If every great business started from a seed of inspiration, then three Sweetwater High students may have dreamed up a new Apple orchard.
Jesus Montijo, Gio Sahagun and Luis Venegas, all 17 and in their senior year of high school, are on their way to the national BizFest competition in Miami after becoming the top three finalists in the local contest.
“We are very proud of these young men for taking the initiative to be part of this intensive learning experience and for delivering business plans with such vision and focus,” said Sweetwater Board Vice President Pearl Quinones, who brought the opportunity to the district. “We look forward to having them represent Sweetwater High School and our district at the national competition.”
Each student had three days to dream up an entrepreneurial venture, create a business plan and make presentations to a panel of judges. Their mission was to find a problem and create a business to fix it.
They outlined their business plans in detailed, seven-minute presentations that highlighted research, development, funding, marketing and sales of their service or product. All presentations where on PowerPoint and required that the student present it as if applying for funding from the judges.
Gio came up with a business called “Your Time” that would provide students a place to study, do homework and get tutoring in a teen-friendly environment where they could also buy snacks like pizza.
“I saw that a lot of my friends are dropping out and I wanted to change that,” said Gio. “I decided students learn better when they’re having fun.”
Luis, who wants to become an attorney, presented a plan he called “Trans-Fi” to provide Wi-Fi on public transportation as a way to increase ridership on buses and trolleys by providing better customer satisfaction and reducing traffic.
His inspiration came from his own experience. Luis’ family moved to National City when he was in the 8th grade, but Luis and his siblings stayed in schools in their former East County neighborhoods. That meant riding public buses two and a half hours each way.
“My sisters got tired of the long, boring bus rides and dropped out,” he said. Luis decided that commuters could make good use of their time working or just keep themselves entertained with smart phones, tablets or laptops, if Wi-Fi was available on buses and trolleys.
Jesus Montijo, who plays football for Sweetwater, dreamed up “Pro Neck” to develop, market and sell a device to prevent neck injuries among football players and other athletes. Just like a car air bag, it would inflate on impact to support the neck.
Even though the students faced tremendous pressure of having to go from concept to a detailed business plan in three-days, the Sweetwater winners said they learned a lot.
“I’m glad I did it,” said Jesus Montijo. “It was a great life experience and it was fun. I just might major in business now.”
A total of 28 students, half from Sweetwater and the other half from Morse High School in San Diego, participated in the three-day entrepreneurial workshop at the Jacobs Foundation. BizFest is sponsored by the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation with support from local Hispanic Chambers and Alianza, an organization that supports Latino owned small businesses.