Amelia Moore is optimistic that consumers’ interest in supporting small business over the holiday season bodes well for her business, Mimi’s Minis, whose products—miniature stuffed animals—will be available exclusively online from late November to early December.
“No two Minis are exactly alike, and they make a special holiday gift for young children, teachers—anyone, really!” she said.
A fifth-grade student at Steele Elementary School in Denver, Amelia is one of some 40 young entrepreneurs planning to sell their products at the online YouthBiz Marketplace from Nov. 27 through Dec. 6. She intends to donate 50 percent of her profits to local animal shelters.
The online event is hosted by Young Americans Center for Financial Education, a nonprofit that also houses the world’s only bank specifically designed for youth up to age 22: Young Americans Bank. The Center offers programs that complement and reinforce one another to build life skills, work skills, and financial self-sufficiency.
The Center’s YouthBiz Director Maite Wantwadi noted that the inability to hold a live in-person sales event during a pandemic seemed like an obstacle at first. Instead, it became an opportunity for the young business owners to develop new skills suited to ecommerce.
Customers looking to “shop small” are encouraged to check out Amelia’s business and those of the other participating entrepreneurs at the YouthBiz Marketplace from Nov. 27 through Dec. 6.
Bankers’ Bank of the West has supported Young Americans Center for more than a decade on the belief that the early and effective financial education provided by the Center makes a lasting positive impact on children’s lives. Find more information on the Center at yacenter.org.
