TREP$ Marketplace planned in Vernon

VERNON — The excitement is building for the Opening Night for over 60 new small businesses at Lounsberry Hollow Middle School on Thursday, Dec. 3, from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the annual TREP$ Marketplace.

Kids will be drawn to the snow globes, pet products, sports bags, phone cases, and handmade jewelry. Handmade crafts for the holidays, ornaments, candles, homemade skin care items, and jewelry are just a few of the items that will appeal to adults. Those coming with an appetite will not be disappointed either — as a variety of baked goods including cookies, popcorn, Italian ice, and chocolate will be available and can be enjoyed on the premises.

The TREP$ Marketplace is a flea-market style event in that all of the vendors are children in sixth grade. Over the past few months, more than 100 children from Lounsberry Hollow Middle School have been participating in the award-winning TREP$ program, where they have learned the basics of entrepreneurship. On Thursday, they will put all that they have learned to the test as they launch their own businesses for the night.

The initiative is designed to serve as an inspiration for young people to think creatively and to put their ideas into action by creating a new business.

"Educating our young people about entrepreneurship and reinforcing the value that entrepreneurs and innovators bring to our economy is critical to America’s long-term prosperity — more so now than ever before," said Carl Schramm, president and chief executive officer of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

According to Kauffman Foundation research, 41 percent of children ages 9-12 say they would like to start their own business.