Mississippi Teen Building a Bright Future
Ashley Gunn named 'Young Entrepreneur of the Year' by NFIB, Visa USA
WASHINGTON, D.C., June 20, 2006—The founder of a nonprofit organization that buys, renovates and sells abandoned homes to families in need, 18-year-old Ashley Gunn, of Brandon, Miss., was named the 2006 NFIB/Visa USA "Young Entrepreneur of the Year" during Tuesday evening's closing ceremonies of the 2006 NFIB National Small-Business Summit.
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| Ashley Gunn, NFIB/Visa USA Young Entrepreneur of the Year |
In recognition of her entrepreneurial achievements, Gunn was awarded a $10,000 educational scholarship, which she'll use when she starts at the University of Pennsylvania this fall. Gunn was honored along with four other regional winners of the NFIB/Visa USA Young Entrepreneur Award, who will each receive a $5,000 award: Andrew Sohn of Teaneck, N.J., Leah Hansen of Letcher, S.D., Joseph Pascaretta of Rochester, Mich., and Elliot Bradshaw of Bellingham, Wash.
"Don't you feel good about America when you see these five individuals?" NFIB President and CEO Todd Stottlemyer asked Summit delegates at the awards dinner held at the National Building Museum. "I feel great about the future. I want to congratulate the winners as well as their families for their support of these impressive young entrepreneurs."
Gunn is the founder and chairman of Students Aiding Indigent Families, a nonprofit that buys abandoned houses with money from local banks and donors and sells at below-market value to low-income people in the Jackson, Miss., area. On track to generate $100,000 in revenue this year, all proceeds from her nonprofit's home sales go toward providing college scholarships to deserving students who are in need.
The other four regional winners are also accomplished business owners:
- Northeast Region Winner: Andrew J. Sohn of Teaneck, N.J., plans to attend Rutgers University. Sohn is the founder of Acend Productions, a complete media marketing company that creates complex data, content management and e-commerce systems for businesses looking to streamline operations through their computer systems.
- Central Region Winner: Leah J. Hansen of Letcher, S.D., will attend South Dakota State University. Hansen breeds hunting Labrador puppies which she then sells to local hunting organizations for their banquet raffles.
- Midwest Region Winner: Joseph A. Pascaretta of Rochester, Mich., plans to attend the University of Michigan. Pascaretta established Alps Technology International, an Internet technology firm for Web site development. He also is the founder of the Alps Lawn Company, a landscaping firm.
- Western Region Winner: Elliot Bradshaw of Bellingham, Wash., will attend the University of Washington. Bradshaw started his own Web hosting business, Incognito Networks, which hosts clients' Web sites on the Internet.
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| (Left to right) Elliot Bradshaw, Ashley Gunn, Todd Stottlemyer, Leah Hansen, Visa USA Executive Vice President Susanne Lyons, Joseph Pascaretta, Andrew Sohn. |
The five top winners spotlighted during the Summit are among more than 400 winners of the 2006 NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards. Sponsored by the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation, the scholarship program is designed to set teen small-business owners on the path to entrepreneurship.
The winners, selected from applications received from across the country, each receive $1,000 in tuition assistance to use at the university, college, community college or vocational/technical institution of their choice. Since its debut in 2003, the scholarship program has grown each year thanks to support from NFIB members and national corporate sponsors, such as Visa USA.
The NFIB National Small-Business Summit opened Sunday, June 18, and closed this evening with the Visa Awards Dinner, with event highlights including hundreds of NFIB members visiting their lawmakers on Capitol Hill to lobby for small-business priorities such as affordable health care and tax reform; business and political breakout sessions; and speeches from Washington insiders like Sens. Mike Enzi (Wyo.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.) and Senior Presidential Adviser Karl Rove.
