On a beautiful Saturday afternoon in mid-May, dozens of Nome’s next generation of business leaders took time out of their day off from school to attend a Lemonade Day workshop to brush up on their entrepreneurial skills. Drew McCaan and John Smith from Wells Fargo led the charge to keep the kids engaged and interested in financial literacy.

Classes were divided by age to best help each young business owner determine costs of items, possible profit, start-up costs and more. The class used the Youth Edition Entrepreneur workbook from their new Lemonade Day backpacks to go over key concepts and ideas. Each youth established a dollar amount goal for their stand and made a plan to meet their goal. Some spoke to selling a variety of items that were cost effective to make but could sell for a good profit, others came up with ways to increase sales close to the end of the day by offering Buy One Get One free options. There were also many creative ideas for advertising to draw people to their stand on June 9th. Large drawing paper, bright markers and crayons littered the room to make jazzy signs for menus and pricing. The color and creative ideas flowing made for a high energy environment!

Many of the youngsters had their investors (parents) attend with them, and during the workshop Drew McCann shared the loan agreement form to repay their start up costs. They even learned that the ‘investor’ could tack on interest; some of the faces were priceless when they learned they might have to pay back more than they borrowed from their profits! And of course smiles were shared when Lemon Head made his signature appearance.

This year’s workshops rendered over 30 registrations for our next generation of business owners and leaders. But that’s not the only opportunity to register! Register online for lemonade day at https://lemonadeday.org/alaska, visit City of Nome, Wells Fargo or Kawerak Inc. If you are in the village, you can sign up online or contact your community coordinator listed below. Each registration includes a Lemonade Day backpack with a workbook and other informational material. In Nome, make sure you register by May 29th to get your stand on the map!

Thanks to the City of Nome and Wells Fargo for allowing registration and back pack pick up at their locations!

Community Coordinator List: