennessee winners are:

• Alexandria Scott of Paris, who attends Henry County High School, received an NFIB/McKee Foods Young Entrepreneur Award. Her enterprise is called Alexandria.
• Samantha Bennett of Greenbrier, who attends Greenbrier High School. received an NFIB/McKee Foods Young Entrepreneur Award. She owns Sam’s Sweet Senations.
• Olivia Schmidt of Hendersonville, who attends Beech Senior High School, received an NFIB/McKee Foods Young Entrepreneur Award. Olivia operates O-mazing Sweets.
• Jackson Crouch of Franklin, who attends Centennial High School, received an NFIB/Southern Chamption Tray Young Entrepreneur Award. Jackson’s business is Crouch Lawn Care.
• Caroline Cotton of Oneida, who attends Oneida High School, received an NFIB/Tennessee Leadership Council Young Entrepreneur Award. She is the founder of Nicely Done.
• Donovan Davis of Gleason, who attends Dresden High School, received an NFIB/Tennessee Leadership Council Young Entrepreneur Award. Donovan owns Davis Mowing.

Tennessee’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.