On weekend of March 19th – 21st Computer Mentors will be hosting the annual Teen Business Challenge. The event will feature 20 teens, learning entrepreneurship and developing business ideas as a competition.
The event, sponsored by Connectwise, Citi, and Immertec, will be hosted virtually as an online event this year. This year’s focus is on Virtual Reality Business ideas.
Teen Business Challenge (TBC) is an annual event that gives teens a great way to explore entrepreneurship in a weekend filled with fun, learning, exploring, and hard work. High-school-aged teens, 14 through 18 years of age, and living in Hillsborough County are qualified to apply. Twenty teens will be selected and placed into teams of five (5) which will compete. The event kicks off on that Friday evening and includes several challenges over the course of the weekend, with the final “The Pitch” Challenge being judged by a panel of “Angel Investor” volunteers. Teens will be rewarded for their efforts. All teens will receive a VR Headset and a GrubHub gift card just for participating. All five (5) members of the winning team will also receive their choice of a Microsoft Surface Pro laptop or an Oculus Rift VR Headset kit.
Teen Business Competition is not only about the teens creating businesses. It is about acquiring the skills needed to be successful in anything they choose to do. The learning outcomes revolve around three core competencies – collaboration, creative thinking and communication – rooted in the five challenges:
• “The Citi Big Idea” Challenge – Creative Problem Solving
• “The Citi Biz Model” Challenge – Concept Modeling
• “The Connectwise Marketing” Challenge – Engaging the Market
• “The Connectwise MVP” Challenge – Product Modeling
• “The Pitch” – Organizing Ideas and Communicating Clearly
Teens will also be assisted by over 55 volunteers, including subject matter experts (SME’s), coaches, VR consultants, and judges. Most of the volunteers are from our sponsoring agencies, but all adult volunteers are welcome to apply.
For more information or to sign up as a participant or volunteer, people should visit the Computer Mentors website at www.computermentors.org/tbc2021/.
Computer Mentors is a nonprofit organization with a mission to provide opportunities for educational and employment success through bridging the technology divide for populations without sufficient economic resources, especially as it relates to children and youth.