River City Company in partnership with the Children’s Entrepreneur Market invite the community to shop from over 40 children entrepreneur vendors. It is the first time the organizations have paired together, combining the market with River City Company’s Family Fun Day.
Family Fun Day Featuring Children’s Entrepreneur Market will be held Saturday from 9 a.m.-12 p.m. at Chattanooga Green, 100 Chestnut St. Admission is free.
“We are so excited to present a sell-out market in downtown Chattanooga," said Amanda Mollenhour with Children’s Entrepreneur Market. "The youth work incredibly hard preparing for the day, and this is an opportunity for anyone to support the budding business owners as they gain firsthand experience delivering their sales pitch, conducting transactions and polishing their customer service."
Along with the traditional Family Fun Day elements like kite building, oversized games and craft activities, the community will be able to shop from vendors selling a wide variety of items including crocheted animals, baked goods, jewelry, clothing, artwork, wooden toys, adventure journals, candles and clay sculptures.
“Downtown Chattanooga is beloved for our locally owned businesses," said Emily Mack, president and CEO of River City Company. "We are overwhelmed by the response from so many youth eager to learn and start their own businesses. We hope to one day see them open their very own shops in downtown."
The Children’s Entrepreneur Market program creates a safe, fun and real-world environment for up and coming entrepreneurs to start and grow their own business. Launched in 2017, the initiative allows children to explore business and life skills where the power of hard work and innovation is organically and creatively realized. Children gain experience such as creating goods, packaging them for sale, marketing, customer experience and handling money. Many participants have developed sophisticated products and brands, some of which are now available in local stores or on the web. Nearly 10,000 kid entrepreneurs have used the markets and with growing demand, they have expanded their program into six new states for 2023 including Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Tennessee and Texas.
Family Fun Day is presented by River City Company and is sponsored by the Benwood Foundation, EPB, Elliott Davis and First Horizon Bank.