The local component of a national project that helps children learn about entrepreneurship will hold its 2013 kickoff event Jan. 31 at Indiana University’s Kelley School of Business.
The local event run by the Bloomington Boys & Girls Club, called Lemonade Day, teaches children how to operate a business by getting them involved at the beginning of the process. They have to find a location to operate, build their stands, come up with the money to buy the materials for their lemonade, and set their prices at a point where they can sell the drink profitably.
Ellettsville resident Diane Critchlow and her granddaughter Claudia Koontz, a sixth-grade student at Edgewood Junior High School, participated in the event last year.
Claudia the Cute’s Lemonade Stand, named for a family nickname given to Koontz, was set up in front of the Ellettsville IGA grocery store.
“It was pretty fun. We decided that we would need to borrow a little bit of money to use to buy the lemonade and everything we would need. So I borrowed money from my dad and used that to buy lemonade and we bought bottles of water and decided that we would use the water from the bottles to make the lemonade and pour it back in the bottles,” Koontz said.
Koontz recycled the bottles to reduce costs and waste. She also sold cherries for 25 cents.
The stand made about $112, enough to pay back Koontz’s dad as well as donate money to the Alcott Center to raise awareness for breast cancer and put away some for college. After all that, Koontz pocketed $42 for herself and used it to take her mom and sisters out to lunch.
According to Critchlow, children participating in the program are instructed to pay back their debts, save a percentage of their profit, donate a percentage of it, and then keep what is left over for themselves.
This year, an event to raise interest and get people to sign up is being held at the Kelley School of Business well ahead of Lemonade Day. It is the first year the school has participated.
Koontz was invited to speak at the event.
“I’ll probably talk about what I learned, which was that it takes a lot of work to do all the things that an entrepreneur has to do,” Koontz said, “and that it’s a great way for people to bond with their adult mentor.”
Critchlow, who is on the Lemonade Day advisory board, is in charge of developing interest in the Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation school district.
She said there was a shortage last year of willing mentors to help the children with their stands, so she wanted to stress the need for “kids who want to do stands and willing adults who want to help them.”
Other community organizations that have become involved in the project include Ivy Tech Community College’s Gayle and Bill Cook Center for Entrepreneurship and the Ellettsville Fire Department.
The fire department’s training and conference room will host a stand workshop for Lemonade Day in April ahead of the sales day on May 18. At the workshop, children and their mentors will learn how to assemble their lemonade stands from pre-cut pieces.
“I’m excited that we’re getting to have the stand workshop in the Ellettsville community. I want to show off to everybody how great the Ellettsville community is,” Critchlow said, adding that she was grateful that Ellettsville Fire Chief Jim Davis allowed the workshop to be hosted at the fire station.
“It definitely developed more of an interest for me (in entrepreneurship),” Koontz said of her experience last year.
Her grandmother agreed the event was a success.
“I enjoyed it so much and Claudia enjoyed it so much that I hope to take the rest of my grandkids as they get old enough to do it,” Critchlow said.
The kickoff event will be held in Bloomington at the Kelley School of Business at 1725 E. 10th St. in the Godfrey Graduate and Executive Education Center from 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. on Jan. 31.
Originally published in Ellettsville Journal, 2013. Republished here for archival and portfolio purposes.