Innovate Longmont and Bricks Retail partner to Launch an opportunity for teens

High school students looking for an entrepreneurial experience have a new opportunity to learn new skills and how to fail without the risks.  

Innovate Launch is a six week summer program for high school students aged 14-19, in a partnership between Innovate Longmont and Bricks Retail. 

Innovate Longmont is a non-profit that works to connect start-ups and resources. Bricks Retail is a storefront that provides shelf-space for local producers, from jewelry and apparel to snacks, currently located at 320 Main Street.

“Innovate Longmont is extremely excited to launch a program aimed at high school students. When looking at our local entrepreneurial ecosystem students and youth play a vital role in innovation, creativity and our future businesses,” Sergio Angeles, CEO of Innovate Longmont, said. “Providing these experiences to this audience prepares them, and provides them with skills if they want to launch companies. Nine out of ten businesses fail, so why not start in your youth to learn how to fail and try again and get that one successful business.”

Students will work individually or in teams, learning skills needed for developing and executing business concepts. There will be opportunities to work with local organizations and gain access to start-up resources such as retail space with Bricks Retail and access to Longmont Public Media, depending on the student’s project. Innovate Longmont also will provide grants for the project on a case by case basis.

“The goal is for them to practice asking questions, failing, finding out what’s hard. It’s a discovery process for these students,” said Bricks’ owner Jennifer Ferguson.

Innovate Launch will give students a chance to explore concepts and make connections inside Longmont’s start-up environment and meet mentors.

“There’s an ecosystem in Longmont, with the schools, and Innovate Longmont and EforAll, this is a way to show Longmont’s students how to enter that system and who they can meet,” Angeles said.

Unlike Innovate Longmont’s Accelerator program, Ferguson emphasized students aren’t expected to release a product or business concept after the program. 

The Accelerator program, through Innovate Longmont, works with start-ups to create a personalized curriculum at an early stage in the project, including mentors, funding opportunities and other resources to get a business off the ground.

“It’s not about launching a company, it’s about learning and practicing skills. It’s about learning what to do when there is no check box of criteria as an entrepreneur,” Ferguson said. “We want them, starting as early as possible, practicing ideation and reiteration, how to rethink things.”

In six weeks, participating students will see the inner workings of retail in a low-pressure, discovery focused environment. At the end of the program, there will be a display of completed and in-progress projects at Bricks Retail as part of Longmont Start-up Week.

“We want this to be complementary to the programs offered through the school district, so that they (students) can take the skills and bring them back to the Career Development Center or Innovation Center at SVVSD and use them in their classes,” Ferguson said.

The only requirements for students are age and a willingness to learn, according to Ferguson. Interested candidates can apply at Innovate Longmont’s website, and the deadline is May 14. The program will run June 14 - July 23.