Kids will run the show (business)

By Jessica Vander Velde, Times Staff Writer
In print: Friday, April 18, 2008

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PALM RIVER — When the 15 kids in the Palm River Youth Corps asked program director Natalie Clamp how they could make extra money last summer, she told them to start

a business.

The kids were already showing up two days a week to survey the community and practice skills such as public speaking, but they started coming a third day to serve snow cones at their stand on Palm River Road.

The program's host, Greater Palm River POINT, bought the machine and ingredients. And at the end of an eight-week summer internship, the kids had paid off the capital and even had enough left over for a trip to Wet 'n Wild in Orlando.

"It was definitely interesting," said Benjamin Burke, who worked in the 2007 program. "I wouldn't have known how to start a business on my own."

This summer, the youth corps program will have an official third day for participants to devote to their business venture. And they're accepting 20 people instead of the usual 15, program director Natalie Clamp said.

It's a paid internship — $25 a week — and those who are accepted should expect to work, Clamp said.

"We want to make it almost a summer job," she said. "We're not just babysitting you."

The Palm River Youth Corps started in 2005 to involve teens in Palm River's community planning process. The participants surveyed the community, and their findings were given to the planning commission.

There were so many things about Palm River that Benjamin didn't know before he joined the program last summer. What he found out wasn't all good. He helped chart the locations of loitering and drugs offenses as well as county code violations.

But he also learned how he could change the community. The participants suggested adding trash cans to reduce littering and providing security to prevent loitering around gas stations.

They completed their survey last year, and the youth corps' project recently won the Hillsborough County Community Design award for public

participation. Because that's wrapped up, the focus this year will be on entrepreneurship. The job will be to plan a community show for August. Clamp plans for it to be structured, complete with a business model, budget and assigned job titles and tasks.

She is seeking funding to turn the summer internship into an all-year program so youths will have more afterschool activities available in Palm River. Other than baseball and football, there isn't much nearby,

she said.

The Greater Palm River POINT is accepting applications for the program through this month. They can be picked up at the Palm River office. Youths 12 to 15 who live in the Palm River or Progress Village areas are welcome to apply, Clamp said.

Jessica Vander Velde can be reached at jvandervelde@sptimes.com or (813) 661-2443.