T-BIZ (Teen Business Innovation Zone) is a regional after school program for high school students with a three tiered approach. The project is the outcome of the Greater Susquehanna Valley Chamber of Commerce and its Downtown Affiliates Committee.  Partnering communities are Milton, Mifflinburg, Sunbury, Danville and Selinsgrove.  The mission statement is:  Empowering teens to be ambassadors to promote sustainable communities through downtown and neighborhood revitalization, historic preservation and community service and to develop entrepreneurial skills.

The first tier is the Main Street/Elm Street component focusing on community service projects enabling the students to learn more about their respective community and to understand the value of being a contributing member of that community.  The second tier is the entrepreneurial curriculum which will entail training and mentoring in business skills from writing a business plan to the day to day operations of a business.  The third tier will be the actual starting up and running a business by the students who have completed the entrepreneurial curriculum.  The students will themselves as a group determine what the business will be, write the business plan and work through the details of starting it up and managing it.

The National Main Street Center under the National Trust for Historic Preservation recently featured an article on the regional project in its Main Street Now magazine and noted that this could well become a national model.   The project has also caught the eye of the Illinois Institute for Rural Affairs who has invited a T-BIZ steering committee member, George Venios of Milton, to attend their economic development conference and give a presentation on t-BIZ to conference attendees.  PPL Corporation has generously underwritten the start up of this project with a donation.

Mifflinburg’s program has begun with a curriculum.  The program is open to all high school students or approved home school program high school age student.  There is no fee to participate.  Currently, classes are held on the first and third Wednesdays of the month at our office from 3:30 to 4:30 pm.  Please contact us for more information or if you wish to participate.

PPL is the underwriter of T-Biz