By Dennis Quick
Senior Staff Writer

In 1998, former state Rep. Jimmy Bailey read an article in Imprimis, a publication of Hillsdale College in Michigan. The article introduced Bailey to the New York-based National Foundation for Teaching Entrepreneurship, and contained a speech by NFTE founder Steve Mariotti.

The article, and particularly Mariotti’s speech, inspired Bailey to fight poverty by teaching entrepreneurship to poor children.

Poor kids have special talents that prepare them for wealth creation. They are street smart. They are used to stress and conflict. They are not afraid to take risks. They are creative. That was the essence of Mariotti’s speech, and it lit a fire inside Bailey.

After several years of re-booting his West Ashley-based commercial real estate business, which had slowed down because of his commitments as a state legislator from 1988 to 1995, Bailey enrolled in NFTE classes in New York. Then, in 2004, he formed the Tri-County NFTE Coalition, a group of educators and business owners devoted to training teachers to teach entrepreneurship in the Lowcountry’s public schools.

Training the trainer

With $10,000 from the state Department of Education, the Tri-County NFTE Coalition brought in three entrepreneurship instructors.

A year later, S.C. Speaker of the House Bobby Harrell and Glenn McConnell, president pro tem of the state Senate, convinced Bailey to expand his entrepreneurship teaching campaign into a statewide effort. With the support of the state Legislature, Bailey formed Youth Entrepreneurship South Carolina, or YEScarolina, a nonprofit organization fueled by a $250,000, three-year grant from the Legislature.

“I want to train as many teachers as we can as fast as we can while the funding is still in place,” Bailey said.

So far, YEScarolina has trained about 150 NFTE-certified entrepreneurship teachers. Training classes are held at the College of Charleston, Clemson University, Francis Marion University and Midlands Technical College.

Poverty fighter

Bailey considers entrepreneurial education, particularly in the sixth through ninth grades, to be crucial in combating South Carolina’s 47% high school dropout rate. Getting schoolchildren excited about operating their own businesses makes them want to learn more and inspires them to stay in school, he said.

However, it is poor kids Bailey especially wants to help through entrepreneurial training. As NFTE’s Mariotti mentioned in the speech that hit Bailey square in the heart, these kids already have the savvy and the instincts for entrepreneurship. What they lack is guidance.

Once they get that guidance and some polish, they go a long way, Bailey said.

Consider the children who sell roses in Charleston’s historic district. In January, YEScarolina’s Jennifer Whittle and Carly David created a business camp for about 17 of these kids.

They helped the kids brush up on their salesmanship and get badges, which amount to business licenses, making it legal for them to sell their roses.

The kids were a hit as guest entrepreneurs at the Black Expo in March and have received orders to supply roses for several weddings, David said.

Entrepreneurship is a strong weapon against poverty, said Bailey, who grew up poor in Charleston and by age 10 was buying his own clothes from money he earned delivering groceries and newspapers and through babysitting.

Tapping creativity

YEScarolina teaches teachers how to tap into the kids’ creativity. Teachers learn to teach entrepreneurship through games and other interactive techniques that get kids to talk about things they would like to have and the kinds of businesses they could start to help them get the things they want.

Kids are asked to look for business opportunities in their neighborhoods, think about how they would get other kids to buy their products and how they would give some of their earnings back to the community, said Harriett Templin, entrepreneurship program director at Walhalla High School in Oconee
County.

It’s that method of teaching that makes the kids’ eyes light up, Whittle said.

With help from the city of Charleston and the College of Charleston’s Tate Center for Entrepreneurship, Bailey envisions starting an entrepreneurship high school on Charleston’s East Side. The school’s graduates most likely would be catalysts in revitalizing that neighborhood, Bailey said.

Dennis Quick is senior staff writer for the Business Journal. E-mail him at dquick@charlestonbusiness.com.

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