06/03/2008
CONTACT: Tony Malandra, 415-664-9685
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The National Federation of Independent Business Young Entrepreneur Foundation today announced the Colorado recipients of the sixth annual NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards, a scholarship program designed to reward and encourage entrepreneurial talents among high school students. The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Award recipients will attend the university, college, community college or vocational/technical institute of their choice with $1,000 to $10,000 in tuition assistance from the NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation.
The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Awards program, which encourages students to consider a career in small business, made its debut in 2003 when it awarded a total of 110 scholarships nationwide. This year over 400 $1,000 to $2,000 scholarships will be awarded, thanks to the financial support from numerous small business leaders, corporate and foundation supporters. This year's major corporate sponsors are Visa and The McKelvey Foundation.
"We are overjoyed by the tremendous amount of interest in our scholarship program. This year more than 8,000 students applied to receive a NFIB YEF Award, demonstrating that today's youth embody the entrepreneurial spirit and seek a place in tomorrow's free enterprise system," said Don V. Cogman, chair, NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation Board of Directors. "NFIB congratulates this year's winners for their tremendous accomplishments and hopes the scholarships will assist these young entrepreneurs as they continue on their paths towards successful futures."
In addition to recognizing these outstanding young entrepreneurs, NFIB YEF and Visa will award four $5,000 scholarships and one $10,000 scholarship to the student selected as the "2008 Young Entrepreneur of the Year" at a dinner held in Washington, D.C., tonight.
To earn a scholarship, students were required to write an essay describing their entrepreneurial endeavors and future goals. Standardized test scores, GPA and class rank were also considered. NFIB members around the country nominated applicants for the Young Entrepreneur Awards.
The 2008 YEF Award winners from Colorado are:
NFIB Young Entrepreneur Award:
- Aspen High School senior Kaitlyn Hooper of Snowmass Village
- Home school student Joshua Nelson of Fort Collins
- Mountain View High School senior Tim Stumbaugh of Loveland
- Rampart High School senior Davis Vantilburg of Colorado Springs
NFIB/Visa Young Entrepreneur Award:
- Nederland Middle-Senior High School senior Nina Weaver or Nederland
NFIB/Joe & Gerry Hybl Young Entrepreneur Award:
- Pueblo East High School senior Keely Severance of Pueblo
- Sterling High School senior Alex Ertle of Sterling
NFIB/El Pomar Foundation Award:
- Northglenn High School senior Levi Adrian of Westminster
- Mountain View High School senior Brianne Beemer
- Elizabeth High School senior Kailey Breakall of Kiowa
- Swing Jr/Sr High School senior Kevin Casper of Rocky Ford
- Fruita Monument High School senior Hanna Cuoco of Grand Junction
- Pueblo West High School senior Kayla Dawson of Pueblo
- Cherry Creek High School senior Daniel Diloreto of Englewood
- Bennett High School senior Omar Elzarad of Bennett
- Fowler High School senior Sean Fox of Fowler
- Home school student Sarah Magill of Arvada
- Ignacio High School senior Emily Mangus of Ignacio
- Green Mountain Senior High School senior Morgan Nations of Lakewood
- Cherry Creek High School senior Wendy Ning of Greenwood
- Cedaredge High School senior Kirsten Parker of Eckert
- Brighton High School senior Laurie Reid of Brighton
- Conifer Senior High School senior Laurel Scott of Conifer
- Thomas Jefferson High School senior Dylan Smith of Denver
- Cherry Creek High School senior Todd Switzer of Centennial
- Cherry Creek High School senior Garrick Talmage of Englewood
- Pueblo Centennial High School senior Kyle Torres of Pueblo
- Canon City High School senior Danielle Trogden of Canon City
- Coronado High School senior Steven Woolridge of Colorado Springs
- Pine Creek High School senior Andrew Yoder of Colorado Springs
NFIB/Sam's Club Young Entrepreneur Award:
- Monarch High Schools senior Erik Henry of Louisville
