Three Alabama
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 Rosemary Elebash, state director of
NFIB/Alabama.
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 Alabama winners were:
• William Lee of Troy, who attends
Charles Henderson High School, received an NFIB/Phyllis Kennedy Endowment Young
Entrepreneur Award. He operates “Who Let the Dogs Out? Max!”
• Hunter Vaughn of Birmingham, who attends
Mountain Brook High School, received an NFIB/Harvey Lester Barnett Young
Entrepreneur Award. Hunter owns Vaughan Lawn Care.
• Tiera Leftwich of Gardendale, who attends
Gardendale High School, received an NFIB/John and Dorothy Saad Young
Entrepreneur Award. Tiera’s enterprise is Tiera Music.
Alabama 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.
