Recognizing the entrepreneurial gap in youth programs, The B. Side was born out of the voices of youth in Washtenaw County. The Business Side of Youth developed as a concept in response to youth summits, focus groups, and surveys conducted by “Ypsilanti Youth Empowered to Act, Washtenaw Area Teens for Tomorrow (WATT), and Teen Center Without Walls (TCW2). These survey tools served as a mechanism to capture youth engagement within the Ypsilanti region, including areas for growth in programming. The reoccurring theme voiced among young people has been a greater need for employment, and professional and skill building opportunities.
With the foundation that YYEA, WATT, TCW2, and other youth service organizations created to engage youth, The B. Side has been able to carve out a niche to provide entrepreneurial education and enterprise development for young people. The B. Side has been able to achieve this under the guidance and direction of the Founding Steering Committee, including Charles Penner, Regional Director, MI Small Business and Technology Development Center, Lisa Dengiz, Youth Development Consultant, Denise Dalrymple, Department Head, Washtenaw County Children’s Service, Derrick Jackson, Director of Elections, Washtenaw County, Dr. Kathleen Stacey, Director of Academic Service-Learning and Jeremy Kenney, WATT Intern.
The B. Side plans to set high academic standards and provide rigorous, meaningful instruction in entrepreneurship education to middle and high school aged youth. By giving participants in the program individual attention, The B. Side will draw upon their real-world experiences and current understandings of entrepreneurship and business to build new knowledge. One of the major goals of the program is to demonstrate connections between success in school and long-term career plans.