McCracken student selected for Governor's School for Entrepreneurs

McCracken County High School student Ellie Whiteside has been selected to attend the Governor's School for Entrepreneurs.  

The summer program lets Kentucky high school students focus on product innovation and business model design. This year's program will have 144 students from nearly 63 Kentucky counties. 

Participants are selected through a competitive process that does not consider grade-point average or test scores. It's structured to identify creative problem-solvers who want to roll up their sleeves and dive head-first into creating something meaningful. 

GSE's first session will run June 12- July 2 and the second session on July 10-30 at Northern Kentucky University. 

Opening to its first group of students in 2013, students are taught the opportunities, benefits, and pitfalls of taking a business concept from the idea phase to pitching it to potential investors. During the program, teams of students develop a business model, design a prototype and pitch their startups to a panel of judges. 

More than 30 new businesses have been launched by GSE alumni since it started. Others have filed for multiple patents and developed new ideas and relationships that sow the seeds for more business formation.