The National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) Young Entrepreneur Foundation has announced three North Carolina high school seniors were among the 115 scholarship winners of their 15th annual Young Entrepreneur Awards. The program rewards and encourages entrepreneurial talents among high school students who own and operate their own small business.Sophie Eubanks of Raleigh, who attends Millbrook High School, is among five finalists for NFIB’s top two scholarships: the NFIB Young Entrepreneur of the Year and the NFIB Dan Danner Leadership Award. Both are worth $15,000. The remaining three finalists will receive a $5,000 scholarship, to be announced on July 27 at a luncheon in Washington, D.C.The other North Carolina scholarship winners:Grant Bonds, of Wilmington, who attends Wilmington Early College High School, will receive a $2,000 NFIB/North Carolina Leadership Council Young Entrepreneur Award.Adam Johnson, of St. Pauls, who attends St. Pauls High School, will receive a $2,000 NFIB/June Lennon Young Entrepreneur Award.”It’s one thing for a student to get a part-time job, but these students found a way to start and run their own businesses while keeping up with their schoolwork,” said Gregg Thompson, state director of NFIB, North Carolina’s leading small-business association. “We’re very proud of all the winners.”To qualify for an NFIB Young Entrepreneur Award, students must be high school seniors who own and operate their own small business. They are required to write an essay describing their entrepreneurial endeavors and future goals. NFIB members around the country interview the applicants for the Young Entrepreneur Awards.The NFIB Young Entrepreneur Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization promoting the importance of small business and free enterprise to the nation’s youth. The foundation is associated with the National Federation of Independent Business, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization founded in 1943.
