Leadership Lake County unveils program to promote entrepreneurial spirt

Leadership Lake County is unveiling a new program aimed at further promoting the entrepreneurial spirt of students and young adults within the community.

The program, named Leadership Launch Lake County, will award funding to participants who have come up with a solid product idea and then present this idea to a panel of judges consisting of Leadership Lake County committee members, professors, and local business leaders, according to a news release.

Seed money for Leadership Launch came from the sunsetting of Lake Kidz Biz, an organization formerly coordinated under the Lake County Chambers of Commerce umbrella, said Leadership Lake County CEO Jessie Baginski in the release.

“The only caveat to the gift to Leadership Lake County was that we use it to do something unique for our high school students,” Baginski added. “Kidz Biz used to give awards each year, so we wanted to maintain that type of use of the funds, but open it up to beyond Leadership Lake County participants and put a modern ‘Shark Tank’ type of twist to it.”

Amounts awarded to participants will be based on how well their idea is received and how many awards the panel decides to make, said Ray Paganini, Leadership Lake County Scholarship Committee chair and president of Cornerstone IT.

“They come up with their own product, and hopefully a prototype or working product that has proven to be a good idea,” Paganini said in the release. “We have a thriving entrepreneurial community. We want younger adults going to high school, college or something other than college, to participate to see if their idea flies.”

The panel judging and award event will take place April 24 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the H-Building atrium at Lakeland Community College in Kirtland.

Award categories will fall into four categories: Individual/Group Nonprofit and Individual/Group Profit. Group size is three students maximum.

Applications for Leadership Launch Lake County are available now at: http:// www.leadershiplakecounty. org/for m/ lea dership - launch

Leadership Launch Lake County applicants w ill also have an option to connect with Leadership Lake County alumni to provide

“Young adults have a good entrepreneurial spirt and maybe while recently spending time at home, they may be brainstorming and getting creative and make something using online or software tools.” — Ray Paganini, Leadership Lake County Scholarship Committee chair and president of Cornerstone IT

mentorship for their project.

“I think we’re going to be surprised and see more kids involved,” Paganini said in the release. “Young adults have a good entrepreneurial spirt and maybe while recently spending time at home, they may be brainstorming and getting creative and make something using online or software tools.

“It’s going to turn into an annual event and we’re looking forward to it going on.”