Bartlett Center creates teen entrepreneurship program

By Kendra Simpson

A new program through the Bartlett Center is aiming to help local teenagers gain self-confidence and entrepreneurial skills.

With the help of the Chamber of Commerce and the Missouri After-School network, Bartlett Center’s Executive Director, LaTonya Williams, was able to get a grant that promotes entrepreneurship and civic engagement. This grant will pay for supplies, field trips and more to help build the brand new program called “Buried Seeds.”

“I want the kids to learn the proper way to run a business,” Williams said. “I mean, it’s not only about ‘I want to make X amount of money,’ I mean, it’s about the supply. It’s about the demand. It’s about every little step.”

The center will take its older kids, aged roughly between 11 and 14 years old, on Friday field trips to local businesses to learn about what goes into being a self-starter.

“We’re going to take a trip Downtown to visit some entrepreneurs down there because the kids are always interested in ways to make extra money,” Williams said. “They’re going to operate a boba tea stand at Juneteenth. They’re creating a logo, they’re making a business plan.”

The program is guided by staff, but the decisions are made by the students themselves, teaching confidence and promotion.

“I’m in charge of them, but I’m also trying to let them do their own but they need a little push some time so,” said Lyric Williams-McGuire, a youth and child care worker. “It’s kind of trying to show them that they, it doesn’t really matter what other people think, that they can do whatever they want.”

“I’m hoping that the kids will get a sense of pride in ownership and the things that they do,” Williams said. “And then I want the kids, you know, to understand entrepreneurship. It’s a goal that anyone is able to achieve, and it is attainable even by kids.”

“Buried Seeds” will not only teach the students how to be successful business owners but also ensure they will continue to receive support and guidance from the Bartlett Center staff.

“We were looking at the list of our kids and we realized, you know, that our kids are getting old,” Williams said. “But they’re still our kids and we still want to be able to nurture them and to guide them.”

The Bartlett Center is always accepting donations to make this and similar programs run smoothly.