Over 300 children from across Southwest Washington had the opportunity to test their sales skills and operate their businesses for a day.

Jessica Hofer Wilkinson
For Clark County Today

The profits poured in for over 300 young entrepreneurs at the Greater Vancouver Chamber’s second Lemonade Day. The Junior Market event gave children ages 6 to 16 years old the opportunity to showcase their handmade and homegrown products alongside the traditional Vancouver Farmers Market.

With thousands of Farmers Market consumers descending on Esther Short Park on Saturday, the young business owners and CEOs made a collective $40,000 in sales by the market’s end.

From greeting cards, ceramic dishes, birdhouses, keychains, and meticulously crafted jewelry to candles, bath bombs, plant starts, and more, the junior vendors presented a wide variety of high-quality products, reflecting the diversity of their unique talents and interests.

The event began with a traditional ribbon-cutting ceremony before the 9 a.m. opening, with participation from Rep. Monica Stonier of the 49th Legislative District and Superintendent of Evergreen Public Schools John Boyd.

Tim Clevenger, chief marketing officer of OnPoint Community Credit Union, the Main Squeeze sponsor of the event, congratulated the young entrepreneurs on the efforts that led to launching their businesses on Lemonade Day and encouraged them to hold onto the lessons they learned throughout the process.

“These skills and experiences of planning, investing, budgeting, and marketing will benefit you the rest of your lives,” Clevenger told the young CEOs at the ribbon-cutting.

Months before the market, a mentor or parent guided participants through an interactive Lemonade Day Program to learn life skills such as business operations, responsibility, financial literacy, goal setting, and teamwork with the end goal of starting, owning, and operating a business. Program investors like OnPoint Community Credit Union made the easy-to-use online program and workbooks entirely free for participants.

Some junior vendors, like 10-year-old Vancouver Public School student Chelsea Walkins, creator of Perfect Pillows, acquired valuable experience applying for a small business loan. With a $30 loan from Columbia Credit Union and a gift card to Joanne’s Fabrics, Chelsea covered the costs associated with building her business inventory of 80 pillows. By midday, she had already earned a satisfying profit in addition to covering her loan repayment.

Chelsea, who learned to sew from her great-grandmother and grandmother around eight years old, enjoyed interacting with customers throughout the day. She hopes to expand her skills, products, and profits by sewing clothes in the future.

Leilani M., a 16-year-old homeschool student in Vancouver, demonstrated impressive creative offerings through her business Claylani. She sold homemade ceramic plates, mugs, candles, keychains, and earrings made using molds and resin. Saturday was her first time participating in such an event, and she said “the positive customer interactions and business success” made selling her creations something she would like to do again, whether through craft bazaars or elsewhere in the community.
The success of last year’s Lemonade Day caused many teachers to see this year’s event as an excellent opportunity to further their students’ financial literacy, with double the participation of last year’s Junior Market.

Haley Maahs, a fifth- and sixth-grade teacher at Spanish with Sarah, a dual-immersion private school in Camas, used the Lemonade Day curriculum to add to her already-established classroom economy.

“For years, I have used a classroom economy to teach my students financial literacy, personal responsibility, and delayed gratification. But our micro-economy relies on fake money and a class store to reward the students for their hard work and fiscal responsibility. Lemonade Day provided a fun, new way to expand the students’ experience with real-world money, which provided even greater motivation for the students,” Maahs shared.

The fifth- and sixth-grade students worked together to create their business name, Lumos, and build their inventory, which included wall art, scrunchies, room spray, metal art, and stickers. Student Catalina Dolan practiced and presented her captivating and concise “elevator pitch” to customers as they stopped by the Lumos booth. When prompted, student Rachel Meiners offered the pitch in Spanish. The students said they divided their class into teams to tackle planning, marketing, and inventory for the Junior Market and intended to divide the profits evenly.

Another class of students from a homeschool community in Clark County called Classical Conversations Grace North saw Lemonade Day as an opportunity to raise money for classroom microscopes required for future biology labs. According to their tutor, Nicole Miller, the students took a $40 donation and turned it into a $300 profit by selling greeting cards as a soft business opening before Lemonade Day. Then, they reinvested a portion of those earnings for supplies to build their inventory for the Junior Market and made a $427 profit on Saturday.

“We learned an important merchandising lesson today,” 13-year-old student Emma Miller reported. “After very few sales at the beginning of the day, we reorganized our tables and products and witnessed an immediate change in customer interactions with our merchandise and a jump in sales that remained going forward.”

The class initially gave their business a Latin name but translated it to English for the event – Fancy Axolotl Press- and offered a variety of merchandise like macrame wall decor and plant hangers, wood laser bookmarks, and greeting cards, with plant starts as their most popular item of the day.

The junior entrepreneurs calculated and submitted their business results to the Greater Vancouver Chamber for an opportunity to win prizes and recognition at a closing ceremony. Students won raffle prizes from gift card sponsors like Big Al’s, Battle Ground Cinema, Nothing Bundt Cakes, NW Escape Experience, and Bessolo Pizzeria. Fresh Squeezed Investor, Chick-Fil-A Cascade Park, gave each young entrepreneur coupons and dessert and provided family entertainment throughout the day.

The success of the young entrepreneurs at the event left many very impressed.

“Lemonade Day inspires these young people to use their innate sense of curiosity,” said Clevenger, of OnPoint Community Credit Union. “It was an honor to meet the young entrepreneurs at the Junior Market and see firsthand the power of teaching kids about entrepreneurship.”

“The Junior Market exceeded our expectations, hosting more than 175 booths, and we are incredibly proud of each and every young entrepreneur who participated,” said Janet Kenefsky, VP operations of the Chamber and City Director of Lemonade Day Greater Vancouver. “At the Chamber, we are committed to fostering an entrepreneurial mindset among our youth and providing them with a supportive environment to explore their talents; and it is impressive to see this dream come true.”

The Junior Market served as a unique platform for budding entrepreneurs to display and test their entrepreneurial skills in a profitable location. The widespread success of the event highlighted the immense talent and potential of the youth in southwest Washington and the tremendous support offered by the region’s business owners and the broader community.

Jessica Hofer Wilkinson is a freelance writer, home educator and mother of four and nursing home chaplain. She resides in Clark County.