Carson City area students to act as consultants for area businesses

Coming this Monday and Wednesday, the New Entrepreneurs Network of Carson City will unleash a team of student consultants to help local companies create solutions for their business challenges.

A highlight of the organization’s Get A Glimpse summer program, a partnership with the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada, The Student Consulting Project is the fifth in a series of six sessions that help young people think entrepreneurially about their lives and their futures.

Alex Ellison is Executive Envisioner for the “New E” Network, a Carson City-based program of the Hop & Mae Adams Foundation. “Our mission is to foster innovative thinking and entrepreneurial life skills among young people in local schools,” she explains.

Ellison is excited about the Student Consulting Session, which is the highlight of the Get a Glimpse program. “We’re offering students an opportunity to get acquainted with some amazing businesses and organizations right here in our community, and then putting them in the driver’s seat, challenging them to think like entrepreneurs and come up with creative solutions,” she says.

Participating local businesses will be coming to the new Teen Center at the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada at 1 p.m. on July 25th to present a current business concern to the students. The students will be grouped into consulting teams based on the company they want to work with. The teams will have all day on Tuesday to work on their proposed solutions. Then, on Wednesday, the 27th at 1 p.m., the businesses will be invited back to hear the students' proposed solutions.

Sue and Stan Jones of Carson City’s Purple Avocado gift shop, which just celebrated its 15th anniversary on July 1, are seeking strategies for attracting younger shoppers.

“We support youth activities in the community, and we think this is a great opportunity to give kids real-world business experience,” says Jones. “We like to give back.”

The Pink House in Genoa and Harcourts Realty in Reno are also taking part in this year’s event, the first ever for New Entrepreneur Network.

The Student Consultants will be helping the non-profit sector as well: Carson City’s Brewery Arts Center and Partnership Carson City will take part.

Partnership Carson City links the community with drug and mental health resources through public and private alliances. Anticipating changes in Nevada laws, Partnership Carson City plans to ask their Student Consultants for ideas on how to address the teen market with an awareness program about the dangers and pitfalls of recreational marijuana use by young people.

Student Mackenzie Wilson remarked on what she's learned from her participation in New E Network, saying, "Even if you start low in life, you can work your way up. But you can also start at the top and easily fall down! You have to find a way to take yourself where you want to go.”

To learn more about New E Network, visit NewENetwork.com or call 775.222.0001.

For more information, or to schedule an interview, please contact Miya MacKenzie at 775.846.0112 or miya@adamshub.com.

The New Entrepreneur Network
The New Entrepreneur Network (NewE) was established in 2013 through the combined efforts of the Boys & Girls Clubs of Western Nevada and the Hop & Mae Adams Foundation. The purpose of NewE is to teach youngsters life skills, entrepreneurship and provide early employment opportunities. For more information, visit NewENetwork.com or call 775.222.0001.

The Hop & Mae Adams Foundation
Founded in 2008, The Hop & Mae Adams Foundation is a charitable foundation of Mae Adams. She left her family’s legacy to assist the Carson City community. The Foundation embraces Mae’s convictions by providing career and educational tools to help community members help themselves. HMAF encourages collaboration and innovation. For more information, visit: AdamsCarson.org.