Group wants to redevelop Wichita one kid at a time

The Greater Wichita Partnership is providing $40,000 to develop an entrepreneurship program for students from kindergarten through 8th grade.

The K-8 DO Entrepreneurship Program, under the e2e Accelerator, is an effort to build an entrepreneurial spirit in the Wichita by familiarizing and teaching students how to start and operate businesses, as well as meeting local entrepreneurs.

Local leaders see new businesses as critical to the community’s economic growth, but Wichita and the country as a whole are forming far fewer new businesses now than in decades past.

“It is imperative that the community creates an environment where entrepreneurship is systemic to the DNA of our youth,” said Gary Oborny, chairman of the partnership’s Entrepreneurship Task Force Co-Chair, in a statement.

Jamela Peterson, founder of SocialPreneur Lab, has been hired to create and run the program. SocialPreneur Lab, based in Wichita, provides students the opportunity to experience and be immersed in entrepreneurship by starting their own business, developing products and transforming their ideas into reality.

This story was originally published May 23, 2017 at 4:17 PM with the headline "Group wants to redevelop Wichita one kid at a time."