By Elizabeth Wulfhorst
LINCROFT – A new school opening in September may mean quite a few burgeoning businesses next summer, all run by teenagers.
Patrick Finan, a local businessman from Fair Haven, created Jersey Shore Startup School to bring successful business owners together with high school students for hands-on instruction in how to launch a startup. According to Finan’s philosophy, the earlier young adults get real-life experiences in the business world, the more likely their ventures are to succeed.
Finan teamed up with fellow entrepreneurs Carmen Petruzzelli and Jim Whelan to pool their resources, knowledge, successes and failures to work with young adults. Their goal is simple: “to empower young people to build the future.”
Finan’s credentials include launching a few local startups; he is currently working with Hyer, a company positioned to take advantage of the gig economy by connecting businesses with on-demand labor. Petruzzelli is the founder and owner of Glenda’s Kitchen LLC, a gluten-free and organic cookie wholesaler and retailer in Middletown. Whelan is the founder and president of IDR Construction, a commercial general contracting company based in Red Bank.
“The instructors and I pulled the trigger on getting the Jersey Shore Startup School off the ground this past spring. A lot of planning has gone into it,” Finan said.
Classes, which begin Sept. 26, will include “mentoring, encouraging, and building confidence in high schoolers” and will involve not only the instructors, but weekly guest speakers, said Finan.
“Topics will include conceptualizing a business, branding a business, marketing the business, selling their product or service, managing their business, hiring for their business, taxes, funding their business” and many other factors that go into launching and running a startup, Finan explained. These concepts will be taught through workshops, mock board meetings, simulations, activities and pitch practice.
After completing the yearlong program, which consists of two 10-week semesters, students will launch their startups the following summer.
The fall semester will run from Sept. 26 to Dec. 12. The spring semester will run Jan. 16 to April 24. Classes will be held from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. each Saturday on the campus of Christian Brothers Academy in Lincroft. Finan said they do have a “Plan B” to adhere to state guidelines if in-person classes aren’t possible this fall. Interested students can fill out a form on the website to receive additional materials and application instructions. “Applications for the school are simple,” said Finan. Prospective students will be asked to submit a short video explaining why they are good candidates for the program. Instructors will review the applications to determine the inaugural class.
The early decision application deadline is Aug. 15, with a regular decision deadline of Aug. 29. Tuition for the one-year program is $10,250.
Jersey Shore Startup School is hosting three Open Houses next month for interested students and their parents, from 9 to 10:30 a.m. Aug. 1, 8 and 15 on the CBA campus. Registration is available on the website at jerseyshorestartupschool.com.
The article originally appeared in the July 16 – 22, 2020 print edition of The Two River Times.
