ATTENTION: BUSINESS, YOUTH, EDUCATION AND DIVERSITY WRITERS

22 April 2002
Contact: Ute Frey, Haas School of Business
(510) 642-0342
frey@haas.berkeley.edu

WHAT:
Forty-two high school students from some of the East Bay's most disadvantaged school districts will pitch fully-developed business plans at the 11th annual Young Entrepreneurs Venture Capital Competition as they compete for $10,000 in savings bonds to help pay for their college education.

The event is being organized by the Young Entrepreneurs at Haas (YEAH) program at the University of California, Berkeley's Haas School of Business. YEAH teaches about business, economics and entrepreneurship and offers college preparation skills to students at under-served middle and high schools in the Bay Area with the help of Haas MBA student mentors. It is sponsored by the Haas School and UC's Statewide MESA program.

WHEN:
Saturday, April 27. Business plan presentations will begin at 8:30 a.m., awards will be presented at noon.

WHERE:
Arthur Andersen Auditorium, Haas School of Business, UC Berkeley. The business school is on Gayley Road, between Bancroft Way and Hearst Avenue, at the east end of campus.

BACKGROUND:
Participating youth have been crafting their business plans for nearly a year. After an intensive two-week summer business camp, they spent two Saturdays each month with 55 MBA student mentors, learning the skills to create a successful business - raising capital, identifying a target market, analyzing competition, and developing a marketing plan.

YEAH serves nearly 300 youth from disadvantaged high schools in the Berkeley, Oakland, San Francisco, and West Contra Costa Unified school districts.