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Education Desk: Orange Co. Library Molding Student Entrepreneurs

Photo: Amanda Murphy, Orange County Library System
Photo: Amanda Murphy, Orange County Library System

Elon Musk, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates…and Orlando students. These days, kid entrepreneurs are ditching the lemonade stand and getting more creative and business savvy with help from the Orange County library.

The "BizKids" program is in its second year. It consists of summer camps and DYI (do it yourself) maker classes and culminates with a business fair later this year where students launch their businesses. One camp teaches kids how to develop their business ideas.

"In that camp, they brainstorm different business ideas with fellow students and the instructor. They actually write a business plan and then they pitch their business idea to a panel of potential investors, their parents," said Tony Orengo, a member of the team that developed the library system’s “BizKids” program.

Last year, more than 400 people showed up to the one-day marketplace.

Click the audio to hear more about this program.