High school students to learn how to start a business through Umpqua Small Business Development Center

High school students can learn how to start their own businesses during the “proto” class through the Umpqua Small Business Development Center this spring.

Christina Wooten, the class instructor, said many high school students might have ideas for businesses, but they think they need to wait to finish school or get experience before they make the business a reality.

But in the proto class, which is short for “prototype,” or a business’ preliminary model of something that is copied or built upon, Wooten will teach students they don’t have to wait.

“They learn all the stages of building a business from the idea, to research, branding and pitching the business,” Wooten said. “They can build their own business from start to finish in a team environment.”

Advisors from the Small Business Development Center and several entrepreneurs from Douglas County plan to come in to talk about their own experiences, and what they wish they would have known when they were in high school.

Free to students, the class is funded through the Ford Family Foundation’s Rural Outreach Program Proto Youth Entrepreneurship Training Program. The students will be able to earn transferable college credits equivalent to Umpqua Community College’s introduction to business class.

Toni Clough, UCC Business Department chairwoman and associate professor, said the business center partnered with UCC to offer the college credit course.

“It’s a unique opportunity for high school students to get college credit and also get an insight into what it takes to be an entrepreneur,” Clough said.

She said the two entities try to partner as much as possible to help educate the community about business, like with the Roseburg Angel Investors Conference or Startup Weekend. Advisors come into UCC classes to share about the resources the organization provides.

“We help one another to make sure once students graduate from UCC and they want to start their own business they can go over to the SBDC and get counseling for free to help them through the steps of entrepreneurship,” Clough said.

Wooten said the class is meant to help students get from where they are today to where they want to be in the future.

The 10-week course runs from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m., starting April 3 and ending on June 12. This is the first time the business center has offered a class like this specifically for high school students.

Students will also have the option to join Startup Weekend Umpqua from April 20 to 22, a competition in which teams take a business idea, create a prototype and pitch the idea in front of experienced entrepreneurs.

“It gives our high schoolers an opportunity to mix and mingle with local entrepreneurs and learn how to network, which is a crucial skill in many walks of life,” Wooten said.

Registration for the class is open online at umpqua.edu/proto and is limited to 20 students. For more information, call 541-440-7824.

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