The Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber of Commerce announced today that the first Young Entrepreneur’s Academy in the State has selected its inaugural student cohort. YEA kicked off this month at The College of New Jersey, and the selected students will spend the next 30 weeks exploring entrepreneurship and building their own real businesses.

The roster of high school students selected through a competitive application and interview process includes Varish Ananth, Robbinsville; Sara Aras, Robbinsville; Sharray Bhardwaj, Princeton Day; Timothy Day, Trenton Central; Helena Jerome, Trenton Central; Stephie Joseph, Nottingham; Luke Lebson, Hopewell; Rayna Mittal, Princeton Day; Luke Mutschler, Hopewell; Viraah Pasricha, Princeton; Reanna Patel, Princeton Day; James Powers, Princeton Day; Helen Qi, Princeton Day; Robert Wei, Princeton Day; and Advik Yennaamaneni, Robbinsville.

“This inaugural class of YEA students is extraordinary,” said Princeton Mercer Regional Chamber CEO Hal English. “Their enthusiasm for entrepreneurship is contagious, and they are already coming up with innovative ideas for new businesses. I can’t wait to see how they progress over the next 30 weeks with the support of the Chamber community and TCNJ.”

The YEA! experience includes weekly classes held at TCNJ led by volunteer instructors from our local business community. The first session instructor is Noelle Stary, owner of 20 Lemons and founder of The (Co)Working Space. Stary brings over 20 years of experience as both an entrepreneur and marketing expert to her role as a YEA Instructor. Assisting her in nurturing each student’s fledgling business will be a host of volunteers from the Princeton Mercer Chamber’s membership, who have each agreed to serve as one-on-one mentors to the students as they do market research and build out their ideas.

Special events during YEA! include an intimate CEO Roundtable where the students will get to connect with local business leaders, as well as an Investor Panel where the students will present their business Shark Tank-style and compete for $10,000 in prize money.

Field trips are also a unique part of the YEA! curriculum giving students the opportunity to explore various businesses and industries. The students had the opportunity to tour TerraCycle in Trenton on October 28. They had the opportunity to learn from TerraCycle staff how founder Tom Szaky took the business from just an idea to a global leader in recycling and sustainability.

YEA! is underwritten by local businesses and organizations who are dedicated to promoting educational opportunities for Mercer County youth. Sponsors of the program include One Simple Wish, NJM Insurance Group, and FirstBank Charitable Foundation, Stark & Stark, and Nottingham Insurance. Organizations interested in becoming sponsors should contact Gretchen DiMarco at gretchen@princetonmercer.org.

YEA! is a national program first established in 2004 at the University of Rochester. Since then, the program has expanded to 38 states. The YEA! program in Mercer County is the first of its kind in New Jersey.