12th grade student wows judges with business proposal
Luis Venegas, 17, vividly remembers spending 4 and 5 hours riding public buses between National City and East County to get to and from middle school.
The bus commute seemed endless for Luis and his two older sisters. For the girls, it became too much and they dropped out of high school. For Luis, the long, boring ride became a business inspiration and his ticket to prizes in a national competition.
Luis recently won 3rd place and a $1,000 scholarship in a national entrepreneurial contest for a business plan he calls “Trans-Fi” that would wire public buses and trolleys with wireless internet connections.
“The idea is people will be entertained, or able to work, rather than being bored,” said the Sweetwater High 12th grader. “Being able to tap into Wi-Fi, will give people a reason to take public transportation rather than drive.”
A football player and top student, Luis was one of three students from Sweetwater High who traveled to Miami recently for the National BizFest Competition sponsored by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation.
Luis was propelled to the national contest after becoming one of the top three finalists in the local competition, along with his classmates from Sweetwater High—Gio Sahagun and Jesus Montijo.
Sweetwater School Board Vice President Pearl Quinones, who brought the opportunity to the district, said she was tremendously pleased.
“Luis is a great example of a young man who is goal-oriented and doesn’t let obstacles stand in the way of accomplishing what he wants,” Ms. Quinones said. “As a student, a football player and a young man with a dream, he offers a great example of the vast potential of all of our students.”
The launching pad for Luis was an intensive entrepreneurial workshop at the Jacobs Foundation where each boy had three days to give shape to a business idea, create a solid business plan and make a formal presentation to a panel of judges.
“Their assignment was to find a problem and create a business to solve the problem,” said Michael Govea, assistant principal at Sweetwater High who served as the youths’ mentor. “Luis stepped up to the challenge and came up with a winning proposal in a very fast turnaround.”