James Amps, of Amps International, LLC is looking for 25 high school and college students in St. Thomas to participate in the Amps Entrepreneurship Leadership Institute retreat, February 3rd – the 5th. It’s a Youth Entrepreneurship opportunity, where you are competing for $Dollars! There is NO COST to the students, BUT you must apply at AmpsInstitute.com. Amps International is a South Florida Company that is partnering with the global giant, USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service, to introduce students to Youth Entrepreneurship in the area of Conservation and Agriculture.
It’s one of the greatest needs in the Virgin Islands. Amps says, ““This model introduces youth to careers they might not normally consider. Everybody wants to “Save the Environment” but what if you could help do it and build a career out of it? More importantly, your own business!”
The goal is for students to hear real struggles that are happening in the industry and build a business around solving it. Amps Institute and the USDA-NRCS, just held a retreat in St. Croix where participants found out first-hand the struggles farmers deal with daily, while on Sejah Farms. This is no ordinary farm. It is built for Agri-tourism, equipped with computers, projectors, sound systems and a full kitchen to teach people how to go from Farm to Table.
In the midst of the presentation, a huge downpour let loose, and the rain poured in through the pipes that were holding up the tent the students and staff were under, but everyone kept working, without complaint.
After 30 hours of team building and research, 4 teams presented their ideas in a pitch competition for compensation. According to one of the judges, Sommer Sibilly Brown, “Everyone came up with real solutions to real problems.” She went on to say the winner’s idea, to give farmer’s a voice through story and marketing won because it was most feasible to implement, and they could start right away.
This is just the beginning. The retreat also comes with a year-long commitment to mentor the students with CEO’s and business professionals across the U.S. and beyond.
Now James Amps of Amps International, LLC and his team are looking to expand the youth entrepreneurship retreat into St. Thomas in February. The deadline to apply is January 20th. For details go to AmpsInstitute.com
Amps Institute is also recognizing Chief Terry Crosby of the USDA, Natural Resources Conservation Service and Vivian Dickson, the Director of Racial Equity & Justice for the USDA-NRCS, for being instrumental in spearheading this initiative to explore ways to get youth excited about equity in conservation. They know youth entrepreneurship is an untapped resource the next generation is prepared to master.
